You’re dying to turn your passion for Harley Davidson’s legendary motorcycles into a career. But where to start? You’ve spent hours carefully mining the usual suspects like ZipRecruiter and the other cattle-call job listing sites, but your applications don’t get any attention. Worse, these high-volume sites don’t seem to know anything about the company that you’ve been thinking about since you were 10 years old!

It can be demoralizing to put in so much work toward a dream and not see any movement, but the fact is, there are probably concrete reasons you’re having trouble getting traction. Harley Davidson is an extremely competitive company, and it has been adapting its priorities and business goals to new market conditions in recent years. If you want to work for this industry great, you’ll need to make sure you’ve got the specific training and experience to fit into their structure—especially if you’re looking for an executive position.

That probably sounds daunting, but making yourself a valuable (and much-needed) candidate for Harley Davidson just takes some dedication. You’ll need a partner who knows what the company is looking for and can tell you what you need to be successful.

Understanding the Evolution of Harley Davidson

This iconic brand is as classic as it gets, but like any legendary company, they’re constantly evolving to meet the changing times. Because they’re a global brand, it’s incredibly important for them to ensure standardized service, products, and messaging across all aspects of their business. As a result, they’ve been focusing more on developing larger regional retailers who have the infrastructure to deliver on top-level strategy decisions.

So, what does that mean for someone looking for a job? The foundation of delivering on these goals is in-house training and specialization in the Harley Davidson way of doing business.

What that means from a hiring perspective is that resumes with Harley-specific qualifications represent a sound financial proposition—they’re not going to have to pay for training and lose time and money while you catch up. In other words, without experience, your resume is probably going in a separate stack.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that you can’t get a job without previous training and experience, but it’s going to be a lot harder to make your case. Your resume will have to demonstrate that you’re worth the investment, and your interview will need to confirm that you’re committing for the long haul. Remember: this isn’t a startup you’re dealing with. If you’re not serious about Harley, don’t expect them to be serious about you.

Finding Your Place

Because of this shift in approach, Harley Davidson jobs need to be broken down into two categories: executive roles and “everything else.” In particular, if you’re trying to find your way into a leadership position, you’ll have to have a very clear understanding of how you’ll be expected to fit in and what they’ll need you to do.

Executive Harley Davidson Jobs

Dealer consolidations and top-down corporate initiatives are pushing to standardize the Harley Davidson experience across the company regardless of where a dealership is or who’s running the dealership or dealership group. That means the number-one job of people in key roles is to align their dealership with corporate strategy.

So, if you’re thinking a business or marketing degree from a great school should be enough to take a local store in Lincoln, NE to success, think again. Key people have to think on a macro scale, and leaders will need to have an extremely clear understanding of Harley’s market dynamics and global positioning strategies and translate those to local markets.

If that feels like Harley Davidson knows exactly what they’re looking for, congratulations! You get it, and that’s the first step toward a successful job search. The next is finding a recruiter who works closely with them, knows the company inside and out, and has the connections and experience to help you get traction.

Sales, Service, and Other Roles

If you’re trying to get onto the sales floor or into the service area, you’ll have much more leeway when it comes to experience. These are roles where some on-the-job training is expected to occur, and there are established Harley Davidson programs that run all the time.

For sales, there’s no doubt that having worked for a Harley dealership before is a plus. While it’s not a requirement, the other people on the showroom floor will expect you to earn your stripes and you’ll start on the bottom of the heap.

To develop the high levels of expertise and skill it takes to repair or build bikes—especially exquisite machines like Harleys—training, hands-on experience, and internships are a must. There are many options, and Harley Davidson offers training and apprenticeship programs you should take.

And, of course, there are many other possibilities with the company, like motorclothes specialists, finance and insurance experts, and service managers. Depending on what you’re looking to do, it may be easier or harder to start a career, but no matter what, you’ll want to make sure you know everything there is to know about the brand and how it relates to your area of expertise.

Be Ready to Get on Your Bike and Ride

Harley Davidson is a massive, global empire spanning multiple continents, but that doesn’t mean there’s a dealership around every corner. “Dealer consolidation” is the new buzzword for the business, and these days there are fewer local mom-and-pop shops and more regional hubs.

Particularly on the executive side of things, being committed to the career means being ready to go where they need you. Also, you should be prepared for the fact that Harley is a changing company that may require you to shift around as locations open and close.

A recruiting partner who’s a Harley Davidson jobs expert can give you a clear picture of what they need and where. They’ll also tell you which roles might be the best fit for you, and you’ll need to be ready to follow their lead. After all, they’re there to help you start a career, not “get a job”, and that begins with committing to the process.

Making Your Harley Davidson Connection

Harley Davidson enthusiasts are a breed like no other, and that’s why it takes equally dedicated employees to keep delivering the experience and service that keeps bikers coming back for more. If you want to make a career with this legendary brand a reality, simply putting out a few dozen resumes isn’t going to get the job done. You’re going to need a recruiting partner who’s an industry insider with the depth of knowledge and contacts to navigate these waters.

At V20 Recruiting + Consulting, we’re powersports and motorsports recruiting experts—especially when it comes to big dogs like Harley Davidson. Jobs with this classic American icon are a specialty of ours, and it’s why we have Adam Wilke on our roster—one of the most legendary Harley headhunters in the game. Why is he in such high demand? One reason:

He gets top candidates to the finish line at Harley.

Adam is just one of our team of experts at V20, and we have decades of experience in the field. We know exactly what it takes to present the best version of you to companies. Connect with one of our Powersports team members today, or contact V20 directly through our agency’s portal to kickstart your career with Harley.