Filling vacancies within a dealership environment isn’t always simple. While some roles attract applicants in droves, others are a lot harder to find any suitable candidates for.
Say you’ve posted a job advertisement, but applications are few and far between. Even more, the ones you do receive aren’t quite where you need them to be. What can you do? You still need to fill the role but you’re seemingly stuck between a rock and a hard place, without any qualified applicants throwing their hats in the ring.
But don’t be discouraged! By thinking outside the box, there are still a few things you can do to find a quality candidate for that hard-to-fill role.
Consider if you could train someone up
If you’re struggling to identify any suitable talent from your external recruitment efforts, why not try looking within the business? While you might not have anyone that currently possesses all the same skills, experience, and knowledge as the previous incumbent, chances are you do have a team of skilled employees that already know the business inside out.
If you’re willing to provide some additional training and instruction, you may be able to identify someone with the right attitude and motivation to take on the challenge who could step into the role quite comfortably.
Hiring in-house can also offer plenty of benefits for the business like being an excellent staff motivator, rewarding good performance, building a multi-skilled workforce, and shortening the on boarding process, so it’s well worth considering.
Find ways to make the role more attractive
Whether it’s a Diesel Mechanic or an Aftersales Manager, if you’re struggling to fill a role it might be because what you’re offering isn’t as attractive as what your competitors are offering.
In a strong job market, high performing workers really can take their pick of the bunch when it comes to job hunting. If the dealership next door is offering significantly more money, great opportunity for progression, better conditions, or more flexible working arrangements, you’re going to be hard-pressed to convince a candidate that working for your dealership is the better option.
Start off by checking what your competitors are offering for similar roles, and think about how your offering stacks up in comparison. Even if you don’t have the budget to offer more money, there are plenty of other things you can negotiate on to help you secure a quality candidate.
Look for candidates with transferable skills
While some roles require very specific skills or qualifications, if you can’t find someone that has exactly what you’re looking for, try looking for transferable skills instead.
Transferable skills are skills which aren’t specific to a particular role but can be easily applied to a range of different contexts and environments—like communication, analytical skills, leadership, teamwork, or creative or critical thinking.
Take a good look at the core skills required for the role. Even if a candidate doesn’t have any industry-specific experience, provided they possess a few key skills, chances are they could very quickly learn the role and pick up any industry nuances.
Start networking
In a perfect world, the best candidates would seek you out to express their interest in joining your dealership. However, the reality is that most successful workers are relatively happy in their current position and not actively looking for that next opportunity.
That’s where it can be beneficial to get on the front foot and plant the seed for them.
Whether you do it by conducting targeted outreach via LinkedIn, utilising your current employees’ networks, reaching out to previous applicants for other roles or attending industry events to get chatting with other industry professionals, networking can be an excellent way to tap into a pool of potential candidates that weren’t even considering a job move.
Get help from the professionals
If you’re simply having no luck finding a suitable candidate, it’s best to reach out to a specialist recruitment agency like Teamrecruit.
With access to an extensive industry network and a comprehensive database of job seekers who are actively looking for that next opportunity, we can guide you through the process to find a candidate that will be the right fit for your dealership. Contact us to find out how.
Teamrecruit is Australia’s most established recruitment agency specialising in truck, earthmoving and agricultural machinery dealerships in Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific and Southeast Asia. Find out more about Teamrecruit and how we support employers and candidates in the dealership industry.