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Effective HVAC Recruiting Tips to Attract Employees

Updated January 15, 2023

HVAC recruitment is a difficult and tricky process to navigate. To be successful you need to assemble a great team. The team you piece together can singlehandedly determine the success or failure of your business. Fortunately for you, we put together the best HVAC recruiting tips to help business owners attract top talent. Below are some of the most effective HVAC hiring tactics that will ensure you get the best possible results when searching for potential employees.

In this article, we’ll cover:

  • Why it’s important to evaluate your company culture before recruiting
  • How to determine and prioritize the key positions your company needs
  • Creating a job post that compels recruits to apply
  • The best places to find your next hires
  • How to market your recruitment

Let’s get started!

Why it’s Important to Evaluate your HVAC Company Culture Before Recruiting

Aligning the right employees to your company culture is everything. Your culture is the best way to describe what it’d be like to work at your business. It determines, sets the precedent for, and manages the expectations of your business, as well as your current and future staff.

Not sure what your company culture is yet? That’s okay! It doesn’t need to happen overnight. Instead, it’s important you take time in determining exactly what the culture you want to cultivate is going to be.

To properly develop your company culture, it’d be wise for you to include leadership and key employees in the process. That’s because they bring different perspectives and ideas to the table. Two things to keep in mind when developing your culture:

  1. There are no wrong answers
  2. It’s subject to change at any time

There are many different types of company cultures to choose from. Know there is no magic bullet, one-size-fits-all culture. It’s whatever you determine is successful for you, your team, and your business. If you’re still looking for a little inspiration, here are several popular culture types that have found success:

Know your HVAC company culture for recruiting

Now that you know some of the different types, talk to your team, take one, and see if you can move forward with it. Alternatively, take pieces of each type and create your unique blend. Try it out for a bit, take note of what’s working, and what’s not, and make adjustments as needed.

How to Determine and Prioritize Key Positions your HVAC Company Needs to Recruit

It’s important to determine and prioritize the HVAC positions that your company needs in order to stay successful and meet demands. HVAC recruitment can be difficult because it takes time and effort to find the right people. But hey, you (mostly) have your culture figured out, so you’re already one step above the rest.

A typical HVAC business has anywhere from 1-15 employees. A good way to determine what position you need to hire for next is to identify what your biggest pain point is right now. Your pain points will require you to be self-aware. Accept what you’re not totally awesome at so you can hire people who are.

Customer service and marketing are the first roles that come to mind. These 2 roles can dramatically differentiate you from local competition.

Generally speaking, HVAC companies laser-focus on the trade part, but not the business part. As a result, you’ll likely focus on hiring more techs and/or buying more trucks, and dismiss the business component. This is a mistake too many contractors make.

What is the business component of HVAC? It focuses on profitability, sustainability, training, customer service, and marketing. To be successful, you need both the trade and business parts. You need to hire people to monitor, track, report, and improve your business’ performance. Filling these roles stops things from falling through the cracks, especially when you start growing.

3 HVAC Employee Incentive Program Ideas: As an HVAC business owner, you know that it’s important to keep your employees motivated. But coming up with new incentive ideas can be tough. That’s why we’ve put together a list of three programs that you can use to keep your team excited and working hard.
Keep reading to learn more ➡

How to Recruit HVAC Technicians

Create a job posting that is attractive and informative. Use keywords that are related to the HVAC industry and include the skills and qualifications that you are looking for. Make sure to also include any benefits that your company offers, such as health care, 401K, vacation time, etc.

Reach out to HVAC schools and ask if they can post your job listings. This can be a great way to target the right demographic of candidates who are just starting their careers or looking for a change.

Create content that is related to the HVAC industry to attract potential candidates. This can be anything from blog posts to videos to podcasts. This will show potential hires that you are knowledgeable and passionate about the industry and that you are a great employer to work for.

Build relationships with other HVAC companies and recruiters. This can help you get referrals for potential candidates and you can also get advice on the best ways to hire and retain HVAC professionals.

