“We’re in desperate need of a new technician.” This is an obstacle almost every one of our clients has faced this year. The truth is, good auto repair techs are hard to come by, and the even sadder truth is that the hiring shortage our country has faced this year did not help. Most great technicians already have a job, so the question then becomes: what do you offer employees that another auto repair shop may not?
In reality, your shop should always be recruiting by consistently sharing your company culture and always being open to connecting with quality technicians through your online presence. This is a strategy that AutoFix auto repair shop coach Chris Cotton calls “filling your bench.” When you fill your bench, you are constantly building a database of quality candidates who you can refer to when the time to hire comes. It’s a form of recruitment, whether you are actively hiring or not.
When it comes to our auto repair shop clients, we’ve worked hard to determine the best practices for sharing their shop culture, environment, and the perks of working at their shop. Here’s what has proven to be effective in our hiring campaigns:
Showcasing Company Cultures
Showcasing your company culture through your social media channels should be an ongoing practice at your auto repair shop. This lets customers and potential future employees have an inside look at your shop’s personality and environment. When thinking about what kind of things to post to show your company culture, here are our favorite types of posts:
- Team activities – training sessions, conferences, lunch outings, team building activities
- Photos of the shop and its employees at work – full bays, technicians or service advisors working and interacting with customers, interesting repairs
- Highlighting birthdays, work anniversaries, employee milestones (put their faces in front of people – as long as they’re okay with it!)
- Special equipment – show customers and potential employees what your shop has to offer
More than hiring, using your social media pages as a platform to showcase your company culture is an excellent way for customers to get to know, like, and trust your auto repair shop and team.
Girlington Garage in South Burlington, VT
Quality Import Services in Elkhart, IN
Organic Hiring Posts
Use organic hiring posts to get your message out there if you’re actively hiring. These posts on social media include well-crafted but simple job descriptions to let your followers know that your auto repair shop is looking for new technicians. It is essential to include benefits such as disability and health insurance and perks such as four-day work weeks and on-the-job training. Sharing this information in your job listing makes your auto repair shop stand out from other auto repair shops hiring in your area.
Collinsville Auto in Canton, CT
Girlington Garage in South Burlington, VT
Careers Webpage
Your website is a massive part of your online presence. Most often, it is the first impression your auto repair shop makes. When a quality technician considers your shop for employment, chances are they are Googling your auto repair shop. What will interest them enough to apply for your open position on your website?
The first question is, do you have an existing careers page on your website? The second question is, are the positions you are hiring for listed on the page with directions for applying?
Here is a list of what your auto repair shop should include on your careers page to set you apart from the competition and attract the quality technicians that you want to hire.
- Showcase your company culture. Include your mission statement and core values.
- As the shop owner, this is an excellent opportunity to introduce yourself. Pro tip: let them get to know the rest of your team and their potential co-workers by having a ‘Meet the Team’ page on your website.
- Make sure that your careers page is appealing. Having a dated or boring-looking careers page reflects how a quality auto repair technician might see your shop and cause them to move on quickly.
Here is a great example from Collinsville Auto:
If you’re actively hiring, make sure to have the job listing on your careers page with full details of the position and a form fill application with a field for resume submission. An extra beneficial step is adding a banner on your homepage to let visitors know that you are hiring technicians at your auto repair shop.
RDI Power in Brooksville, FL
So, what can you do to revamp your careers page?
- Add a welcoming video to introduce yourself and your shop by giving a shop tour that showcases the amenities you currently offer your technicians.
- Include images of you and your staff having a great time at work, any training you and your team regularly attend, employee outings, techs using the latest tools and equipment, giving back to the community, etc.
- Ask your employees for testimonials- have them include what they love about working for your business and their job title, and include them on the page. Check out what some of our team members had to say about working for Shop Marketing Pros on our careers page.
The possibilities for your careers page on your auto repair website are endless. The goal is to create a page so that when a qualified technician is looking for a new place to work and lands on your careers page, they will look no further. This page should live on your website whether you are actively hiring or not. It is another form of passive recruitment.
Facebook Job Listing Feature
Did you know that Facebook now has a job listing feature? This new feature allows you to post your job listing, accept applications, potential vet candidates, and schedule interviews, all from your business’s Facebook page.
Here’s a short how-to video on how to access this feature and set up your job listing on Facebook.
Just like a regular Facebook post, you can also boost a Facebook job listing to reach a wider audience. Over the past year, we have found that creating a job listing and boosting it has been the most effective way to find potential candidates and hire quality auto repair technicians in the digital space. Ready to boost? Here are our recommendations that we have personally tested out:
- Your target audience should be within a 25-mile radius of your shop. This is what most people are willing to commute. Keep in mind that this also depends on the location of your auto repair shop. If you live in a larger city, candidates may not be willing to drive as far.
- If you are willing to hire outside the suggested 25-mile radius, consider offering a relocation package, reimbursement for moving expenses, or a gas card.
- Set a dedicated boosting budget of approximately $150+ per month. This budget should be separate from any other Facebook ad budget you have set.
- To run a boosted job listing on Facebook, you must make the ad a special category ad and select it as an “Employment Opportunity.” If you do not do this, Facebook will not run the ad.
- By choosing this, to remain an equal opportunity employer, Facebook limits the demographics that you can change before running the ad. This means that you cannot target an audience based on age, gender, or race.
- The boosted job listing should run for approximately 20 days. Be sure to renew your job listing every 30 days as needed.
What Techs Want
When hiring, think about what technicians really want. In working with our client’s on hiring campaigns, they have communicated to us that technicians want the following from their job:
- Benefits such as disability and accident insurance, but most importantly, health insurance for them and their families.
- Retirement Plan
- Fair treatment by management
- Newer and updated equipment
- Fair, consistent, and easy to understand pay
Do you offer employees these things? What unique perks do you offer at your auto repair shop? Perhaps it’s a four-day workweek, performance bonuses, and ongoing training, positive, team-oriented work environment. What amenities does your shop offer? For example, air-conditioned shops, training rooms, paperless systems, etc. When writing your job listing, consider including these things as well as anything else that may set you apart from other auto repair shops. They are sure to attract quality candidates!
We know that hiring in the digital age can be overwhelming, especially if you’re hiring in a time crunch. If you need assistance putting these suggestions into practice, we’d love to help you. You can also check out this helpful auto repair technician recruitment campaign that we’ve put together. In addition, take a listen to Shop Marketing Pros owners Kim and Brian Walker as they discuss ‘Social Media Marketing to Technicians’ with Carm Capriotto on the Remarkable Results Radio Podcast.
If you put these best practices to use, let us know how they work for you! We always love to hear your feedback. If you want help from the Pros, schedule a discovery call with J.R. today!
About The Authors
Hallie Wasinger
As a digital marketing strategist, Hallie is directly responsible for curating a client's messaging on various platforms including digital advertising, email marketing, and social media. Hallie has a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing, and has focused her work experience specifically on digital marketing. She works hard to capture each client's "voice" and build upon that to help their businesses thrive.
Michelle Travis
As our website administrator, Michelle is directly responsible for maintaining our clients websites to assure they stay online, function without flaw and ensure users a rich online experience. As an SEO strategist, she works hard to create unique content tailored to each individual client while driving their google rankings to the top!
