How to recruit HVAC technicians

Recruiting HVAC technicians

When it comes to in-demand trades, there are few that can compete with the HVAC installation industry. HVAC technicians are some of the most sought-after experts, which can make job competition high.

Naturally, if your business offers HVAC services, chances are you’re looking to recruit HVAC technicians from time to time. But if you want to attract the best candidates for such a role, you need to lay out a recruitment plan.

That’s why we’ve pulled together this guide on the topic.

Keep reading to learn more about recruiting HVAC technicians for your business.

The importance of making the right hire

Regardless of your trade, it should really go without saying that you want to hire individuals who suit the role.

This means more than just whether or not they can do the job. You also want them to be a good fit for your work culture and expectations.

So, when recruiting HVAC technicians, don’t just hire the first person who applies.

By assessing potential candidates in all areas, it will make it easier to deliver in the following areas:

• Customer satisfaction – Capable of delivering excellent customer service, helping to get your business’s name out there
• Company reputation – Someone who can best represent your business to your customers, maintaining and growing your overall reputation
• Staff retention – Experienced staff can really give your business a boost, so you need to hire someone who’s likely to stay a long time to minimise hiring and training new staff

How to hire an HVAC technician to fit your business

Now we’ve covered the importance of recruiting the right HVAC specialist, let’s look at the best ways to hire.

Below are the six most important factors to consider in this area:

1. Perfect your job ad

First things first, you’ll need to focus on making your job ad stand out in all the right ways.

Remember, the goal of your job ad is to convince job seekers to apply for your role. When recruiting HVAC technicians, you should come across as welcoming rather than demanding.

Therefore, you want to keep your job ad brief.

• Be fair and reasonable about the level of qualifications and experience you expect applicants to have
• Make it quick and easy to apply for
• Make sure that you focus on why someone should apply for the role
• Highlight what your business brings to the table
• Talk about your company culture, employee benefits, and career progression opportunities

After all, applicants are going to be vetting your come as much as you’re vetting them.

By doing all this, you’ll encourage more applications, and avoid putting off someone applying who could be perfect for the job.

2. Improve your company culture

Speaking of company culture. If you’re creating your job ad and can’t think of any reasons why someone should apply, your culture needs improving.

Simply put, if you’re not offering any benefits to applicants, they’re unlikely to apply.

So, ask yourself:

• What is your company’s mission?
• How do you set yourself apart from the competition?
• Do you set goals as a team?
• Do you celebrate when you reach important milestones?
• What do these celebrations look like?

This should give applicants an idea of what your company stands for and its USP.

The good news is that you’ll have a company culture already, even if you don’t yet realise it. But by taking the time to think about what it is, you can make small tweaks to improve it.

And if you’re stuck, just ask your current employees what they love about working for your business. This always makes for a great starting point!

3. Enhance your marketing

You’re probably already well aware of the importance of marketing your HVAC business to potential customers.

But don’t forget how useful marketing can be when it comes to attracting top talent as well.

• Focus on showing the world why your company is a great place to work
• What makes it stand out above all other options?
• Sharing content that demonstrates your culture and values on social media
• Whether that’s naming an ‘employee of the month’ or just showing fun moments of what your team is up to

On top of this, you should try to keep your website updated.

This is likely the first place potential applicants will go to learn more about your business. So, having an up-to-date ‘about us’ section is a must. And it’s a great idea to build a ‘careers’ section too!

4. Spread the word far and wide

Once you’re ready to post your job ad, make sure you share it as widely as possible.

That means using lots of different platforms, like LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor and more. As well as print marketing if possible.

Consider where your potential applicants are likely to be and where they might see your job ad. And then post it in these spaces.

If you’re open to training somebody from the ground up, you could even reach out to community colleges and schools.

5. Ask for recommendations

Since starting your HVAC business, chances are you’ve built up a good professional network. Now’s the time to use it by asking for hiring recommendations!

Reach out to your contacts and ask them if they know any HVAC technicians who might be interested in applying. They’ll likely have a good idea of the kind of candidate who might fit well within your team and culture.

You can also encourage your current employees to recommend people.

A great way of doing this is to create a reward system. For instance, if you hire someone suggested by an existing employee, you could give that team member a bonus.

6. Create great perks

Finally, think about what perks your company can offer to make the job more enticing.

This can include benefits like health insurance, life insurance, and a decent number of holiday days. However, you should also think outside the box.

Consider what a jobseeker might be looking for from a potential employer.

For instance, could you offer bonuses for hitting targets? Yearly pay reviews? On-the-job training?

If you can give your employees a better work-life balance, this would be a valuable perk that could help you attract top applicants.

Other things to consider when recruiting HVAC technicians

Hopefully, you should now have a better idea of how to hire HVAC technicians suitable for your role.

However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still keep your standards high. And you’ll need criteria to compare against when sifting through any applications you receive.

Therefore, we recommend choosing your preferred candidate after considering the following areas:

1. Experience

Do you need an experienced HVAC technician? Or could you hire an apprentice and offer on-the-job training? Either way, who you hire is going to be based on what your business needs at the time.

2. Company culture

Does the candidate fit in with your company culture? Look for those with similar values and work ethics to your own so you know that they’ll integrate well. The last thing you want is to be butting heads with a new employee.

3. Aspirations

What are a candidate’s career goals and aspirations? Can you help them to achieve them? If you can, this means they’re more likely to stay with your company longer. Meaning you won’t have to recruit an HVAC engineer again anytime soon.

4. Strengths and weaknesses

Everyone has weaknesses and you can’t expect candidates to be good at everything. Remember that you hire teams, not just individuals. So, consider whether candidates can complement the skills of current employees and fill in gaps in your team’s skillset.

What is the average HVAC technician salary in the UK?

Naturally, one major way of attracting top talent to your company is by offering a competitive salary.

Which means you need to provide earnings that match the UK average.

For a trained HVAC technician, this is roughly £37,000 per year. However, this does vary depending on location. In London, for example, because of London weighting, the average tends to be over £42,000 per year instead.

Of course, one variant that can impact pay is the level of expertise a candidate has.

A candidate with only a year of experience won’t be as competent as one with five or more. As a result, the salary on offer might be lower.

Expand your HVAC business with Checkatrade

With that last point covered, you should now be more than ready to hire a HVAC technician for your business.

And if you’re looking to hire someone such as an apprentice who might need training, then Checkatrade can lend a hand. All our members get access to discounts on training. Helping you save money when taking on and upskilling employees.

There’s a wide variety of reasons you may want to get signed up:

• Get more work coming your way with guaranteed leads
• Save on business essentials such as insurance, vans, materials and workwear
• A profile page that is optimised for online searches
• Access to our trade app – giving job management, quoting/invoicing tool, profile updating and review requests

Get in touch with our team today to learn more about how we can help your business grow.