As the skill gap widens, employers are confronted with the stark reality that the effectiveness of recruiting skilled trades through job advertisements is diminishing, if not completely ineffective. Many job openings for skilled trades and specialized talent remain unfilled for over 90 days, with little to no candidate flow.

So, what is the solution?

Outbound recruitment, commonly known as headhunting, has long been a successful approach for recruiting executives and senior leaders across various industries. However, this approach has now become imperative on a larger scale for skilled trades and specialized roles in manufacturing environments.

Here’s a brief case study on how we helped a client hire 18 skilled maintenance technicians in less than 90 days, without posting a single job advertisement.

THE CLIENT

A privately owned national service provider, employing more than 6,000 service technicians, performing millions of maintenance repairs across the United States annually.

THE CHALLENGE

Not unlike most employers across the country, the business was struggling to fill their vacancies for skilled maintenance technicians. Requisitions remained open for more than 6 months and generated an average of 0-2 applicants. To overcome this challenge, the business was spending over $100,000 per month on job board advertisements, resulting in an influx of unqualified candidates and having little impact on achieving their hiring goals.

THE SOLUTION

Although the business had an internal team of recruiters, they lacked dedicated sourcing resources. To address this, a focused approach was implemented, centering exclusively on outbound recruitment and sourcing. The following strategies were implemented:

Market Research:

Comprehensive market research was conducted for each target city to understand the local market and identify areas where the search scope needed expansion to effectively fill the roles.

Targeted Sourcing:

Various sources were utilized to build comprehensive lists and obtain contact information for maintenance technicians in each city. These sources included resume databases, social media platforms, and AI sourcing tools.

Maintenance Technicians Identified and Contacted: 2,898

Omnichannel Outreach:

A multistage, omnichannel outreach campaign was developed and launched. This campaign aimed to engage identified maintenance technicians through personalized messaging delivered via email, text messages, and phone calls. The goal was to inform and nurture unaware prospects to increase positive response rates.

Contact Points Made to the 2,898 Identified Maintenance Technicians: 6,728

Process Simplification:

Once a maintenance technician expressed interest, they were promptly engaged, informed, prequalified, and scheduled for a first-level interview with the hiring team within 24 hours. This streamlined process ensured efficient communication and reduced potential delays in the hiring process.

By implementing these strategies, the business optimized their recruitment efforts, effectively targeting skilled maintenance technicians, and accelerating the hiring process for optimal results.

THE RESULTS

Increased Candidate Flow– Increased candidate flow by 343.7% in each target city.

Fall-Off Rate Reduction– Fall-off rate between interest to interview was reduced from >50% to 19%.

Experienced Hires– A total of 18 hires were made in target cities for skilled maintenance technicians in less than 90 days.

CONCLUSION

By embracing outbound recruitment practices, businesses can tap into the broader talent pool and ultimately secure the skilled professionals they need to drive success. As the landscape of talent acquisition evolves, it is crucial for employers to adapt and explore innovative strategies to bridge the skill gap and meet their hiring goals effectively.