Tag: successful

How to be a Successful Driver Recruiter

Posted on by Jake Peters

At Driveteks, we have been working hand and hand with recruiters nationwide for 5 years now. This has given us an insight into what separates the bad from the good, and the good from the great. Follow this guide to learn how to be a successful driver recruiter.

5 Tips to be a Successful Driver Recruiter 

Successful driver recruiter hires a new driver

1) Get on the Phone ASAP

The most important step in successful recruitment relies on technology that has existed since 1876, phoning. There is a direct correlation between the rate at which recruiters are able to contact driver applicants via phone and recruitment success.

A study on phoning found two major conclusions: The odds of contacting a lead are 100 times higher if called in 5 minutes versus 30 minutes. The odds of qualifying a lead are 21 times higher if called in 5 minutes versus 30 minutes.

Drivers are applying to multiple companies at a time. This means that as soon as that driver hits “submit” on your application, you are in a race with everyone else.

Recruiters that develop a routine of calling driver applicants as soon as they apply will experience more success than the recruiter that is slow to call.

2) Stay in Contact

Once a successful recruiter makes contact with a driver applicant, they maintain that contact with the driver.

Recruiters that struggle with getting drivers through orientation often have a contact issue. Drivers are less likely to back out on a job offer, even if presented with a better option, if they have a relationship with the recruiter.

Whether you are contacting the driver applicant to inform them of a position update or checking in to see how the hiring process is going, there is always a reason to be in touch with applicants.

3) Interview for Culture, not Qualifications

Interviewing truck drivers needs to be less about the driver’s qualifications and more about the driver as a person. Successful recruiters learn everything they need to know about the driver’s qualifications from their application/resume.

In the interview, the successful recruiter focuses on if the applicant is a strong team fit. Focusing on the driver as a person, and hiring strong culture fits, will lead to a stronger retention rate.

Ask questions like these to get to know the applicant as a person:

  • What type of culture do you thrive in? (Does the response reflect your organizational culture?)
  • What’s your ideal workplace?
  • Why do you want to work here?
  • Tell me about a time when you worked with/for an organization where you felt you were not a strong culture fit. Why was it a bad fit?

A team with strong culture fits

4) Build and Maintain Strong Relationships 

Recruiters that are successful are aware that their job is more than simply hiring truck drivers. Recruiters are key contributors to their company’s retention rate.

By building and maintaining a strong relationship with drivers you hire, you are encouraging the drivers you hire to continue working for your company. Drivers are more likely to stay with a company where they feel like they are a part of a community.

In addition to improving retention, maintaining relationships will help you hire more drivers. Drivers that left your company for “greener pastures” often realize the grass is not always greener. When this happens, the driver will often return to work for your company if they have a strong relationship with the recruiter.

Also, drivers that like you, the recruiter, will refer their friends to you. The truck driving community is tight-knit, drivers often tell their friends about how great it is to work for their company.

5) Influence your company to build its Employer Brand

Quality drivers are well aware of the best and worst employers. Your company’s employer brand is the way that drivers perceive what it is like to work for you.

Even skilled truck driver recruiters will struggle to recruit drivers for a company that has a weak employer brand. Drivers will not want to work for you if they hear from their friends that your company does not value their drivers.

As the recruiter, you may not be able to build an employer brand by yourself. However, you do have a strong say within the company. You need to be advocating for your company to boost their employer brand.

The quickest way to improve employer brand is by offering higher driver pay and by responding to feedback from current/former drivers.

Where Successful Recruiters Find Truck Drivers

None of the tips above are helpful if you do not know where to find drivers. Finding drivers to recruit is the core of what you do as a recruiter.

In the past, one of the best places to find potential drivers was in-person recruitment events. However, those are no longer a possibility.

The best places to find drivers to hire are through digital marketing channels, social media, and employee referral programs.

Successful driver recruiter searching for drivers

A career as a truck driver recruiter is not an easy career. However, becoming a successful recruiter is fulfilling and rewarding. Follow these tips and you can learn how to become a successful driver recruiter.

6 Tips For a Successful Digital Driver Recruitment Campaign

Posted on by admin

Digital recruitment campaign graphic

57% of the world’s population are active internet users. The internet has changed nearly every aspect of our lives. Because of this, it makes sense that recruitment campaigns are becoming more web based. Companies are shifting from print media and career fairs to digital driver recruitment campaigns. Digital driver recruitment campaigns are more efficient than the old methods and they provide a higher ROI. Here are 6 tips for a successful digital driver recruitment campaign.

1) Create Relevant and Engaging Content

Prior to publishing any recruitment content you need to decide who your ideal candidates are. Are you hiring for diversity? Are you in need of a driver with specific endorsements? Do you want to hire team drivers? Use these answers to guide what type of content you create. For example, if you are wanting to hire team drivers you must use images of team drivers in your ads.

2) Be Active in Trucking Social Media Groups

Facebook and Linkedin have hundreds of groups dedicated to connecting drivers with recruiters. Being active and establishing a presence within these groups is an excellent way to find new drivers. However, it is important to note that there is a lot of competition in these groups. Drivers are bombarded with job opportunities from recruiters. Standing out from all the other job postings in these groups can be a challenge. It is important to be active in these groups but do not put all of your eggs in this basket.

