“Before the pandemic, it was difficult to find dependable, qualified technicians. Now, it’s nearly impossible!”
Sound familiar?
I hear this from MSPs nearly every week, and I understand the frustration. It’s hard to provide a reliable, high-quality service to clients if your MSP workforce is spread too thin.
But there’s good news.
The technicians you need to serve current clients and to scale your business are out there. – You just have to know where to look.
Here Are My Top 4 Ways to Find New Technicians for Your MSP
Before we dive into my top technician hiring strategies, it’s important to note that you need to be constantly on the lookout for talent. Often when things are going well (and MSPs have a full contingent of staff), owners tend not to be actively looking for new employees. This is a missed opportunity. Always be looking for talented individuals to add to your team. Even making connections during the times when you don’t have a spot to fill will give you avenues to explore when you do.
But if you need a technician RIGHT NOW, here are four strategies to help with your search.
#1 – Explore Local Adult Vocational Schools
To tap into the talent pool of new technicians coming out of adult vocational schools, contact the Dean of Computer Science, and ask them who in their graduating class looks promising. They may not be able to give you names because of student privacy, but they will be able to pass on your info to their students, so they can reach out to you.
Don’t know where a vocational school is in your area? Try a google search for:
- “computer technical schools for adults near me”
- “adult vocational technical”
In addition to making contact with the Dean of Computer Science, work to establish a good relationship with the instructors. Look them up on Facebook or LinkedIn and be there to provide any real-world support they need from experienced industry professionals. The instructors are incentivized by the vocational school to help students get jobs, and you want your name to be top of mind when they are looking to find work for their best students.
#2 – Visit Local Computer Learning Centers
By doing a search for “computer learning center near me,” you will be able to find learning centers that help individuals gain valuable working skills and job experience. Often, these learning centers have highly motivated individuals that are transitioning from one profession to computer sciences that will make excellent employees. These organizations like adult vocational schools are also incentivized to help students get jobs. Two ways to gain influence in your local computer learning center are:
- Providing or sourcing low-cost hardware
- Volunteering your time (or the time of one of your staff members) to assist and supplement the staff at the learning center
#3 – Use One Before You Employ One
There are at least half a dozen websites that freelancers and small, one-man IT operations use to sell their services. By hiring a technician that lives in your region from one of these sites, you are able to see how they fit with your leadership style and your team before you make the leap to hiring them full-time.
Good Places to Look: (Google “technicians for hire”)
Usually, these freelancers that are doing their “own thing” are highly motivated and can make a good addition to your MSP’s team. So instead of searching for someone that isn’t doing anything, pluck one trying to do their own thing, and leverage the stability that your MSP can offer the technician with their career and family.
Three good reasons to use local talent sourced from a national pool of technicians:
- It gives you a chance to work with a technician in your geographical location and get to know them, their skills, how they handle you as the MSP, and most importantly, how well they satisfy your customer.
- It helps you see how well they would fit into your company culture.
- It frees your existing staff from doing low-level jobs and helps them feel that when you hire someone new that the new person isn’t replacing them or being promoted over them.
When you have a one-off or low end/low-profit job that you would normally throw away, use it as chum to find a new tech – Some fairly large MSPs have researched how to leverage low-end leads and have discovered that accepting low-end leads can often result in an introduction to bigger business deals and the ability to score a new good MSP client.
#4 – Steal a Technician from Your Competitor
There is a world of difference between poaching technicians from a rival firm and putting out bait and hoping that the best and brightest are lured away to work for you. If your MSP becomes known in your region for being a great place to work, with fair pay and good benefits, you will attract good employees. To boost this process, place an ad in Indeed.com. You will receive multiple resumes from Indeed.com that will serve two purposes for you.
- Get interviews with prospective employees
- Collect covert information about your competition
Make the Most of Your Technician Search – Getting info that will give you a competitive advantage!
When looking for a new technician, don’t just be satisfied with getting a new employee. Also, look for the additional information that pops up throughout the search process that will help you achieve your goals of service excellence and regional dominance. Employers that gather comprehensive knowledge about what is out there for talent and plant seeds to attract the best are also able to collect data about their competition. This “insider knowledge” that is gained as you interview potential employees can be invaluable as you set your own strategy and hone your competitive edge tactics.
Conclusion:
Technicians are out there! Sometimes it takes an investment of time and effort to find the “diamonds in the rough” and some patience in the onboarding/training process, but it’s worth the work.
I wish you all the best in your search for your next top-notch technician. If the MSPTag team can assist you in the process, don’t hesitate to reach out.