Shops may think their websites only need to appeal to their customers. However, shops whose websites only speak to consumers are missing out on attracting a primary power behind what keeps their customers coming back—their technicians.
Let’s look at how shops can use their websites to not only attract customers, but also recruit technicians.
Career Pages are Great, But They Often Fall Short in Recruiting Technicians
There are a number of ways shops can appeal to technicians on their website. One of the most common ways is by adding a Careers or Employment section. This is a great start, but oftentimes these pages fall short in attracting technicians for one (or all) of the following reasons:
- Career pages are too broad. Career pages are used to list all job openings in every area of the shop. There’s nothing that speaks directly to technicians.
- Job descriptions don’t provide enough information. Job descriptions are too vague and don’t give most technicians the information they need to feel confident to take the next step.
- Career pages are often buried in a shop’s website. A Careers page doesn’t do a lot of good if technicians can’t easily find it on a shop’s website.
Since most technicians are already employed, shops need to make sure they’re being transparent about their shop and the job, and that means putting all the details technicians want to know out there before they apply or interview.
5 Ways to Recruit More Technicians Using a Shop’s Website
Disclose Shop Benefits
Most shops have amazing benefits for technicians, but some don’t go into detail about them on their public websites. This is unfortunate because when technicians are looking for new opportunities, certain health or career development benefits could be their deciding factor in taking a new position. However, when shops don’t publicly disclose this information, they miss out.
Shops should list and explain (in detail) their shop’s benefits and give technicians an inside look at their health plans, compensation, career development opportunities, and more.
Showcase Pictures of the Shop, Service Area, & Equipment
Technicians want to see pictures of the shop area they’ll be working in. Don’t just share photos of the waiting area or outside. Instead, shop should share pictures of the areas technicians care about, like:
- Service area and bays
- Breakroom
- Equipment
- Specialty tools
- Technicians working in the service area
Basically, anything technicians would be shown on a shop tour during an interview should be shown in pictures that they can see before they even apply.
Share Shop Videos
Video is a great way to catch the attention of technicians on a shop’s website. In fact, using video for recruiting technicians has been shown to get more engagement, shares, and listening time.
Not only is video effective in recruiting, but it’s also a great way to easily explain what it’s like to work at a shop. Some topic ideas for videos include:
- Onboarding and training for new employees
- Career development opportunities
- Why technicians love working at the shop
- How different processes and procedures work at the shop
- Shop tour
Shops should get their team involved in creating videos as well. Technicians want to hear from other technicians!
To see some other shop video examples, check out the videos on our Shop Talk page to see how shops across the country are using video to attract more technicians to their shops.
Make it User- & Mobile-Friendly
In today’s digital world, a shop’s website must be organized and mobile-friendly. If technicians can’t find the information they want to know about a shop quickly and easily, they will go back to Google and find the next shop that can.
Here are a few quick tips for shops to ensure their website can be easily navigated by technicians:
- Give technicians an obvious career-related link to click on the shop’s homepage. At WrenchWay, we’ve seen shops do this in a number of ways. Some shops like Vancouver Auto Group include a “Technician Careers” button in their main navigation. Others, like Lifetime Transmissions, will include a callout for technician careers on the side of their homepage.
- Mind the 3-click rule. Technicians and users alike should be able to find the information they are looking for on a shop’s website within three clicks. To accomplish this, shop websites must remember to have an accessible navigation bar clearly available on their desktop and mobile versions.
- Categorize and group information. Make sure the information in the website navigation makes sense. This is likely the first place technicians will look when they come to your site.
- Keep design and wording consistent throughout all web pages. Each page of a shop’s website, although they offer different information, should follow the same design and format in order to keep things clean and make information easy to find.
- Keep the wording simple in the navigation panel. When technicians are quickly looking through shop websites they are looking for key terms like careers, work with us, benefits, training, etc. to help them find the information they need.
Keep Information Updated
Things are constantly changing… New equipment is being purchased and installed, new staff is coming in, and more. Some of these alterations to the shop need to be reflected on the shop’s website because it could help attract new talent!
WrenchWay Top Shops Make it Easy to Recruit Technicians on Your Website
We know making website edits can be a headache. This is why our clients use Top Shop pages for recruiting technicians.
Top Shop pages make it possible for shops to:
- Answer all the questions technicians typically have in an interview BEFORE they even apply.
- Share photos and videos of the shop.
- Keep shop information up-to-date with a simple “click to edit” platform.
- Get in front of more technicians. Every client has a dedicated account manager who helps shops utilize their Top Shop page.
- Receive more mobile applications because of the simple “Quick Apply” functionality and ability