3) Build Your Reputation as a Company That Prioritizes Drivers

Drivers talk with each other constantly about the companies they work for. Your company will be discussed online between drivers. If your company prioritizes its drivers, word will spread. On the flip side, drivers will know if your company does not prioritize its drivers. By building a reputation as a company that prioritizes drivers, applicants will keep an eye out for your job postings. Build a reputation as a company that prioritizes its drivers by incorporating trust into the hiring process and using effective retention strategies.

4) Use Tools That Screen Out Unqualified Applicants

Implementing a digital recruitment campaign allows you to use digital tools that streamline the process. Programs like Zapier or ZipRecruiter filters make it so that you never have to see any applicants that do not meet your requirements. Recruiters do not need to waste their time with unqualified driver applicants when digital recruitment campaigns are used.

5) Geo-Target Drivers in Your Hiring Region

Geo-targeting  enables you to send ads to drivers in specific regions. Do not waste your time sorting through applicants from outside your hiring region. Digital recruitment campaigns will only be seen by potential drivers within your hiring region. Another advantage to geo-targeting is that you can send ads to areas that you know drivers will be. You can target truck stops, driver conventions, CDL schools, etc.

6) Design a Landing Page That Encourages Drivers to Apply

A well designed landing page is essential for any digital recruitment campaign. Even well crafted and placed ads will not generate applicants if the ad is not linked to a landing page. Drivers do not want to click on an ad that takes them to the homepage of your company’s website. An ad should link to a landing page that sells the driver on working for your company and allows the driver to apply on the page. According to Kelly Anderson, shortening the recruiting cycle will lead to more quality drivers applying for your positions.

Digital driver recruitment campaigns can be a daunting task. If you do not know what you are doing then you will see poor results and feel as if you wasted time and money. However, follow these tips to start seeing positive results. Digital driver recruitment campaigns will become your go to recruitment strategy.

How to Strategize for Successful Driver Recruitment

Posted on by admin

Prior to launching a new campaign do you layout the terms of success? Or do you gauge success solely on number of drivers hired? If it is the latter then you may want to change your strategy. In order to improve the overall recruiting efforts of your company, it is crucial that each recruitment campaign has its own terms of success. Here is a guide to help you strategize for successful driver recruitment.

Your Company’s Values are the Base of all Decisions

Before you do anything, you need to know what your company’s values are. Does your company pride itself on hiring the best talent and a high retention rate? If so your recruitment efforts should prioritize quality over quantity. Or maybe your company is determined to be the most tech-savvy trucking company.

In this scenario your campaigns should revolve around utilizing new tech, such as geofencing, to hire drivers. Every company has its own unique set of values. It is up to the recruiter to use these values to guide each strategic decision they make.

Set Recruiting Goals That Align With Company Values

Once you have defined your values, you need to use them to set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-based) goals for your campaign. Vague goals such as “hire as many drivers as possible” or “increase the number of hires found on Facebook” are not effective.

If you are working for a company that values family than an example of a SMART goal for your campaign may be, “Hire five married team drivers from employee referrals by the end of the month”. Combining your company’s values with the SMART technique you are able to write goals that motivates your staff and gives your efforts a stronger sense of purpose.

Also, by using clearly defined goals it is much easier to tell if you achieved your goal or not. “Hire as many drivers as possible” is an impossible target to hit; however, “hire five married team drivers from employee referrals by the end of the month” gives you a number to hit, using a certain technique, within a time frame.

SMART goals graphic

Analyze Data Directly Related to Your Recruitment Efforts

As a general rule of thumb the more data you can collect the better. However, if you are focusing on the wrong numbers then your insights will be mislead.

Uncle Ben’s advice from Spiderman, “With great power comes great responsibility,” holds true with data. With great amount of data, comes a greater emphasis to focus on the right data.

For example, a company that sets out to hire more female drivers from Facebook will be mislead if they looked at the data on total number of driver applicants from Facebook. The company may falsely claim their campaign was a success because the total number of Facebook applicants went up but female applicants did not increase.

DiscoverORG did a study in 2015 and found that the average marketing/sales department lost 550 hours and $32,000 per sales rep from using bad data. When question the data set you are looking at it is helpful to ask yourself, “Does this data directly relate to the company values?” and, “Does this data directly show I am short or exceeding my goal?”

If the answer to either of those questions is “no” or you are unsure, it is best to not use the data and focus on the data you can confidently answer “yes” to both of the questions.

Focus on Achieving Your Recruitment Goals

The goal you defined prior to launching your campaign should be your only barometer for success. It is easy to focus too much on following the “process” to achieve our goals. In Jeff Bezo’s 2016 Letter to Shareholders he said,

“The process becomes the proxy for the result you want. You stop looking at outcomes and just make sure you’re doing the process right. Gulp.”

You may have a goal of hiring 10 drivers via referral for the month. If you come up short, instead of claiming you had a good process and will do better next month, take the opportunity to assess your process and find areas to improve.

Learn From Mistakes and Apply That to Future Recruiting

Every recruitment campaign you launch is a learning opportunity. As the recruiter it is up to you to document the entire process and learn lessons based on what happens. You must use the lessons you learned from previous campaigns to avoid repeating mistakes and improve overall effectiveness of future campaigns.

Having a plan for achieving success is equally as important as having an effective recruitment plan. Defining you values, setting clear goals, avoiding bad data, focusing on outcomes, and learning from previous campaigns are all steps for achieving success. Even the most well thought out recruitment campaigns need  to strategize for successful driver recruitment.