Dealerships and shops are having a hell of a time trying to find technicians to hire. Not only are we working against a national technician shortage, but less than 5% of technicians are actively looking for jobs.

For many of the dealerships and shops we talk to, the bulk of their recruiting strategy revolves around posting on job boards… Let’s think about that for a second. Who is on job boards? People who are actively looking for a new job. That means the bulk of dealership recruiting efforts are missing out on 95% of technicians.

Before we get into how dealerships and shops can get in front of technicians who aren’t actively looking for jobs, let’s first get a better understanding of who these techs are.

What are Passive Candidates?

The bulk of technicians out there are what we consider “passive candidates.” Passive candidates are people who are not actively looking for a new job. However, research shows 85% of employed professionals are open to switching jobs.

Obviously, it takes more work and time to recruit passive candidates, as these are not the technicians who are hanging out on job boards. However, with the right recruiting strategy, dealerships can start to get in front of these technicians, and be top of mind when these candidates are looking to make the switch.

How to Use Passive Recruiting to Recruit Mechanics

Don’t Focus So Much on Hiring

Since finding a job is not top of mind for passive candidates, seeing that you’re hiring isn’t going to catch their attention. Instead, focus on the cool things that make your shop unique and a great place to work. Some ideas could include:

  • Sharing pictures of new equipment and tools on social media
  • Posting videos of technicians working on fun repairs
  • Highlighting unique perks or benefits your shop offers (i.e., no weekends, catered lunches, etc.)

Incorporate Video

In a recent poll on the WrenchWay mobile app, 85% of technicians said they think video helps them determine if a shop is a good fit for them to work at. Taking it one step further, 97% of technicians indicated they prefer unscripted, unproduced videos of employees talking about what it’s like to work in the shop over corporate recruiting videos. This is perfect for shops because this means creating videos for recruiting technicians doesn’t need to be expensive or fancy. All that’s needed is a smartphone and a few employees willing to talk about their job.

For ideas on videos your shop can make to recruit technicians, check out our blog article, How Shops Can Use Video to Recruit Technicians.

Leverage Social Media

Of course, the majority of your shop’s social posts are targeted at your customers. However, you should be sharing content showing technicians (and your customers) that your shop is a great place to work. Playing off of our first point, video is a great way to highlight what makes your shop unique. In fact, video content on social media gets 1200% more shares than text and image content. Plus, if you’re creating videos featuring your employees, they will be more likely to share it with their social network — which brings us to our next point…

Encourage Employee Sharing on Social Media

Technicians likely have other technician friends, right? Shops should regularly be encouraging employees to share their social posts (i.e., job openings, videos of the shop, etc.). Research has shown company social posts reach 561% farther when shared by employees versus company social pages.

Shops don’t need to create a full blown employee referral or advocacy program in order to successfully get employees to share content. One of the shops we work with filled a bowl with candy bars and left it in the breakroom. Whenever an employee shared one of their social posts from their personal page, they got to pick out a candy bar. This tactic is easy, it’s cheap, and it works!

Give Technicians ALL the Information About Your Shop Before They Apply

Technicians who are only passively looking for a job are not going to put the time and effort into applying and interviewing for a job just to find out if the job is a good fit for them. They want to be confident the shop is a good fit before they apply, which means shops need to make all the information techs actually want to know available somewhere online.

Shops we work with use their Top Shop page to address all the FAQs technicians typically ask during the interview. Plus, it’s a great place for them to house all their shop photos and videos. Unlike a Careers page on your website, Top Shop pages are created solely for the purpose of attracting and recruiting technicians. Many of our clients link out to their Top Shop page from their Careers page or even from the homepage of their website.

Want more tips? We’d love to help. Contact us today!