Target night owls with your help-wanted ads

Your ads should make it clear that you are seeking qualified job candidates who are ready to work when everyone else is asleep. Janie O’Connor, president of Shiftworker.com, suggests calling attention to that point with humorous headlines such as, “If You Can Stay Up After the 10 p.m. News, We Have a Job for You.”

I recommend: : Get some tips on creating strong employment ads at RecruitersNetwork.com, which provides resources such as a sample job description that you can use as a template for your own ads. Find more help at Business and Legal Reports where you can buy a CD-ROM that contains 500 sample job descriptions. At America's Career InfoNet, the Job Description Writer guides you through the process.

Know where to recruit

List your job openings in the classified section of your local newspapers, but also place ads where night-shift job seekers are most likely to check. Since young people adapt best to working all night, post ads in local college newspapers. If your night-shift opening has career potential for new college graduates, consider exhibiting at a nearby college’s career fair.

I recommend: Among the hottest spots for night-shift job ads are Nightshiftjobs.com, Monster.com, and CareerBuilder.com. Meanwhile, The National Association of Colleges and Employers offers several ways to connect with student job seekers, including a listing of upcoming career fairs on college campuses.

Smart interviewing

As with any job interview, your questions should help you determine whether the applicant has the skills for the job, but you also need to ferret out the applicant’s interest in night-shift work.

I recommend: On SelectPro.net you can create an interview script. It includes the option of letting job applicants answer interview questions online via an automated online interview – a nice tool for pre-interview screening.

Is the job applicant truly a “night person”?

Help determine if a job candidate really does thrive when the sun goes down by finding out if he or she is a lark (a day person) or an owl (a night person).

I recommend: The Lark and Owl Test gauges a person’s sleep personality. Take the test and get the results for free on the Circadian Technologies Web site.

Conduct background and reference checks

Whether it’s a day or night position, don’t offer a job to anyone until you have verified that he or she is trustworthy. With fewer supervisors on hand during night shifts, it pays to be extra vigilant about hiring honest people.

I recommend: :Intelius offers employee screening and verification. Monster.com explains the most common mistakes employers make when checking references.