HVAC Hiring Guide: How to Recruit HVAC Technicians

This HVAC Hiring Guide will give you all the information you need to find and hire the best HVAC technicians for your business.

No matter if you’re a new or established HVAC business, hiring new employees can cause pause for concern because of the risks involved. This is why it’s important you’re taking the right steps when hiring new employees. You’ll want to:

Attract the right candidates
Ask the right interview questions
Take the proper legal steps for new hires

In this HVAC hiring guide, you’ll get all the information you need to make the best hiring decisions for your HVAC business.

When It’s Time to Hire New HVAC Technicians

First off, before you consider hiring new HVAC technicians, you need to be 100% sure you’re ready to start the hiring process.

This means you need to be ready from a legal perspective. If you’re in the United States, you’ll need an EIN (Employee Identification Number), and if you’re in Canada, you’ll need an SIN (Social Insurance Number).

Once you’ve ensured that you’re legally ready to begin hiring, answer these questions to find out if it’s time to hire new HVAC technicians:

Is your HVAC business growing fast enough to put a full-time technician to work?
- Are you and/or your employees feeling tired and overworked?
Do you have enough resources to properly train a new HVAC technician?
Are your clients happy with your services?
Can your business withstand the short-term profit loss that comes with training new employees?
Do you have a proper hiring process in place?
- Be prepared to manage your new employee, put them on the payroll, and fulfill your government requirements for hiring a new HVAC technician (check your local laws to see what those are).

If you’ve answered yes to the questions listed above, then you’re ready to hire a new HVAC technician.

How to Find and Hire the Best HVAC Technicians

Now that you’re ready to hire a new HVAC technician, it’s time to start looking for your ideal candidates.

Finding candidates is much like marketing your HVAC business. You’ll need to post flyers and hiring ads in order to start attracting the ideal candidates.

Take a look at some of the best ways you can start finding the best HVAC technicians for your business…

1. Use Marketing to Attract the Best Candidates

You use marketing to attract the best clients, so shouldn’t you do the same to attract best employees?

These are just a few of the many ways you can attract the best candidates for your business:

Organic social media posts (for example, LinkedIn)
Great reviews that show you’re a reliable business with happy clients
Strong social media presence and website to build trust and reputation
Flyers and door hangers posted on local bulletins (for example, community centers)

While these aren’t concrete guidelines for finding the best HVAC technicians, they are some foundational marketing strategies you should strive to achieve.

Great HVAC technicians know their worth and are looking for reputable, trustworthy businesses.

In other words, they’re going to research your business to see if it’s a good place to work. Your goal is to show them that you’re a credible HVAC business that has a lot to offer.

2. Advertise Your Job Openings

In addition to marketing your HVAC business, you should also advertise your job openings on platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn.

Paid ads are a great way to increase the number of qualified candidates applying to your business. The key is to use effective hiring ads that instantly attract the right people while showing them what your business is all about.

Here’s an example of an effective hiring ad you can steal and modify to make your own:

Are YOU a certified HVAC technician? How would you like a better job with a friendly HVAC business? Here are 17 reasons you should work for [HVAC business name]:

Get paid weekly.
Health insurance.
Our clients love us.
401k retirement plan.
We focus on quality work.
Holiday AND vacation pay.
We’ve never missed payroll.
Access to full-time mechanics.
We speak English and Spanish.
In-house equipment maintenance.
We’re friendly and easy to work with.
You get to use NEW equipment every year.
The harder you work, the more money you make.
Our HVAC technicians have been with us a long time.
We’re a fast growing HVAC business with many opportunities.
We train you because we want you to be more successful and make more money.
We offer a clear career path with many opportunities to move up as you learn new skills.

Call XXX-XXX-XXXX to start your new job with [HVAC business name]. Positions fill up FAST, so call today!

Hiring ads like this one are a great way to ensure the right people are applying for your open positions.

3. Find Great Candidates Through Referrals and Networking

If you’re not already using referrals and networking, then you should start now. By far, referrals and networking are some of the best ways to find great candidates.

Whenever you’re looking for new employees, it’s a good idea to talk with the vendors you’ve built a relationship with to see if they know anyone perfect to apply. Also, if you already have employees, then you should consider starting an employee referral program.

