It happens to everyone who is in charge of hiring for a shop or dealership…
After sorting through countless resumes from technicians who just don’t have the right (or any) qualifications for the position you’re hiring for, that perfect A tech resume comes across your desk. You can’t get your hands on the phone fast enough to schedule the interview.
A few days later, that technician comes in for the interview, all goes well, and as you’re sending over that offer letter, you are beyond confident you’ve filled your empty bay.
…And that’s when it happens. Nothing. Nothing happens! You never hear from that technician again, and you’re left wondering what the heck just happened.
You’ve officially been ghosted.
Ghosting Happens
While the term “ghosting” may be newer, the concept of the disappearing candidate is not.
According to a recent study, four out of five (83%) employers have been ghosted by a job candidate who either didn’t show up for an interview or stopped responding to messages
It happens with all generations, across all industries, with all professions — and technicians are no exception.
Why Do Technicians Ghost Shops?
We’ve worked with thousands of shops and dealerships across the country to help them attract qualified technicians. While we can’t speak on behalf of all technicians who have ghosted, we have been able to identify some patterns as to why they disappear after the interview or sometime during the hiring process.
1. The technician wasn’t sold on your shop.
Whether it was the pay, benefits, shop environment, or culture—something wasn’t a good fit for that technician. Ideally, technicians would communicate this with the shop, but that’s just not always the case.
2. The technician was just “shopping around.”
Sometimes a technician might just be passively looking at new opportunities. These candidates might not be ready to make a change now, but it’s important for shops to try engage with these candidates in case anything changes in the future.
3. Their current shop found out they were interviewing and countered.
If it’s money the tech was after, a lot of times they’ll use an offer as leverage to ask for a raise at their current position. Honestly, if the technician was just cashing the dollars, they probably aren’t a great fit for your shop anyways.
What Can Shops Do to Avoid Getting Ghosted by Technicians?
While many of the reasons technicians ghost shops are unavoidable, there are things shops can do to decrease how often this happens. The most important thing being:
Share all the important information technicians want to know about the shop and job BEFORE the interview.
Standard job postings don’t share nearly enough (or the right kind of) information technicians want to know before confidently applying to a job. Typically, they don’t find out those details until they are through the interview process. This can be a HUGE waste of time for both the technician and the shop owner.
For example, Sun Motor Cars doesn’t wait for technicians to come in for an interview (or even apply) to give them a good picture of what it’s like to work in one of their shops. Instead, they record videos with their technicians and have them talk about why they love working there. This gives candidates a great, authentic view of the shop before they even apply.
Communicate throughout the hiring process, and keep it short.
Technicians should know what to expect as they’re going through the hiring process. There should be no questions about how many interviews they need to go through or what assessments they’ll be required to complete. All of these details should be communicated with the technician prior to them even applying.
Then, to take it one step farther, make sure your application process is short. Newton Research reported that you could be missing out on 50% of qualified applicants if your application takes longer than 10 minutes to complete.
Always respond, and respond quickly.
Ghosting goes both ways—make sure you’re not ghosting the technician. Also, make sure you’re not letting the technician think you’re ghosting them by taking forever to respond. It’s a competitive market out there for qualified technicians. If you find one you want to hire, make sure you’re acting quickly. If you’re lagging in response time, chances are another shop is going to scoop them up.
Best Way to Avoid Technician Ghosting: Be Transparent
Overall, the single best thing a shop can do to avoid getting ghosted by technicians is to be transparent. Provide as much information up front as possible. By answering those FAQs that all technicians ask in the interview up front, you’re able to filter out a lot of the techs who wouldn’t be a fit for your shop before they even apply.
