Ok, it's been 2 weeks since I posted this, and I even took up Ashley's suggestion of posting more ads on E-Consultancy's jobs page.

http://www.e-consultancy.com/forum/105775-fantastic-jobs-but-we-can-t-fill-them--what-are-we-doing-wrong.html

Whilst we have managed to hire someone to come and take care of paid search, and also an online marketing associate at entry-level, we are still struggling to find a UK marketing manager and someone to take care of our acquisition email channel. 

Given that we're based in Barcelona, and our stock is outperforming several major tech players on the NASDAQ (Google, eBay, etc etc), I find this very strange.

So...

... I am willing to pay someone 600 Euros out of my own pocket if they refer someone that gets hired.  You can refer yourself if you want, I really don't care.

You can find our listings at

http://www.e-consultancy.com/jobs/?action2=search&keywords=vistaprint&filter_location=&filter_employer_type=&filter_job_type=

Please help...!!

James

You have my sympathies, one of the biggest barriers to growth for many e-commerce business's at the moment is the inability to find good staff. Take comfort in the fact you are not alone :-)

I am surprised that so many hiring managers are still approaching the market assuming it will be easy to find good people. This just isn't the case. Recognise that there are a lot of companies competing for a smaller number of good people and approach the market with the same verve and competitive spirit as you approach your core business.

A couple of observations:

- Whilst I'm sure the business is a great success story with lots of great things going for it, to a prospective candidate, you're a company that prints business cards.. this is not an aspirational brand that is automatically going to appeal. Any job advert you run needs to work a lot harder than most. Use the opportunity to tell everyone about how commecially successful you are, how great the culture is etc etc

- Barcellona is probably a great city and sounds exciting to a uni-grad but people at a slightly more senior level generally have commitments in the UK like children/girlfriends. Relocating over seas is not something most people are actively looking to do. You might do better if you talk about the benefits of living in Barcellona on your advert - again, sell the concept.

Advertising is probably not the most effective route for you. Use your personal network, look through that stack of business cards in your top drawer, tell everyone you meet at every conference and event you attend that you're hiring - get everyone in the business to do the same (ex-colleagues, agency contacts).

Good luck,

Patrick Tame