The success of any HVAC business comes down to the quality, knowledge, and etiquette of the technicians hired. Your technicians are the foundation of the company and the ones with the most client interface, thus representing your brand.
By recruiting high-caliber technicians, you stand to offer a positive customer experience, which is essential for strong business growth.
Follow this guide for some of the best tips and strategies to keep in mind when attracting, hiring, and retaining HVAC technicians.
12 Tips for Hiring HVAC Technicians
Your HVAC business is only as good as its technicians. Here are some of the most important factors to keep in mind when hiring HVAC techs.
1. Write A Detailed Job Description
When hiring HVAC technicians, be specific in your job ad and make sure to cover every aspect of their role. This is especially important if you’re looking for a specialist position that requires distinctive skills.
Ensure to also include any other general characteristics such as excellent customer service skills, basic computer literacy, etc.
Don’t only focus on hiring HVAC technicians that tick all of the general boxes. Instead, try to find technicians with specific skills that your business might lack. This will help you develop a more well-rounded HVAC team.
2. Post Your Listing On the Right Platform
When recruiting an HVAC technician, the aim should not be to attract a large number of candidates. Rather, you should aspire to attract the right candidates. This means being attentive as to where you post your job listing.
Try to stick with career recruitment and social media sites, like Indeed or LinkedIn. Posting your HVAC job listing on a site like Craigslist could attract all kinds of unwanted candidates.
You could also contact a recruiter, as some specialize in specific industries so are likely to have well-rounded candidates on their database who are already vetted.
3. Focus On Word Of Mouth And Referrals
Some of the best ways to hire technicians are to speak to your contacts in the HVAC industry for recommendations and to use a referral program in your business.
A referral program entails providing an employee with some sort of benefit if a referral they recommended is successful in their application and makes it pass a certain point (e.g. end of the probation period).
The benefit of going via word of mouth or a referral is that you will be able to hire someone you know and trust. This could help you to find more suitable, trustworthy candidates more easily, and for much cheaper.
4. Make The Application Process Simple
While it’s important that you are able to gather a lot of information about candidates, it’s also important that you don’t overcomplicate the application process.
If you require too much information, or too many steps in the recruitment process, there’s a good chance that you will lose out on a lot of talented HVAC technicians. You can always ask for more information from the HVAC technician during the interview stage.
5. Spend Adequate Time Hiring HVAC Technicians
Hiring the wrong technician can end up causing you a lot of money and inconvenience. And worst of all, poor quality hires may result in unhappy clients and a bad reputation for your business.
Even if you’re desperate to fill a new position, ensure to carefully review candidates with a thorough screening process. It will be well worth it in the long run.
6. Prioritize Experience
When hiring an HVAC technician, in some cases, experience in the field can be more important than qualifications. Check to see whether the candidate has done a master apprenticeship, and who they have learned from during their job experience.
It’s also important that you review what companies the technicians have experience working with. HVAC can be a pretty broad field, with many different jobs and tasks involved. The HVAC tech you hire should have real-life experience in the specific job requirements for your business.
7. Verify Their Credentials
Verifying the credentials of potential HVAC technicians is imperative as this ensures that they have the necessary expertise and qualifications to handle the tasks and equipment required.
This includes verifying their HVAC professional certification, state licensing, and any other documentation. You can use this resource to check your state’s licensing requirements and website links.
8. Test Their Skills And Knowledge
During the interview process, ask the candidates technical questions or give them a test to quiz their skill level. This will help to assess whether their skills are up to standard.
This will also assist you with understanding their knowledge base so that you can plan their onboarding and training accordingly.
The testing process will also give you an indication of technicians who have the versatility to work with a range of HVAC systems.
9. Conduct Reference Checks
It is standard practice for a reputable HVAC technician to have a list of references or testimonials on their resume.
The list below illustrates the type of questions that should be asked when conducting reference checks:
- What work did the technician perform for you?
- How was the quality of their work?
- Was the work completed in a timely manner?
- Did they maintain a clean workplace?
- Would you rehire them?
10. Offer An Attractive Package
Simply put, if you want your company to succeed, you need to hire good quality technicians to get the job done properly.
During the recruitment process, conduct research to establish the market-related salary for HVAC technicians, and ensure to offer a similar compensation package. To get ahead of the competition, consider adding unique benefits and bonus packages to entice them to join your company and stay for the long term.
When it comes to job satisfaction, employees are not only concerned about the monetary value; but rather, opportunities for career growth, promotions, etc. Keep this in mind and ensure to advertise on your job listing to showcase how employee job satisfaction is important to your HVAC business.
11. Gather Positive Reviews
When hiring HVAC technicians, prospective candidates will research your business to understand what the company culture is like. This is why it’s so important to have positive reviews – from both clients and employees.
Reach out to your employees and ask them to leave an honest review of their experience with your business. This could be done through a platform like Glassdoor. At the same time, try to gather as many reviews/testimonials from clients as possible. The more positive feedback your business has, the easier it will be to attract top talent.
12. Set Your Team Up With the Right Tools
In order to provide the best service and experience to your customers, you need to equip your technicians with the best tools.
This includes the ultimate software platform that encompasses real-time scheduling, automatic parts replenishment, access to technical training videos and troubleshooting tips, and being able to easily accept payments from customers through a tablet.
It also allows you to manage customer relationships, improve communication between dispatchers and technicians, and track company performance in key areas.
A software solution of this caliber will streamline day-to-day business management tasks, giving you time to focus on other areas and grow your business.
Best of all, an HVAC software tool like 3C Connect comes with a Cost Recovery Plus feature built right in. This absorbs the setup and ongoing membership costs of using 3C Connect into your pricing system by increasing the price of every job by a few dollars. The result is a zero-cost solution that streamlines your business and decreases your overheads.
Summary
The quality of your HVAC business really comes down to the quality of the technician you hire. By following the tips listed above, you’ll be able to secure people who add value to your business and stay for the long haul.
Ultimately, this will result in happier customers and a better service offering – which is vital for the growth of your HVAC business.
