Heavy equipment workers are the backbone of the entire economy. These highly skilled professionals are capable of doing some of the hardest and most dangerous jobs in a wide range of industries. Employers are often facing thin margins and tight schedules, and empty positions or unqualified candidates can slow down your business and chip away at your bottom line.

To make matters worse, the perfect candidates are also being courted by machinery recruiters in dozens of other fields: retail, military, aerospace, transportation, construction... the list goes on and on. Competition is fierce, and you need an edge to attract the talented professionals who are a perfect fit for your company.

So, how do you go about finding the right people and bringing them into the fold? We’ll go over a few of the ways you can attract top heavy equipment talent to your company.

Where to Recruit

Heavy equipment operators and techs have jobs that are extremely demanding both mentally and physically. If you’re not working with a dedicated machinery recruiter who has deep connections throughout the industry, you’ll need to begin your search in places that produce tough people.

Your first stop should be your local chapter of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE). This is where most qualified folks will be looking for work. In particular, former military personnel are often excellent candidates. On top of the physical and mental excellence the military engenders, many jobs in the armed forces require the same training as civilian machinery and heavy equipment operators. If you’re choosing to go it alone without a machinery recruiter to take the pressure off, the military has a job connection website that can help.

Another good place to maintain contacts is in the offshore or roving construction/repair industries. These fields often involve long, difficult, and dangerous work done far from home and family. Because of the nature of the work, there tends to be a higher turnover rate, and excellent candidates who understand hard work are constantly cycling out for more settled and lower-stress options.

Benefits Can Make All the Difference

Industry-best benefits are fast becoming a decisive factor in many candidates’ decision-making processes in the heavy equipment field. While salaries are invariably the most important issue, they can be very similar across a wide range of job opportunities. When machinery recruiters can highlight a portfolio of additional benefits your positions entail, they can be differentiators that help secure the best candidates for your company.

Living Environment

Sometimes you’ve got built-in advantages specific to your business. A great location, excellent climate, good schools, and safe communities are among some of the top perks to include. These are also free, so push them hard when you can! And, of course, having an excellent reputation as an employer can go a long way for potential hires deciding between job opportunities.

Payroll Benefits

If you can offer great payroll benefits above and beyond what your competitors are willing to invest, you will quickly become a top choice for your ideal candidates. Know what all the competition offers, and be better where you can.

For example, some employers don’t provide basic health insurance. People in the heavy equipment industry value security, and knowing their family will never have to worry about costly hospital bills will bring resumes to your desk.

Disability insurance is also a solid perk in the heavy equipment industry where a potential on-the-job injury is a very real possibility. Vision plans and student loan/tuition assistance can take some of the financial pressure off of younger families and frame a job opportunity as part of an employee’s long-term life planning.

Flexible Packages

Finally, because every situation is different, flexible benefit packages may be one of the most attractive options. Providing a variable list of benefit options from which employees can pick and choose allows your team to craft plans that match their individual needs rather than locking them into a one-size-fits-all situation.

How to Refine Your Search

There’s nothing wrong with the huge job sites, but the fact is they cater to everyone and often have a difficult time offering the specialist services an industry-specific machinery recruiter can deliver.

Also, they tend to make up for precision with high volume, which just makes more work for you since you have to sort through the stack to find credible candidates. That eats into your time and budget, and in the end, you may not have a single resume that measures up. To make matters worse, large job sites don’t often give candidates a lot of guidance about the job they’re applying for or what your company needs, so it can be hard to know if you’re even on the same page.

If you’re going it alone without a machinery recruiter, you’re going to have a lot of legwork to do. Industry-specific publications, your local IUOE office, outgoing military placement programs, and some of the pre-established industry contacts we discussed earlier are all good places to start. Of course, a dedicated recruiter can save you the hassle because they know exactly what you’re looking for and have the connections and experience to simply bring the best candidates to your door.

A Great Recruitment Agency Makes Life Easier

Getting the right people in your heavy equipment positions at the right time can be the difference between building your business and breaking the bank. Unfortunately, in extremely specialized industries, it can take a lot of time and expertise to seek them out, and most owners and GMs simply don’t have that kind of flexibility in their schedules. A smart alternative is often to partner with industry-specific, professional machinery recruiters.

V20 Consulting + Recruiting was founded to help connect top employees and employers across the powersports, motorsports, marine, recreation, and machine industries. We take the time to learn your business and workplace culture so we know what to look for as we carefully examine our roster of jobseekers. We don’t just deliver good candidates—we deliver prospective employees who will fit your company culture and are invested in your field. And we maintain deep industry contacts so we always know where and when the best are coming and going.

Stop shaking your head over stacks of subpar resumes and reach out to V20 today! You can contact our corporate line, or reach out directly to one of our rockstar machinery recruiters!