5 strategies to attract talent in Engineering & Manufacturing

In a candidate-short market it´s not always easy to the attract the right talent for your business. These are 5 strategies you can use to find the right people.

The candidate-led market has created challenges across many sectors when it comes to attracting top talent. Before you are able to host an interview, you have to appeal to the types of candidates’ that you are looking for, and it is becoming more and more crucial for businesses to improve their brand reputation.

These are 5 strategies to attract talent in Engineering & Manufacturing in a candidate-short market:

1. Focus more on the potential than on years of experience

Technical engineering roles, such as design and maintenance have become increasingly difficult to hire for. Over the last couple of decades, the lack of apprenticeships and training schemes have caused a decrease in the candidate pool. Because of this, businesses are over paying for skill sets or are focusing on cultural fit in order to develop candidates in the future.

Organisations are beginning to recognise the value in hiring a professional with the foundations of the role, who can develop the role, and themselves further within the business.

2. Attract and hire new graduates

It is good to consider candidates that have recently graduated from university. Newly graduated professionals looking for work on the market are the perfect candidates to attempt to attract and hire to your business. These individuals are passionate and learned about the industry, and are desperate to get a job in their field as soon as possible upon graduating.

The large, established engineering businesses aren’t struggling to attract new graduates, but many great SME organisations are. New graduates emerge from education and believe that joining a large engineering firm’s graduate scheme is the only option to have a successful career, without knowing or understanding how many businesses are available to them.

3. Improving your recruitment processes

University students, alongside most new talent in today’s market, have copious amounts of information available to them. This is so vast that top talent is able to decipher what businesses they are interested in working for before knowing the full extent of the role or even visiting the offices. Our advice is to provide more information and highlight any career development opportunities that outline the working culture of the business.

4. Have a comprehensive D&I programme

Having a comprehensive diversity and inclusion programme will show candidates that the business is dedicated to creating a working environment that is open to different people, values, and skill sets. Organisations will benefit from having a diverse workforce that is more productive and decisive, as this creates a broader viewpoint, and allows businesses to think differently from their competitors.

5. Offering work experience and internships

There has been a definite increase in the graduate placements and internships within the engineering and manufacturing sector. Industry open days and career days have been effective in piquing the interest of potential top talent that is soon finishing their studies. However, there is still a long way to go. Businesses should be proactively joining in on these days and networking with the students. This will boost your brand awareness and make you recognisable to potential candidates.

For a confidential discussion on how we can help you get the best talent with the right skills, contact us.