SnagAJob’s Shawn Boyer snags top honors

Shawn Boyer, the founder and CEO of Richmond, Va.-based SnagAJob.com, was recently named the “National Small Business Person of the Year” by the Small Business Administration. Boyer, 36, was recognized for identifying a business niche when a friend had trouble finding an internship and turning that idea into a multi-million dollar web site focused on the part-time and hourly employee job segment. In the following Q&A, Boyer shares a few secrets to SnagAJob’s success, which include the company recently being named one of the 50 Best Small & Medium Companies to Work for in America.

SnagAJob.com just turned eight, congratulations — what’s your secret?

Shawn Boyer: A heavy focus on people. That is something that we have been very maniacal about from the beginning. We want to bring on bright people; we want to bring on good, solid people, people who are easy to work with, collaborative people who take an approach to life of wanting to get better every day.

How have you managed to attract quality people?

Shawn Boyer: One aspect — hiring great people attracts other great people. That’s why it is so critical early on to hire really solid people. Once you have done that, they’re going to know others, whether or not they are direct friends or whether it’s through several different connections removed. The other thing is building the presence of your organization within the community where you are trying to recruit folks. SnagAJob does a lot of things within our community, both volunteer work, as well as sponsorships of different athletic events. We also sponsor a concert pavilion here in town.

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