The U.S. jobless rate has sunk to 4.6 percent. Competition for accountants and other highly sought workers is white hot. Big corporations are beefing up employee benefits.

No wonder small companies are struggling to find workers: 46 percent of those surveyed in May said they found few or no qualified applicants — up from 41 percent in April, says the National Federation of Independent Business. May's share was one of the highest in more than five years, the trade group said last week.

Heather Nolte knows all about it. The owner of a boutique baby-apparel maker near Austin, Texas, got just 11 resumes after advertising for an administrative assistant. She got more than 100 a year ago for the same job advertised the same way. "Applicants are scarce," she says.

Small businesses often don't have a human-resources department, so owners relegate hiring to their spare time — but it should be their top priority. "Your most important function is to hire people," says David Ramp, a small-business counselor in Birmingham, Ala.

STEP 1

Write a job description. Job descriptions drive the hiring process. Yet, small employers rarely use them, says Eileen Levitt, founder and president of the HR Team in Columbia, Md., a consultant to small companies.

Writing a job description forces owners to review other jobs in their company that should be redefined. Maybe the receptionist has become the technology expert, even though there's now enough revenue to justify adding that work to a new position.

STEP 2

Gauge the market. Learn what other employers pay in wages and benefits. See how many other companies are looking for the same skills. Know the basics. Ramp is "amazed" at how many small employers don't know the minimum wage or unemployment rate. He is a counselor at the Small Business Development Center at the University of Alabama.

STEP 3

Outsourcing, anyone? Tech work such as Web site maintenance is another hard-to-fill job. Yet, like accounting, it can be farmed out to companies specializing in helping small companies. "You just write ... a check once a month," says Brendan Courtney, a senior vice president at Spherion, a staffing company in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

STEP 4

Spread the word. Tell family, friends, business associates and — especially — employees that you've got a job to fill. It's cheaper than hiring a headhunter or paying to advertise.

STEP 5

Plan the interviews. List managers and other employees who'll speak to applicants. Write down questions to be asked. And make sure all applicants are asked the same questions so you can make an apples-to-apples comparison among candidates.

STEP 6

'Sell' your company. Small businesses, competing against big corporations with blue-chip benefits, can fight back by promoting their own virtues. Take job security: Levitt says her small-business clients are less likely to lay off workers because owners know each employee.

STEP 7

Check resumes and references. Finding a qualified employee works only if the applicant really is qualified. Confirming resumes and references is a step that too many employers — including big ones — fail to heed.