Small companies that are managing to hire during the downturn face a challenge: Too many candidates are applying to the companies’ job listings. As a result, some firms are trying creative methods to find the best applicants. 

　　那些在經濟下滑時期仍在招聘的小公司面臨著一個挑戰：這些公司的招聘名單吸引了太多的求職申請。因此，一些公司正在想出新辦法，以找到最佳應聘者。

　　Take, for instance, I Love Rewards Inc., a 38-person consulting firm that advises companies that want to implement employee benefits and performance-based rewards. I Love Rewards, based in Wellesley, Mass., and Toronto, recently received 1,200 applications for nine job openings.

　　拿I Love Rewards這家咨詢公司來說。這家公司位于馬薩諸塞州以及多倫多，現有38名員工，主要為那些希望實施員工福利和基于業績的薪酬的公司提供咨詢。最近該公司的9個職位空缺接到了1,200份求職申請。

　　Instead of reading through each resume, the company sent an email to each applicant, thanking the candidates for their interest and asking them to attend an open house in Toronto. Only 400 showed up. ’That’s self-selection,’ reasons Razor Suleman, the company’s founder and chief executive. ’It’s so easy to apply for anything but 800 didn’t take the first step. That lowered the screening process.’

　　I Love Rewards的員工們(左)在快速面試中向應聘者提問。I Love Rewards并沒有瀏覽每份簡歷，而是向每位求助者發送了一封電子郵件，對求職者有意謀求公司職位表示感謝，并請他們參加在多倫多的一次開放參觀活動。結果只有400名求職者到場。該公司創始人兼首席執行長蘇勒曼(Razor Suleman)說，這等于讓他們自己篩選。求職者到處申請職位很容易，但有800人都沒有邁出第一步。這縮短了篩選程序。

　　Over a few hours, Mr. Suleman and 31 of his employees arranged the two-story office so that the first floor was designated as an area where employees could mingle with the candidates. The second floor became a so-called speed-dating area, where the prospects had one-on-one contact with the employees for a few minutes. 

　　在幾個小時內，蘇勒曼和手下31名員工對他們兩層高的辦公樓進行了布置，第一層被安排為求職者可以和公司員工見面的區域。第二層成為了所謂的速配區域，有希望的求職者和員工進行數分鐘的一對一接觸。 

　　’It was perfectly systematic because everyone had a time slot,’ says Mr. Suleman. ’And in five minutes, we’d ask a few questions and see if they were right for the role. It was different but so efficient because you could remove people who aren’t wildly enthusiastic.’ By the end of the evening, the team had found the top 68 candidates, who will be called back for group interviews and then individual interviews.

　　蘇勒曼說，這種系統安排很完美，因為每個求職者都能得到一段時間。在5分鐘內，我們問了他們一些問題，看看他們是否適合這個職位。這種做法與眾不同，但卻很有效率，因為你可以排除那些并不是非常熱衷的求職者。到當天晚上結束的時候，該公司選出了前68位求職者，隨后將給這些人打電話，請他們再來公司參加小組面試以及隨后的單獨面試。