How to Hunt for a Skilled Tradesman

In recent years, the rate of young applicants for skilled trade jobs dropped by a steep 49%. The skilled labor shortage has many companies worried about whether they can fill their needs for skilled labor. If you're in this camp, this article is for you.

There are many ways to recruit a skilled tradesman in the 2024 job market. Employing the right tactics could fill those job vacancies in no time. This article teaches you how to find and recruit skilled tradesmen.

Ask For Referrals

In this economy, you'll have to take the first step most of the time. If you already have a good relationship with the type of skilled tradesman you need, you can start by asking them for referrals or to point you to potential candidates. People in the trades will know who's looking for work, who's talented, and who to avoid hiring.

Networking

You can also network at trade industry events and conferences. These environments are great for meeting potential hires and building the relationships discussed in the paragraph above. However, these types of industry events might be too infrequent or far away from your business to be your primary source of talent.

Find An Expert

A significant component of the talent shortage is that skilled tradesmen are aging out and retiring faster than young people are coming in. The good news here is that you can still hire many veteran tradesmen with decades of experience.

Hiring one or two incredibly skilled and experienced tradesmen may suit smaller businesses more than hiring three or four new people. These types of tradesmen can then fulfill your business's needs much more efficiently.

Alternatively, you can also hire an expert and have them take a training role in your operation. As they work with others, they can teach less experienced tradesmen with all the tips and tricks they have gathered over the years. This allows you to hire people with less experience because you know they'll have a strong supervisor to help them learn.

Finding an expert like this isn't always easy, which is why this tactic works best with a recruiting agency.

Make Applying Easy

You should remove whatever barriers there are to people applying for your jobs. Many employers today put stringent criteria in their application requirements. The premise is that only the qualified will apply, and that will make the interviewing and vetting process simpler.

Unfortunately, this turns honest, capable applicants away if they feel like they don't meet the standard. It also incentivizes dishonesty.

Instead, advertise only the essential requirements and keep an open mind before the interviewing stage starts. Let the applicants impress you either with their references or during a probationary period. Many skilled tradesmen have years of valuable experience but lack the apparent paperwork or "standard qualifications."

Work Safety

It's a well-known fact that the perception of workplace safety has an impact on attracting and retaining employees. Building a culture of safety reduces the risk that employees will suffer accidents that will knock them out of a job.

However, workplace safety doesn't only apply in a physical sense. It's also valuable when your employees feel safe to raise complaints and ideas to middle and even upper management. If your tradesmen feel you have their backs in disputes, they're much more likely to recommend your company to other applicants and give their best on the job site.

Build an Internal Pipeline

Many operations need several skilled tradesmen at all times during the year. If you find your enterprise often running into the challenge of not having enough tradesmen for your contracts, creating an internal pipeline for nurturing talent is an excellent option.

The first step is getting your most experienced tradesman or skilled worker into a training role. This can either be their permanent job or part of their responsibilities.

There, they would work alongside and coach junior tradesmen according to your needs. This training will create more employees who perfectly suit your needs.

If you're worried about taking too much of your star employees' time away from work, you can use AI-powered tools for some training. A recruiting agency brings a similar benefit, just in a different way.

Working With A Professional Recruitment Agency

If the above tactics are too time consuming and laborious for your team, it is possible to get a cost-effective recruitment plan tailored to your unique needs. Consider outsourcing your recruitment processes to a third party. Partnering with a Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) provider is a great way to optimize your hiring process and significantly increase the talent pool for vetted and qualified candidates. In addition, most RPOs will create a strategic talent acquisition strategy that includes employer branding, recruitment marketing, and the use of innovative recruitment technology. By leveraging an RPO's expertise, you and your team can focus on more critical business functions.

The Best Way to Recruit a Skilled Tradesman

The skilled trades industry presents several recruitment challenges, but there are many ways to get the workers you need. If you would like to streamline this process, we can help you. Hunter Recruitment Advisors is an RPO provider that partners with you to become an extension of your team.

It's not about filling vacant roles; it's about growing your team with the right people so that your company can thrive. Contact us today and build your dream team!