One of the best ways to replicate your best employees is by asking your best employees for referrals. Despite what you might think, your referral program doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be as simple as a $200 check for every successful referral after 90 days.

A quick word of caution: If you turn to your friends and family for referrals and new hires, be cautious. Sometimes, these types of hires can become complicated if you need to reprimand or fire them.

How to Interview Your Candidates

Your candidate has submitted their application, and you loved it. Now, it’s time to interview your candidate for the position.

Step 1: Pre-Screen Your Candidates by Phone

Rather than waste time interviewing countless candidates, it’s best to interview your candidates by phone first. By utilizing a quick 10-minute phone screening, you’ll be able to weed out the candidates you KNOW aren’t right for your HVAC business.

Here’s a list of some questions you can ask in your phone screening:

What kind of experience do you have in the HVAC industry?
What licenses and certifications do you have in HVAC?
Why do you think you’re a good fit for HVAC?
What HVAC jobs have you done in the past?
What would you bring to our HVAC business?

As always, when you’re on the call, listen to your gut feeling. If something seems off, ask questions about it for clarification, or toss the candidate’s application.

Step 2: Hold an Interview In-Person

Once your candidate passes your initial phone screening, it’s time to hold an in-person interview.

Before you begin asking your candidate questions, remember to take a look at what they’re not saying in the interview…

Are they punctual?
Do they have a professional attitude?
Are they clean and appropriately dressed?
Do they have the experience you’re looking for in HVAC?

Once you’ve assessed their overall appearance and presentation, you’re ready to ask a few questions. These are some examples of basic interview questions you should ask:

Why do you want to leave your current job?
What types of tools and equipment (or chemicals) have you worked with and for how long?
Why are you excited to work for my HVAC business?
What would you bring to the business?
In the past, how have you handled a situation where a client was wrong or upset you?
What makes you different from the other HVAC technicians applying for this job?
Can you drive manual transmission?
Pitch me an upsell on an HVAC job.
Are you legal to work in the United States, or do you have/need a Visa?
Could you give me four references – 2 professional, 2 personal?

As you’re interviewing your candidate, continuously assess for red flags. Make sure they’re reliable and not out to make a quick buck. Also, if you’re interviewing a family member or friend, be cautious. Oftentimes, family and friends feel entitled on the job and take advantage of their relationship with you.

Pro Tip! While hiring an eager, newly experienced HVAC technician has its pros and cons, make sure you have the resources you need to train them.

How to Make Great HVAC Techs Want to Work for You (and Keep the Ones You Already Have)

Now that you’ve found a great candidate, your job is not done… You still have to make them want to work for you. After all, great employees are hard to come by. You’re going to have to set your HVAC business apart from your pesky competitors who’ll also want to hire your candidate.

These are some of the best HVAC hiring tips to make great candidates want to work for you:

Properly Pay Your HVAC Technicians

One of the best HVAC hiring tips is to pay your well. After all, your competitors will likely want to hire them too.

Take a look at these quick steps to help ensure you have enough revenue to properly compensate your HVAC technicians:

Properly price your services with enough profit.
Look at the average pay for HVAC technicians in your area, and then pay more.
Give your HVAC team year-round incentives.
ALWAYS obey overtime laws.

By keeping your profits high, you’ll be able to properly compensate your employees.

Pro Tip! When you use the right HVAC software, like FieldEdge, you can quickly and easily track your job costing to maintain higher profits.

Take a FREE tour FieldEdge’s HVAC software to start maximizing your profits NOW!

Give Your HVAC Technicians the Right Perks and Benefits

By offering your HVAC technicians the right perks and benefits, you’ll be able to keep the ones you have and attract more that are just like them.

Here are some examples of the right perks and benefits you can offer:

Gain a reputation for providing quality HVAC services.
Reward your team’s loyalty with annual raises and incentives.
Give your team perks they can’t find anywhere else (i.e. snacks, rewards for reaching goals, etc… ).
Give your team a piece of your success (i.e. when you reach a profit or revenue goal, give your team a bonus percentage).
Cultivate a healthy company culture that makes your employees happy, encourages them to help each other, and allows them to recognize each other’s goals and accomplishments.
Provide a clear career path for your HVAC technicians that demonstrates advancement opportunities.
Listen to your team’s questions and concerns (especially the ones they’re unhappy about).

