Best ways to digitally recruit vehicle maintenance technicians

A shop might have a great culture backed up with the latest equipment and a generous compensation package, yet still struggle with finding quality technicians. Why? One reason could be your shop's digital recruiting efforts are falling short, especially since the days of "Help Wanted" signs taped to your store being enough are long gone.

Zippia reported that 80% of all job searches are done online. That means you need to focus the most energy on digital recruiting via your website and social media channels. WrenchWay, which helps match technicians with shops, hosted a webinar on just how to do that this summer, providing tips on how to turn shops' online presence into a digital "Help Wanted" sign to attract the right candidates.

Optimizing your website

A good place to start, the speakers said, is by revisiting your website's career page. This should be visible right away so when prospective techs visit your website, they can easily find where to apply.

“Don't bury [your open positions] somewhere where you expect the person to scroll down forever to find it in the fine print,” said Mark Wilson, co-founder and CEO of WrenchWay.

Shops should tailor technician job listings to the candidates applying to them. Job openings should speak specifically to techs and what they care about, instead of using generic language that’s copied and pasted from listings for sales and back-office support.

“Remember to speak to the technician as a technician,” said Lisa Joseph, director of school and technician services at WrenchWay.

This should include a description of your shop's culture, values, and what it's like to work there on a daily basis. Also provide clear, high-resolution images of the shop, so technicians know where they’d be working and the kind of equipment they’d have access to. Showcasing your shop's tools and equipment are especially useful, as these play a large role in keeping technicians safe and productive.

Pay and benefits

The job post itself should clearly list the responsibilities and experience required for the role, as well as health and PTO benefits. But most of all, make sure to be up-front with pay.

According to WrenchWay’s 2024 Technician & Mechanic Statistics, 100% of technician respondents felt it was somewhat or extremely important for employers to include compensation in their job postings. And 36% even went so far as to say they won’t even consider applying to a shop if their compensation isn’t listed.

If you don't, you are likely to miss out on experienced techs whose productivity and experience will enhance customer uptime. Transparency around work hours is also important.

“I'm done with the rat race of having to choose between spending time with my family or work," noted Celine Young, a mobile technician at a New York-based Peterbilt dealership with 11 years in the industry. “The goal has always been that you want to be able to live well off of your 40 hours.”

She noted her main career goals are good pay and work-life balance, being able to support her family without relying on overtime.

This may require being up-front about your pay structure beyond the specific monetary amount, such as whether you pay hourly or flat rate. Just be ready for the fact that flat-rate pay may drive technicians away instead of inviting them to apply, since that pay structure has caused some techs to leave the trade.

Because quality techs are such a commodity, remember that most shops will be competitive with pay. So promote what other benefits your shop offers, such as a tool allowance. Given that some technicians reported to WrenchWay that they spend over $60,000 on tools throughout their career, tool allowances are one of the strongest ways to increase recruitment, said Tim Rothbauer, VP of business development at Imperial Supplies, a provider of heavy-duty truck parts and equipment.

The key to all these factors is displaying what it’s like to work in your shop and why yours is the one techs specifically should apply to instead of one down the road, WrenchWay’s Wilson explained.

Beyond showcasing your shop’s benefits and work environment on your job listings, also be sure to show how technicians can develop their careers with you. This may mean noting the kinds of training your shop offers and how employees can access it.

“I don't want to feel like I have a dead-end job,” said Young, a former shop supervisor at JB Hunt. “I want to feel like I can actually go up in the ranks if I want to, that I can get expertise training. As a mechanic, you don't want to just be changing oil for the rest of your life.”

Leveraging social media

Of course, a strong job listing doesn't mean much if it doesn't reach the technicians you'd like to hire. In WrenchWay’s 2024 Technician & Mechanic Statistics, 71% of respondents said they checked out potential employers social media pages during their job search.

Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, when managed well, can help technicians understand what your shop is like, with authenticity as the key to bringing people in. And this investment won't just impact your recruitment, but will help you draw in customers, too.

“Customers are never going to be turned off if you're posting on Facebook about how you treat your employees well,” Wilson added.

This requires that shops make several different kinds of posts beyond those targeted toward customers and sales, as well as those beyond hiring and needing more technicians. Instead, celebrate your employees, their work, and their camaraderie.

You can do this by inviting your employees to participate in your social media, Wilson explained. And this doesn’t need to be difficult: Allow your techs to post about their lives or a job they’re proud of, any extreme or exciting weather your shop has endured, or celebrating technicians who have passed their Level 1 certifications or kids as they progress through your shop's program.

But might these kinds of posts seem like oversharing, especially if done on a consistent basis? The easy answer is 'no,' according to Wilson.

“I've never met a social media person who's responsible for posting on a company page that is saying ‘No, we have too much content, we don't want to do that,’” WrenchWay's co-founder said.

Instead, sharing this insider's view of your shop is likely to give potential applicants more confidence in your establishment — as long as the images and videos you're sharing online aren't just for show. After all, a strong digital presence is just the first step for shop recruitment. The values and practices you display online have to follow you into reality. Because if what you present online doesn't match up with a tech's experience on the shop floor, the rest of the community will hear about it from your current employees.

“Honestly, I just ask around in the industry,” Young explained while explaining how she vets shops she’s applying to.

Young goes for word-of-mouth verification because in an industry that's as tight knit as commercial vehicle repair, "everybody knows everybody." Which is why she turned to her fellow technicians when looking for her next job.

“I do that because I know that on websites and everything else, [shops are] always going to put their best foot forward,” Young noted. “It's not going to be the full truth.”