Writing an automotive technician job posting that entices candidates to apply is no easy task. Often times, one of the biggest sticking points for many shops and dealerships wanting to hire technicians is, “Should I include salary in technician job postings?”
The quick answer: Absolutely.
Shops Not Posting Salary Range are Missing Out on Qualified Techs
Recently, we were working with an independent shop to recruit for an automotive technician position. When we wrote the initial job posting, the shop did not want us to include the salary range in the job details, so the job went up without it.
When techs started reaching out to us about the open position, they asked about the salary range (like they always do). When we weren’t able to provide them with an answer, more than half of the techs stopped talking to our recruiters. And that’s just the techs that made the effort to reach out and ask. Think of how many didn’t reach out in the first place.
We estimate that by not including salary range in your job posting, you’re decreasing your pool of applicants by approximately 75%.
We reached out to the shop, and let them know what was going on. By not including the pay range in their job posting, they were significantly decreasing their applicant pool and missing out on qualified techs. The shop agreed to give it a shot and add the salary range into the job posting.
As a result, we received several qualified applicants within a few weeks that we were able to pass onto the shop to interview.
We’d love to say that this is an isolated occurrence, but, really, this is the norm.
Techs Want to Know Salary Before They Apply
LinkedIn recently did a survey in which they asked 450 users to look over an example job posting. They created a heat map to show which parts of the job posting captivated them the most. Pay and benefits information topped the list attracting the majority of respondents immediately.
This should come as no surprise. In fact, 61% of candidates say salary range is the most important part of a job posting.
Pay transparency has become increasingly important to job seekers, and why shouldn’t it? Why waste time applying for a position you aren’t sure can meet your financial demands?
We have found that the main reason shops and dealerships don’t want to post salary range is because they aren’t sure if the salary they are offering is high enough, so we wanted to share some tips for how to determine how much to pay your technicians.
Tips for Determining Salary Range For Your Technicians
When we work with shops and dealerships to recruit technicians, we look at a number of factors to help them determine the salary range to offer techs that is both competitive and doesn’t blow their budget.
Here’s what we recommend:
- Evaluate the local competition, and make sure your salary range falls into the top half of what you’re seeing
- Know what the tech needs to product, at the agreed upon salary, in order to pay for themselves
- Don’t base pay off of what other techs in your shop make
Ultimately, what it comes down to is the majority of shops and dealerships are feeling the effects of the technician shortage, and need to take advantage of every competitive advantage they can get. If including a salary range in your job postings is all it takes to more than double your number of qualified applicants, isn’t it worth it?
