Recruitment Manual for Hireup Users
Recruiting your own workers is a great way to find exactly what you’re after. Whether it’s a certain
personality type or skill set you’d like your worker to have, it’s totally up to you. It’s also a great way to find
someone from within your networks, someone you already know and trust, or a person in your local area.
The following four steps will guide you through the process of recruiting a worker and then working with
them on Hireup.
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2.
3.
4.
Writing a job description
Advertising for applicants
Interviewing your short-list
Getting your new recruit on Hireup
1. Writing a job description
A job description will list the tasks you expect the support worker will do for you, it will describe the kind of
skills, experience and qualities you are looking for in a worker.
What to think about when writing a job description:
• Duties: what will they be expected to do? Personal care? Making meals? Shopping?
• Experience: do you require a Certificate III or IV in Disability Services? Or past experience in the
sector? Or are you looking for something totally different? Like a swimming teacher? Or speech
therapist?
• Skills: will they need to be able to drive? Should they know about peg-feeding? Or be good with
children?
• Personal qualities: are you looking for someone with a sense of humour? Patience? Initiative?
An example job description is included at the back of this document.
2. Advertising for applicants
Write an advertisement to go with your job description. It should include the following information: the job
title, a brief description of the job, the hours of work, your location, how you would like an applicant to
apply (i.e. email a CV to you), when the applications are due by, whether they’ll need to provide you with
contact details for professional references (it is usual to ask for two), and the email address they can send
the application to. Also include a copy of the job description.
Make a list of all the places you think potential support workers might visit. Once you have your
advertisement, call or visit these places to see whether they would mind posting or passing it out. These
places could include local papers, job centres, community organisations or local universities. If you’re
looking for something more specific, like a swimming teacher, head to your local pool.
Also use word of mouth to let people in your networks know that you’re looking for a new worker. This
includes sharing the advertisement through your social media networks. Send it to any friends you have
that might know someone who would be interested. Also consider other places to advertise online.
Advertising on www.gumtree.com.au is cost effective and simple, websites like www.seek.com.au and
www.carecareers.com.au are also very useful but a bit more expensive.
3. Interviewing your short-list
Once you have received applications, make a short-list of applicants. There will become your candidates.
Contact each one with a time and place to meet for an interview. It’s best to have the interview away from
your home so pick a local coffee shop, or library. Make sure you also email the people you have chosen
not to interview. They will need to know they have not been successful.
To prepare for the interview, make a list of questions you would like to ask your candidates. These should
include questions about their past experiences as well as questions that help you to get to know them
better. As the person seeking support, you are the best person to come up with these questions. Think
about what your “non-negotiables” - these can be the qualities you are looking for or details about the kind
of work that will need to be done. Your non-negotiables are the things you are not willing to compromise
on to find the right worker. These will help you make your decision on which candidate feels right.
A great interview is like a great conversation. Don’t forget to give the other person the time to speak and
be heard. Make your questions clear and don’t assume anything when you are providing or receiving
information. A list of possible questions has been included at the back of this document to get you started.
Things to consider before the interview: if you would like, take someone else with you and don’t schedule
interviews back to back (if you have more than one), give yourself some time in between.
When you’ve made a decision on who you would like to hire, let them know. And don’t forget to email the
people who you haven’t chosen. They’ll also need to know that the decision has been made.
4. Getting your new recruit on Hireup
Once you have chosen your new support worker, getting them set up on Hireup is really simple and
straightforward. The worker will become an employee of Hireup’s so they won’t need to get their own ABN
or organise their own insurance cover. We take care of all that as well as their super and any tax
requirements.
We’ll also do all the tricky administrative stuff for you - like checking their eligibility to work in Australia,
verifying their Police Criminal Record and Working with Children/Vulnerable People checks. We’ll also
make sure they have a CPR or First Aid certificate. If your new worker doesn’t have one or some of these
documents, we’ll point them in the right direction. We’ll also set your new worker up for payroll and
manage the tricky accounting side of things.
When you’re recruiting a new worker, it’s a good idea to keep in mind the things they will need to have (or
get) to join the Hireup community. These include:
• A driver’s licence or passport (we collect one form of photo ID);
• A current résumé;
• Two professional referees;
• National Police Criminal Record Check;
• Working with Children Check (if you need them to have one);
• Working with Vulnerable People Check (in certain states only); and
• CPR or First Aid qualification.
If you have any questions about recruiting new workers or the getting them set up on Hireup, please do
not hesitate to contact our team via [email protected] or on (02) 9113 5933.
Appendix 1
Sample Job Description
Job title
Support worker
Reporting to
(Your name)
Location
Home care in... (include your suburb but not your full address)
Nature of the job
To assist with a variety of tasks, some at home and some in the community, which support a person with
disability to live independently and with a fulfilling social life
Duties of the job
Personal duties including…
Duties about the house including…
Duties in the community including…
This list may vary and will include other similar duties where necessary.
Hours of work
(List the hours and days you would like support, and don’t forget to mention “flexible” or “to be arranged” if
need be)
Rate of pay
(The Hireup base rate of pay on a weekday is $29.20, depending on the level of experience you would like
you worker to have or the time of day they will be working, this could go up. For the full Hireup rates table,
follow this link: https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/hireup-resources/HUWT_July16.pdf. If you would
like help working out your rate of pay, do not hesitate to contact our team via [email protected] or on
(02) 9113 5933)
Qualifications and experience
Required
(List the qualifications and experience you definitely need your worker to have)
Preferred, but not mandatory
(List the qualifications and experience you would prefer your worker to have but are not necessary for
applying)
Appendix 2
Sample Interview Questions
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What qualities and skills do you have that would make you a good support worker?
What are your interests and hobbies?
Do you have any non-support work skills that you would be able to teach or share?
What training have you done in disability support services?
Would you like to do some/more training?
Do you have any questions about the job description?
I will need to train you in how I like my support work to be done, how do you think you would feel
about this?
What would you do if I asked you to do something in a different way to what you are used to?
From reading your résumé I know that you don’t have any experience as a support worker but
often people have personal experiences assisting people with disability. What experience of
working with people with disability do you have?
Would you be prepared to be called on if there was a shift that needed filling at last minute (e.g. if
another worker called in sick)?
What time and day are you available to work?
Do you have a car and is it insured? Would you be prepared to use it for work?
Are there any questions you would like to ask me?