When your employees feel properly compensated, appreciated, and recognized, they’re way less likely to leave you to work for one of your competitors. Plus, happy employees are way more likely to give their best work when they love their job.

When It’s Time to Fire a Bad HVAC Technician

Unfortunately, a cost of doing business is that you’re eventually going to have to find bad HVAC technicians. But before you consider firing someone, first it’s important to self-evaluate and determine if there’s anything YOU can do BETTER.

For instance, have you given your employee enough adequate training time? Have you properly trained them to do the job that’s expected of them? Can this employee do better with the right training? Consistently re-evaluate your training practices to ensure you’re properly training all of your new hires.

If you know your training is not to blame, then re-evaluate your interview questions and credentials. Do you have the right expectations? Are you asking the right questions in the interview? Are you requiring the right credentials?

If there’s nothing you can do better to set this employee up for success, then answer these two questions to determine your next course of action.

1. Is the HVAC Technicians Costing More than They Make?

Regardless of the reason, if an HVAC technician is costing you to lose jobs or is making your clients unhappy, then it might be time to fire them. After all, your client loyalty and satisfaction affects your reputation. You can’t afford for an HVAC technician to damage your reputation and cost you money.

2. Is There No Sign of Improvement?

Before jumping to conclusions, always speak with your employees to find out WHY they’re having issues at work. Do they have a history of being a good employee, and this is new behavior for them?… OR is this habitual behavior with no end in sight?

There could be something happening in their personal life that’s causing sub-par work. For this reason, it’s a good idea to give you tech a chance to explain and correct their actions. If you know your employee is capable of doing the work, and there’s nothing personal going on, then consider re-training your employee.

Lastly, give your employee some goals and deadlines with clear expectations for improvement. Track their progress (before, during, and after) to see if there’s any signs of visible improvement. Regularly meet with the HVAC technician and take notes at your meeting of comments and suggestions you’ve made for improvement. This way, you’ll have records of proof if you decide to fire the employee.

If all else fails, and there’s no signs of improvement, then it’s likely time to fire your HVAC technician. As always, when you fire someone to be respectful but firm. While firing someone is never easy, just remember its what’s best for your business in the long-run.

BONUS: Hire the Best Executive Assistant for Your HVAC Business

Since they never produce billable work, hiring an executive assistant can seem risky. That said, if you want to grow your HVAC business, you’ll eventually have to hire an executive assistant.

Before you consider hiring an executive assistant, think about how many hours you spend doing office work…How many hours do you spend answering phones, responding to emails, or updating client information in your HVAC software?

Now, think about how much executive assistants make in your area. For the sake of this example, we’ll say it’s $14 an hour. Executive assistants allow you to spend more time growing your business by freeing up your time to be able to:

Sell more work
Win more clients
Focus on reaching goals

Now, ask yourself, is your time worth more than $14?

Also, consider what you’ll need your executive assistant to do (for example, answer calls, schedule jobs, etc… ). These are some qualities you’ll want to look for in a great executive assistant:

Punctual
Organized
Friendly and personal (in-person AND by phone)
Tech-savvy (needs to be able to use your HVAC software)

Since open communication with your executive assistant is important, make sure they’re someone you can talk to every day to keep track of what’s going on in your HVAC business. During your daily chats with your executive assistant, be sure to ask them these key questions:

With what do you need help?
What did you get done today?
What do you need to get done tomorrow?

These questions will help you to pinpoint how your executive assistant is doing as well as anything they’re struggling with or need to get done.

When you maintain an open stream of communication between you and your executive assistant, your everyday business operations will be much smoother.

Use This HVAC Hiring Guide to Start Hiring the Best Employees NOW

Our HVAC hiring guide educates you on how to find, hire, and keep the best employees for your business.

While hiring a new employee can seem intimidating, use our guide to help ease your concerns and lead you to the best candidates.

This guide ensures that you’re:

Asking the right questions
Attracting the right candidates
Hiring the best candidates for you
Following the right steps for new hires

Now, you have all the information you need to start hiring the best employees for your HVAC business!