How to Create a Job Post that Compels HVAC Recruits to Apply

Creating a job post is easy. Creating a compelling job post is significantly more difficult and for good reason. It can be the difference between getting a recruit that’s right or wrong for the job. To mitigate being wrong, you need to be thoughtful.

For example, think about the job post from a tech’s perspective. Why are they looking for a new job? What would make them choose to submit their resume to you over your competitor? Why should they leave their current company for yours? Incorporate these answers into your job post.

Two important things you should do to create the most compelling job post:

  1. Focus on the candidate, not your company
  2. Emphasize company culture qualities over experience – their personality is much more important than experience

When you do this, you can find the right HVAC recruits for your HVAC business. On top of that, you can one-up competitors through transparency. Be upfront about:

  • What’s expected of HVAC candidates for this position
  • Your HVAC company’s culture
  • The benefits and perks of working for your company
  • Salary information for this HVAC position
  • Address any questions HVAC candidates might have about the open HVAC position before applying
  • Keep it short and concise

HVAC Employee Incentive Program Ideas: First, you will need to establish clear goals and objectives that are aligned with the overall mission of your company. Additionally, you will want to think about the specific needs and interests of your employees, as well as their level of performance and dedication. Learn more about the value of providing an incentive program ➡

Best Places to Find your Next HVAC Hires

Thanks to the Internet, you can find your next HVAC team member online. You just have to know where they are. With the right local community relationships, you can find them in person or via referrals as well. Like most opportunities, it’s about how you position your company. You need to be in the right place, in front of the right person, at the right time.

There are popular and creative ways to recruit for HVAC companies. Let’s explore all your options.

Popular HVAC recruiting tips:

Posting on your social media channels: The pro or con here solely depends on your social media audience. Is it large or small? Without paying to boost your job post, you’ll be limited to your audience, (or a fraction of your audience). Two pros come to mind:

  1. It costs zero dollars to make a social media post.
  2. There’s a chance someone sees the post and shares it with a qualified friend or relative in need.

HVAC Job Boards: There are so many of them. Google “HVAC job boards” and see what we mean. You’ll find that some are free, while others cost money. In most cases, adding an apprentice or internship job post is free. The pro is that you’ll expose your business to HVAC business to local job seekers. The con is that there’s so much competition. If you go the free route, you risk having your post drowned out by competitors paying for ads.

Creative HVAC recruiting tips:

Colleges and vocational schools: The HVAC instructor at your local school can be an invaluable resource. A college or vocational training program is often the best place for referrals, as instructors are in contact with many entry-level job seekers (students). It’s important to establish rapport early by bringing value through presentations or job offers if you want good word-of-mouth advertising from them.

Use HVAC digital marketing services to generate leads: Digital marketing isn’t just for finding new customers. It can be used to find new hires as well. Whether you’re looking for a new HVAC tech, customer service rep, marketing expert, or dispatcher, you can find them anywhere online with targeted ads.

How to Grow an HVAC Business in 2022: It’s 2022 and you’re looking to grow your HVAC business. You’ve set some goals and made a plan, but you’re not sure how to make it happen. Fortunately, you’ve come to the right place. We’ll show you how to grow your HVAC business in 2022, no matter what industry you’re in. Read this and get started ➡

How To Market Your HVAC Recruitment

Hiring is hard. Even with these HVAC recruiting tips, you still might struggle with filling a job position. You don’t know where to look for candidates or how to attract them. With our help, your company will be able to attract top talent and hire the best person for the job. We’ll find quality candidates that are ready and willing to work for you.

Our services include creating customized ads on social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn. Once they click on your ad, we can also optimize your website with job application forms. This way, potential employees can apply directly through your website without having to go anywhere else. Learn more about our digital services here ➡

Ken Grubbs

Ken Grubbs

Founder and managing director of KGG with over four decades of experience in the HVAC industry and two decades as KGG’s director. Ken is well-versed in the HVAC and IAQ world. He is passionate about the future of the HVAC industry and the role indoor air quality can play in health and wellness. Leading HVAC manufacturer sales ⤑

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