How to Hire the Best HVAC Service Technicians: 4 Smart Strategies for Your Next Hire

Hiring HVAC technicians isn’t easy—especially since the best ones are likely already employed. So how do you hire the best candidates when working with a slim market? To bring the best service technicians onto your team, you should set yourself apart from your competition with these four effective strategies for hiring HVAC technicians.
Hire Before the Busy Season
Don’t wait until you’re slammed to start hiring HVAC technicians. Everyone’s fighting to keep their top techs during the busy season, so beat the rush by hiring during slower months. The first quarter is the perfect time to plan your HVAC technician hiring before the demand spikes.
Pro Tip: Write job ads that tell your company’s story and are compelling for why a candidate would want to work for you. Add a “Why Work for Us” section to highlight what makes your company a great place for HVAC employment.
Focus on Potential, Not Just Experience
Experience is great, but it’s not everything. A tech with a year or two of experience and a hunger to learn might outshine someone with 5 years of experience who’s just punching the clock.
Pro Tip: Use skills tests and employee assessments to see what candidates can do and where they can grow.
Offer Competitive Pay and Benefits
Great pay and benefits are key to attracting the best service technicians. Techs value competitive pay, benefits, and flexibility. Offering benefits like 4-day workweeks, more vacation time, comprehensive medical, dental, and vision packages for employees and their families, 401k or other retirement opportunities, continuing education, development training, or simply letting employees take company vehicles home can make your HVAC employment opportunities stand out.
Pay transparency is also important—list hourly pay, bonuses, and spiffs clearly in your job ads. Make sure your pay is competitive. You should be assessing your compensation ranges and pay scales at least every 6 months with a Salary Survey or other salary market tool. Bottom line — if your benefits and pay aren’t competitive, the best service technicians won’t even consider applying to your company.
Pro Tip: Use Salary Surveys to stay on top of market rates and competitor wages. Any other company hiring for the same role you are pulling from the same talent pool, making them your competitor.
Keep an Eye on Your Online Reviews
Your online reputation matters. HVAC technicians often check reviews on Glassdoor and Indeed before applying. Negative reviews can scare off candidates. Respond to feedback professionally and encourage current employees to share their positive experiences.
Pro Tip: During check-ins or Stay Interviews, ask your team to leave reviews about what it’s like working for your company.
When you know how to recruit HVAC technicians effectively, you’ll stand out from the competition and build a strong team. Start early, hire trainable techs, stay competitive in pay and benefits, and make sure your company looks great online.
Need hiring support?
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