Hiring Mechanics?

It has been shown many times the best place to find new employees is referrals from your existing ones. If that source is tapped out, then you move on to advertising and other methods.

It's not just the auto side of the business. The company that I work for in the industrial vehicle & forklift industry is currently loosing a lot of old timers, and we're struggling to replace them. The talented hungry and ambitious 20 somethings are nowhere to be found.

I've been with this company about five years, and none of the young guys brought into my branch have lasted. We can't even get young guys that will change oil and pump grease, forget about the challenging stuff.

Have you tried trade schools?

Some actually have race technician or fabricator programs (I was enrolled at one for a while).

Tradesmen of all types are in increasingly short supply.

Mike Rowe is right.

Over five years in my current shop, and we've been shorthanded for most of it. Good, even mediocre tradespeople are hard to find. And my experience has been, that these (race) shops don't pay nearly as well as they think they do.

@ OP. To bad you are in TX.

The technician shortage is a very real problem. It is a many headed monster with lots of factors and opinions about why the issue exists but that is a whole other thread.

I was a dealership tech from 1999-2010. Before I went back to school to finish my bachelors I desperately wanted to work at a race shop or restoration shop. It really seemed like a world where you needed word of mouth to get in and I didn't have any contacts. Plus I was frustrated by shops that wanted to hire a guy in at 9-10 bucks an hour to "learn the ropes". Call me a spoiled brat but at over 30 I wasn't willing to take a big pay cut and go back to Square 1 without economic forces making me start over. I'm sure geography was a factor too and I would have found more opportunities in California than in Ohio where I was living at the time.

I ended up in the Corporate world and made better money than I ever did as a tech. After 5 years I was growing tired of the cubicle life and once again looked into race shops. My wife and I talked and we agreed if I could make at least the rate I did as a tech we would make it work so I could pursue the dream. We were even willing to move if need be.

The response in Michigan was cold because I didn't have an engineering degree and FSAE experience. Some people couldn't understand why I would want to leave a desk job. Some questioned if I would be able to handle physical work again or would want to run back to the desk. During 1 interview, I was asked what I needed for salary. When I said 25/hr I was told nobody that worked there made that kind of money "not even the owner". (Apparently they only hired brand new engineers if nobody made that much). It didn't really feel they put much of a value on the level of skill they were looking for.

It felt like I was trying to force something into happening that wasn't meant to be rather than chasing a dream. Life isn't a Disney movie. Ultimately I moved to a field position and now I deal with under-skilled technicians and understaffed shops everyday.

I've had the same experience. In one case (and this is a well know race shop everybody here would know) they said the same thing. We pay our guys well, then offered me about half what I was currently making.

So I read your ad on hpjobs, and it reads like you have very low expectations. If I were looking, I wouldn't apply because it sounds like an entry level/low paying job. A salary range in the ad will put all the cards on the table.

To zomby's point of low expectations, might it make sense to run two ads?
The second asking for a "real pie in the sky", highly qualified person.
Maybe title the second as Senior Mechanic and see which one applicants apply for.
This could be a way for the applicants to set and confess to their own expectations and qualifications.

Good point. It was intentionally somewhat vague since most places charge for multiple ads, and we're looking to hire multiple techs of various skill levels. We're willing to pay for an experienced tech that can dive into a high-end track car without blinking, but we also need some less experienced (cheaper) guys to do some simpler tire/brake/etc. work.

So far, Indeed has been the best. We've gotten maybe half a dozen resumes since Saturday, with one from CL and none from HP Jobs.

we're looking to hire multiple techs of various skill levels. We're willing to pay for an experienced tech that can dive into a high-end track car without blinking, but we also need some less experienced (cheaper) guys to do some simpler tire/brake/etc. work.

Any reason you didn't put that in the ad?

Zomby Woof wrote:

we're looking to hire multiple techs of various skill levels. We're willing to pay for an experienced tech that can dive into a high-end track car without blinking, but we also need some less experienced (cheaper) guys to do some simpler tire/brake/etc. work.

