Small business owners struggling to hire in today's competitive labor market may find a surprising solution in Sunday morning job ads and a heavy dose of hashtags, according to Shannon Black, Chair of SCORE Austin. In Episode 82 of the Rock Solid: Round Rock Business Leaders Podcast, titled "Shannon Black | The Hiring Secrets Every Small Business Owner Needs to Know", Black reveals a systematic recruiting playbook developed from her experience as a former math teacher and founder of Sunrise Montessori.
Black advises employers to post job ads on Sunday mornings rather than the traditional Thursday. "It takes Google and other search engines about 24 hours to go through and pick up the SEO in your ad. The number one time of the week that people look for jobs are Mondays during lunchtime," she explained to host Bryan Eisenberg. This timing ensures ads are indexed and visible when job seekers are most active. Additionally, Black recommends adding 30 or more hashtags at the bottom of listings to capture search traffic without rewriting copy, a tactic she says dramatically increases applicant volume.
Other key strategies include avoiding "masculine" language that can deter female applicants and screening candidates with a 10-minute Zoom pre-interview that includes unexpected questions like "What is your favorite color?" to assess personality fit. Black also emphasizes protecting company culture during rapid growth, a challenge many Round Rock businesses face.
The episode, published July 14, 2026, arrives as small businesses nationwide navigate post-COVID hiring shifts and AI-inflated resumes. Black, who recently recovered from a baby rattlesnake bite while gardening, credits St. David's Round Rock Medical Center for the antivenom treatment that allowed her to record the podcast.
Beyond hiring tips, Black discusses SCORE's free mentorship model, which offers more than 1,000 workshops per month and virtual mentor matching at score.org. She previews an upcoming women's conference, a trades conference on June 13, and a four-day workshop series on valuing and selling a business. Black recounts helping a client launch a successful Austin clay studio and points to entrepreneur Desiree Fox of V Wear Love as an example of the idea-stage founders SCORE serves. Eisenberg shares his own home care agency hiring wins after applying Black's tweaks, plus a lease near-miss rescued by Round Rock realtor Bacha Porter.
The conversation underscores the importance of systematic experimentation in hiring, a lesson Black's math background reinforced. For small business owners in Central Texas and beyond, these strategies offer a practical path to building a strong team in a tight labor market.
