Finding the right candidate to fit a certain position often involves a lengthy process of seeking the perfect candidate with the work experience, education and/or specific talent necessary to fill the position. However, there are now free and cost-effective tools available that do not involve employment websites or recruiters.

Social media has become every HR department’s strongest ally. LinkedIn, a business-oriented social networking service, allows companies to search for potential candidates and can also be used as a database of potential candidates worldwide, which is particularly useful for multi-national corporations. An organization can contact “active candidates,” those who are actively seeking employment, or “passive candidates,” LinkedIn members not actively seeking employment but who have certain skill sets or experience the company is interested in. The interview set up process can be as easy and effective as emailing the candidate through the LinkedIn platform.

Open House meetings at universities are still a popular method of identifying recent graduates and young talent. They provide a venue where many potential candidates can be screened within two or three days. Keep in mind, though, that Open Houses are often geared toward finding entry level candidates.

One resource often overlooked by companies is word-of-mouth. What better ambassadors can a company have than its own employees? When a position is vacant, it can be worthwhile to share the job description and have employees in the same department as the vacant position post it on their social networking sites, as they will often have contacts in the same field.

Once a company’s top candidates have been selected, it is important to identify the best fit for the organization. Today, companies are looking beyond a person’s skill set and education to focus on finding someone who will mesh with the company’s internal culture.

Many companies are using a number of tools to search for and assess candidates beyond their ability to perform the job. Through the use of personal assessment tools, such as DiSC, corporations can improve work productivity, teamwork and communication through the hiring process itself. There are a number of other psychometric and assessment tools that can not only provide a strong overview of a candidate’s competencies and skills, but also predict how that particular individual will perform in the organization.

With the DiSC assessment tool, a company can first undergo an assessment that will generate a report with data on workplace priorities and preferences to evaluate where the company falls within four internal cultural styles. DiSC is divided into four behavior types: D (Dominance), I (Influence), C (Conscientiousness), and S (Steadiness), which is where the tool gets its name. It is particularly useful because once the organization has identified which style or styles are most prevalent within it, it is much easier to conduct individual tests to identify which candidates will thrive in that particular work setting. Identifying the company’s culture is key, as it often impacts the behavior, attitudes and satisfaction of its employees. Those individuals who do not fit into the culture may feel alienated and not perform as well or work well with those who strongly espouse the internal culture’s behavioral style.

Overall, one of the biggest and most attractive components to hiring top talent is to be a company the best and brightest would want to work for. Attractive companies are those that can provide a wide array of benefits and options for employees, including training, development, upward mobility, an open forum for communication and salary packages that meet or exceed industry standards.

Alejandra Ramirez is the human resources director for DHL Global Forwarding, Mexico. She has more than 15 years of experience in leading and implementing strategic initiatives in talent attraction and retention, organizational development, compensation and benefits, labor relations, key performance indicators, culture, communication and personnel administration. She has worked with some of the largest multinational companies in Mexico.