Any reason you didn't put that in the ad?

Honestly? Oversight on my part, I probably should have. I'm an engineer, not an HR rep. I'm not good at talking to people.

If there were a shop within a commutable distance, I would be interested in turning wrenches for a living. I want to work on cars, but not daily drivers.

Just out of curiosity, is this a traveling job or based out of the home base shop?

The skills you are looking for are much the same as what are required in the equipment integration field. These guys are designing, fabricating, installing and maintaining manufacturing equipment and robots. Most of the guys tend to have a broad base of skills. Might be a good place to poach some talent.

NOHOME wrote: Just out of curiosity, is this a traveling job or based out of the home base shop?

No travelling, generally speaking. We've done the "trackside support" game, and it's just not profitable to load up guys and tools and drive across the state. We're not a race team, either, so we don't run a series.

NOHOME makes a good suggestion. Those guys are usually technically strong, and used to thinking on their feet, making things happen. When you're on the road doing installations, you have no choice. They work comparatively cheap, too.

Not to belabour the point, but given the shortage of trades talent these days, if you really want to attract somebody good, you're going to have to sell it. Ask yourself, does this ad scream opportunity, or does it just sound like a job - an entry level one, at that?

Honestly, put out ads at tech schools with high performance or Motorsports programs. When I was at UNOH, there was a job board from places all over the country looking for entry level Motorsports mechanics and fabricators. My roommate actually went straight from college to work for Hendricks Motorsports as a fabricator for Jeff Gordon.

Zomby Woof wrote: NOHOME makes a good suggestion. Those guys are usually technically strong, and used to thinking on their feet, making things happen. When you're on the road doing installations, you have no choice. They work comparatively cheap, too. Not to belabour the point, but given the shortage of trades talent these days, if you really want to attract somebody good, you're going to have to sell it. Ask yourself, does this ad scream opportunity, or does it just sound like a job - an entry level one, at that?

And a lot of them are looking for a way to get off the road. I lived the life for 5 years,and the only skill that I see as under-represented would be panel beating and finish bodywork.

We can't hire/keep Millwrights. We only need 12 to fill the shop, and haven't had that for any longer than a month or so at a time in over five years of me being there, and the pay/benefits are good. My buddy runs a contracting company, and I don't think he has more than a couple of licensed guys. Just can't find them.

I asked this question earlier this year, we do oil changes and tires and don't even get applications. I am pretty well staffed for the first time in about five years now. We did indeed/CL/career builder but had our best luck through colleges and job post boards around town. I even hired a guy who wasn't looking to change jobs because he saw my card on the board at the local Panera. One of my shops is twenty minutes from UNOH and I have to say that it's a 30% chance of getting a good guy from that type of place and they all have "experience" and "degrees". Doesn't mean jack in our field if they can't handle the job. Really hard to interview twenty people who all have the same story, training and documentation.

If your shop was in chicago I would interview today.

Unfortunately that is useless to you.

Nobody wants to advertise salaries anymore and they wonder why they waste time interviewing people who turn down offers.

chandlerGTi wrote: One of my shops is twenty minutes from UNOH and I have to say that it's a 30% chance of getting a good guy from that type of place and they all have "experience" and "degrees". Doesn't mean jack in our field if they can't handle the job. Really hard to interview twenty people who all have the same story, training and documentation.

Well I don't know what to tell you about that. After tech school I stopped looking for jobs in the auto tech industry because I kept getting told that I didn't have experience and the places that were interested wanted to start me out as a lube jockey (which I understand why) for minimum wage and I was making much more than that cutting grass at a country club. I went back into classic car restoration because that's what I did before tech school.

As for the guys not being able to handle the job, that's going to have to be expected out of tech school, the school doesn't prepare you for the real world.

PHeller wrote: Nobody wants to advertise salaries anymore and they wonder why they waste time interviewing people who turn down offers.

Exactly. A job ad without a salary (range) is like a real estate ad without a price. Skip.

No offense meant, but his ad read like it's a $12/hr job