Recruiting for HVAC Employees on Social Media

Recruiting for HVAC Employees on Social Media

With the ongoing employee shortage in the trades industry, it is critical that your HVAC company utilize creative tools to find skilled workers.

Heating and cooling, plumbing, electrical—all these companies have a great opportunity to increase their social media presence as a recruiting resource. Let’s look at how we can accomplish this.

BxB is not in the recruiting business, but we are in the HVAC marketing business and have helped many of our clients utilize social media to recruit and hire skilled HVAC workers. If you are not currently using Facebook and other social media platforms for recruiting, you are missing out. We wrote this article to cover the basics of how to get out there and start recruiting on social media. 

What You Should Know

According to Glassdoor for Employers, 79% of job seekers use social media in their job search. That percentage jumps to 86% for younger job seekers in the first 10 years of their careers. Here are some other findings:

• Approximately 45% of job seekers use social media on their mobile devices at least once a day. That is why Facebook Jobs is a direct competitor to traditional recruiting sites like Indeed. LinkedIn, for example, provides a wide array of entry-level and high-end corporate jobs. Social media’s role in recruiting is a fast-emerging force in the job search ecosystem.

• Although many HVAC companies might not necessarily step in this zone due to their perception of social media, fear of budget, or general discomfort, they will miss out quality prospects within their service areas.

• Emerging platforms like TikTok are innovating the digital landscape, offering another platform where HVAC companies can reach potential new hires. In 2021, the popular social media platform launched an exciting initiative called TikTok Resumes, a new video resume program designed to support TikTok’s community and stand out in the hiring process.

One of the first jobs posted on TikTok was for a creative innovation intern position with the Detroit Pistons. As more companies build their presence here, the demographics continue to grow.

Social Media for HVAC Recruiting

When a business publishes new digital job postings, they use job board services such as Indeed and ZipRecruiter, which is not a bad thing—that is supposedly where all the job seekers are looking.

However, there are 3.5 billion active social media users around the globe. Facebook alone has over 2.3 billion users. The average time spent on social media each day is more than 2 hours.

These platforms are overflowing with active and passive talent, open to the right opportunities.

Recruiting HVAC techs, dispatchers, and other office personnel on this platform isn’t that different from marketing—you need to place your job ad in the eyes of the right people at the right time. Reach always equals attention, and attention is always leveraged with the proper creativity.

Facebook Costs

Remember, most people spend over 2 hours a day on social media. As people continue scrolling, your HVAC job can appear in front of the right pair of eyes.

You can post a job multiple times for free on Facebook, and sponsoring one ad can be as little as $250 for 10 days. You will typically have an average cost of $1 to $2 per click—but what you don’t pay for is the people that like or repost your job to their circles. This free promotion will create an echo chamber for your job post, as friends share with other friends and family, making it more likely people will view your posting

Strategy for HVAC Hiring on Social Media

Create enough job posts to saturate your service areas and surrounding counties. We also recommend posting on LinkedIn, where every company gets one free posting and can sponsor additional postings for $6 daily.

We like seeing organic posts simmer for about a full week as a rule of thumb (depending on urgency). Then, it all comes down to the engagement. If the number of quality applicants does not meet your expectations, we can set up an advertising budget for a specific time.

During the recruiting process, we highly recommend posting positive reviews about your company’s reputation on Facebook. Let candidates read what your customers have to say about you. We can import these reviews from a business website or any other third-party review tool.

HVAC Job Description for Recruiting on Social Media  

Before posting your job description on Facebook and other social media sites, we recommend listing at least TOP 5 Selling Points relevant to your local job seeker. These points will differentiate you from your competitors. This strategy will lead the applicants to read on with more interest.

Examples of these differentiators can be any of the following:

• Paid Continuous Training—We pay you to continue learning
• Weekends Off
• Company Outings & Family Environment
• Company Vehicle & High-Tech Equipment
• Best PTO in the Industry
• Company Swag
• Comprehensive Benefits Package (Health, Dental, Vision)
• Matching Retirement Package
• Competitive or Performance Bonuses
• Company-Provided Uniforms

ABOUT Your HVAC Business

Now is not the time for modesty! Brag about your company and let candidates know about your years of experience as a successful business, your incredible workplace culture, and camaraderie between fellow team members.

According to Glassdoor, 64% of Millennials would prefer to make $40K a year at a job they love than $100K a year at a job they think is boring. And nearly 80% of Millennials look at people and culture fit with prospective employers, followed by career potential.

Creative Call-To-Action

Since you already have the candidate’s attention, dare them to apply and create a sense of urgency:

• “Join a winning team of professionals seeking your expertise.” 
• “Apply today. Interview tomorrow.”
• “If you believe you’re the addition we’ve been looking for, click ‘apply’ right now.”
• “Our team could use your expertise immediately. Just apply.”
• “Success waits for you as soon as you hit apply.”

Using social media in recruiting to fill your HAVC job openings has proven very successful for BxB clients. You can take what you learned here today and start posting—or, if you would like help, reach out to us at BxB, and we will help you build a winning social media campaign to find your next HVAC technician, salesperson, dispatcher, or any other job opening you have!