Finding qualified candidates to ensure your company is recruiting the top construction talent can give you an edge over your competitors in the construction industry. In this competitive job market, construction recruiting takes planning, effort and creativity to attract and hire the best candidates.

Matt DiBara, the fourth generation owner of DiBara Masonry, knows the importance of taking construction recruitment seriously. He is co-founder and CEO of Contractor Consultants, a national hiring firm which helps construction companies fulfill their hiring needs with the best candidates. There is no shortage of opportunities for those seeking a construction job, but there is a shortage of labor to fill job openings, he says. That means making recruitment for construction a priority to attract the best construction talent, and recruit candidates who are the right culture fit for your construction firm, he says.

“We often think of it from a client or customer perspective, but what does our brand look like from a hiring sense?” DiBara says.

Read on to learn his top eight tips for construction recruiting, and watch his webinar with Houzz: Cutting Edge Hiring Practices for Construction.

Master Lead Generation Before You Hire

Knowing when to start filling construction roles can be tricky for those running a newly established construction company. No construction professional wants to be so short-handed they are forced to turn down work. Then again, hiring too many construction workers without a full pipeline of projects can leave the team idle, and time is money. ”It's really important to feel confident that when you bring somebody into your company, you find the right person, and you want to be able to keep them busy,”he says.

DiBara suggests nailing down lead generation before building a team that may be too big for the number of jobs you are handling.That includes creating a robust, professional-looking website that attracts new customers with a portfolio or past projects, rave reviews and more. It requires building a network for referrals and doing the marketing and advertising necessary to acquire clients.

“When you have that pipeline full and you're confident you can take people on, then it gets into the hiring part,” he says. “Your online brands, great imagery, leveraging the Houzz Pro platform -  those things set the foundation for hiring,” he says.

Take the Candidate’s Perspective

One question hiring managers should ask themselves:“Would you work for you?” DiBara suggests. If you knew nothing about your construction company and all you could do was go online and search for the name of the business, what comes up? he asks.  “Are you excited to apply?” 

Looking at the company from the candidate’s point of view can help construction firms understand the impression they make on construction professionals seeking construction positions. “We often know on the customer side of the branding and marketing side who we compete with, but knowing your hiring competitors, and doing this internal audit is so important because you can find out where you're doing really well, and some areas where a competitor is offering things you didn't think of,” DiBara says. .

To bolster recruiting, dedicate a page on your website that highlights career opportunities such as current job openings and information about what it is like to work for the company. “You want to think in terms of three to five exciting bullet points of why you might work for your company,” he says. “Maybe you offer overtime, maybe there's no commute greater than an hour or maybe there's commute and per diems,” he says. “What are a few things that you can offer as a company that a candidate scrolling through this page looks at and says ‘wow, I definitely am interested in applying to this company.’ ”

Showcase Work with a Career Video

DiBara also suggests creating a video to give job candidates a visual look and feel of what it would be like to work for the construction firm. “If I'm a candidate, I want to see who I'm going to be working with,” he says. “How do they dress? Where do they sit? How do they act? What do they say?”

A video does not have to be a sophisticated production effort, but it should put the company’s best foot forward. Include testimonials from workers currently on your team, showcase the office, shoot video of workers on a job site. 

Being authentic and making sure your hiring material matches your company brand and focus will help you draw qualified candidates who are the right fit. A small construction business, for example, should avoid  emphasizing one big project if that is not an example of their typical workload. “Don't be shy if your trucks aren't perfect, or If you don't have the budget for a film crew,” he says. “We've seen clients where they joke about that - I didn't hire a film crew because we want our personalities to be the thing that you're going to love about working here.”

The tone of the video should echo your brand. “We've seen more serious videos, we've seen humorous videos, we've seen a blend of the two,” he says. Brainstorm with your team to decide what approach reflects your voice and brand. Maybe your company is quirky and takes a fun approach. If so, lean into those elements to attract a candidate pool that prefers that type of environment over that of a larger, more structured construction firm.

