How to Hire New Techs for Your Tech Repair Business

Hiring new techs is tough and is one of the most challenging things any tech repair business has to do. I get it. When I launched my repair business back in 2006 it wasn’t any easier than it is today. For more than tens years I hired hundreds of techs for my shops. Let me share a three tips that we found successful.

Tip 1: Hire Entry Level

You know your business better than anyone. Hopefully you also know how to repair things better than anyone — if not maybe consider doing something else 🤔. By hiring entry level you can mold them into the tech you want them to be!

Look for entry level people who are either fresh out of high school or looking for something completely new. The key here is finding people who have excellent problem solving skills and who love a challenge. Maybe these are people taking a gap year from school or who attending a community college. Or maybe it’s someone that wants to go right into a trade after high school.

Post a job that includes “ENTRY LEVEL” in the listing and be honest about what they should expect to get paid. Then ask them to do two things: 1) reply to the listing with a resume or job history, and 2) a cover letter or a couple of sentences on why they want this job. This is how you will will weed out submissions.

If they can’t reply to these two simple requests don’t bother bringing them in for an interview. They can’t follow instructions and will be a horrible tech.

INSIDE TIP: For the best techs it’s not about the money! It’s about the opportunity and the company culture. Talk about it in the listing!!

Tip 2: Setting up for the Interview

After you review your job listing submission and decide who you would like to interview. Send them an email or text message to arrange an interview. Give them a couple of dates that will work for you and ask if they can come in during those times.

INSIDE TIP: Put together a questionnaire for them to fill out when they arrive. Ask them direct questions like:

1. Contact info: name, address, phone #, email
2. Employment desired & history: desired position & pay, hours they can work, schedule conflicts, start date, why are they applying, etc. Ask them about their last job: company, position, pay & why they left.
3. Add a signature space that includes a brief legal authorization (see applications online).

Why? Trust me when I tell you this will give you a lot of valuable information to use during the interview! Look at what they expect to make in pay. Talk about their last job. Why they want to get into tech repair. Hours they can work & any conflicts.

Tip 3: Look for These Skills

Forget about the perfect hire or hiring someone like you. It’s not going to happen. HIRE A TECH! Not a sales person or retail clerk. Also, don’t try to figure out if they will or will not be a good tech. Instead ask them if they about these skills:

1. Are they a patience person or do they get frustrated easily? Look for examples. Ask for instance questions. Impatient people make horrible techs.
2. Do they have fine motor skills? Have they worked with small parts. Maybe put together a model (RC cars, etc.). Look for examples. They will be working with tiny tools and tiny parts all day as a tech. This is important!
3. Do they have an attention to detail? Details matter in this business. It matters for check-in and it matters during a repair. Miss a detail and things can go bad.
4. Are they a tech geek? My best techs were 100% tech nerds. Enough said.
5. Are they committed to the mission of repair — this is a good question to ask yourself too? To be successful in this business you need to have the mindset that EVERYTHING can be repaired (more on this topic next week).
6. Do they demonstrate honesty and integrity? This is more a statement than a question during an interview. Good to lay the groundwork.

I wrote more about this on my blog page here: WiGoMan Blog on Hiring

Final Thoughts on Hiring

Hiring is tough for everyone in this industry. Don’t feel bad if you struggle. Be honest with the people you hire and pay them fairly. Don’t expect a new tech to save your business and don’t put too much on them.

The best operations help their techs become better employees and better people. Which means they may move on depending on how your business does. That’s okay. Create a culture that demonstrates your commitment to their success and you will build a winning team!