Test and measure

There is no single magic potion for filling staffing needs with top candidates, he says. That means taking a trial and error approach to determine what hiring strategies work best. This can be as simple as altering the headline of a  job posting to see which is most effective in drawing qualified  applications to fill your construction positions, he says. 

In one case study, DiBara recalls running a traditional headline for an ad seeking a new construction manager. After two weeks, the company received applications from 14 qualified candidates.Then, they did nothing but change the headline to see what would happen.

 “When we made the headline switch we found our winner, which was ‘Lead the Future of Construction Become Our Next Project Manager.’ We got 33 qualified applicants in the same time period, changing nothing other than the headline of the job ad.” With no difference in the budget or platform, the results of the construction recruitment more than doubled. “If you're a candidate, what sounds more exciting: ‘Project Manager Needed for Construction Work’ or ‘Lead the Future of Construction: Become our Next Project Manager,’ ” he says.

Take a one-to-many approach

With so many digital platforms and job boards available, there are plenty of places to post jobs while recruiting for the construction industry, he says. But besides maximizing job boards, seek out other ways to get  job postings in front of as many potential candidates as possible, he says. 

“Colleges are great. They have alumni lists. There's nothing a college likes better than a high placement statistic, right?,” he says. “Trade schools, universities, job fairs, trade associations, are all great,” he says.  Look for “anywhere that you can talk to one person and get in front of lots of different candidates,” he says. 

Also, don’t forget to harness the networking power of your current team. Incentivize them to spread the word among friends and family - “anybody that they interact with in the outside world,” he says. “All of these small things done well yield to a great candidate pipeline.”

Implement a Skills Assessment

Testing candidates before you hire them can save time and money, DiBara says.“This has saved hours for so many people,” he says. “One of the biggest troubles in our industry and construction as a whole, but specifically remodeling is …you have a candidate and maybe they have a resume, maybe they don't. Maybe they've worked at a company for 13 years, and they're not a career job hopper, and so they're not great at the interview,” he says. But that does not mean they can’t do the job. The skills of acquiring a job are not always the same skill set of executing the job, he says. 

Find out what a job candidate can do in the field. “People can look great on paper, but might not have the skill set,” he says. Perhaps you ask a candidate to review a set of plans or give a 30-minute test as an initial qualifier. Most candidates will do a quick test for free, but expect to provide compensation for more time-consuming, in-depth ones, he says.  

Enhance Your Company Culture

“If a company doesn't have a good culture, it's like trying to fill a bucket that has a hole in it,” he says. Talented candidates will not stay in a company if the culture is wanting. Good communication is typically the foundation for a strong culture, says DiBara who suggests companies survey their team regularly about their views of the company through an anonymous questionnaire.

“They simply click one through 10 on some strategic questions.” Topics may include compensation, workload, support systems, and how much they feel part of the team. 

“We found that this assessment brought a deeper level of truth because there wasn't the intimidation of a one on one,” he says. 

“It allows you to really start honing into where you can  improve as the employer.” You can also see where you are doing really well. Then, accentuate the positive while hiring.  “Ask yourself  do I have a bullet point on my career page that highlights this particular area because clearly we're good at it.”

Emphasize Your Tech Prowess 

DiBara remembers the days he carried  a set of highlighters to mark up his plans and was working off of spreadsheets. Now his company uses Houzz Pro business software to ensure they have the latest industry advances to run every aspect of their company: from takeoffs to project management. 

“What I love about Houzz Pro is just how integrated everything is,” he says. “I like the back end a lot - of how easy it is to do everything,” he says. 

Young construction workers coming into the industry have an advantage when it comes to the ever evolving technology used in the construction industry. He recalls recently giving a talk to vocational students, and many of them were concerned they would not get a job because of  how little on the job construction experience they have. “I said look, you have no idea the advantages you have in the tech side with software and social media and technology,” he says. DiBara’s advice to them was:  “Keep learning the hands on side of it, and whatever area you want to learn, but that is such a valuable skill.”

Watch the full webinar now.