There is no better time to be a driver in America than now. Over the past ten years, an average of 69,000 new professional drivers have started their careers annually.
This growth might be a welcome sight to many, but it means more job applications to work through each time you need to revitalize your workforce. You need a good driver recruiter you can rely on to take that work off your hands, but how do you choose the right one for you?
This guide offers eleven actionable recruitment process tips. These will help you to make an informed decision on which recruiter matches your needs. By the end, you'll learn how to judge a recruitment processing outsourcing provider and the signs of a great choice.
Read on to ensure you get the best hires for your business moving forward.
1. Define Your Recruitment Needs First
Before you look carefully at the list of search providers, you need to understand what exactly you need. Defining your requirements can narrow your search, speeding up the decision of which to choose. Doing this is vital if any providers offer unique selling points that appear great on paper but are not as beneficial as they sound.
Start by listing all the essential qualifications you need from your drivers. These could be specific certifications, such as a CDL, or more soft skills, such as team leading. You may also want to consider which personality traits are important for your business.
Be clear about any performance metrics you want to meet, such as availability or years of experience. It is also essential you list any limits you may have related to criminal convictions or points on a license. The hiring partner can then advise you on how this will impact your recruitment.
You should also inform the RPO provider if you need specialized drivers. For example, those with experience in hazardous materials transport or high-security cargo.
2. Determine the Scope and Scale of Recruitment
Define how many drivers you require and in what timeframe. Doing this will allow you to converse honestly with a talent solutions partner about how fast they can work.
You will also want to define the geographic region for searches and if you want people locally, country-wide, globally, or otherwise. Some human capital solution partners only work in specific areas, so knowing that up-front can save you a lot of time.
Some RPO providers focus on full-time employees, while others may have a process to handle seasonal fluctuations. Understand your own hiring needs so that you can find a recruiter with the right amount of flexibility.
Also, work out where you can bend your requirements in case the best choices require you to compromise to find your perfect hire.
3. Evaluate the Industry Experience of the Driver Recruiter
When you look at potential hiring partners, check each company on your list for a proven track record in recruiting. Look into how long they've been in the industry and whether they have performed hiring for a driving company before.
If they have hired for driving businesses in the past, they likely have a large backlog of highly qualified hires. These will be people other companies have not taken on board but still exceed expectations. Leveraging this list will often kickstart their process, saving time for both you and them.
Ask them about their success rate in placing drivers and if they have stats related to the longevity of hires in positions they fill. You can then discover which recruiters have the best practices for finding good fits in their industry. Learning this is just as important, if not more so, as finding out which ones get the positions filled fast.
You should also ensure that they have a good understanding of the driving tests or certifications drivers need. This knowledge is relevant not only in your region but also if you hire globally. The recruiter needs to understand driver regulations in all regions where you operate.
4. Ensure Compatibility With Your Specific Requirements
When you talk with the talent provider, make sure to ask them questions related to your industry's hiring practices. This will help you determine whether they really have experience in your area and can put it into practice. However, be aware that the person you speak to may not be the one doing the hiring, so see if you can talk to them if possible.
If you need unique roles filled, talk to the recruitment outsourcing group about whether they have focused on that niche before. Sometimes, you may find that one business has worked with it before, giving them a leg up in specific knowledge.
5. Ask About Past Experiences in Driver Recruitment
When you speak with the RPO provider, ask if they can offer any referrals related to previous clients. If they have case studies or examples of challenging work they have undertaken, this may give you a better idea about their methods.
If possible, contact the company in question. Ask to speak to the contact who worked with the hiring search provider and try to get a personal recommendation for them. They may have a more nuanced view of the company than the case study on the business' website.
6. Examine Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) Capabilities
Not all hiring driver recruiters are RPO providers. As such, you should try to understand how comprehensive any hiring company's assistance will be.
Check if they manage the recruitment process end-to-end, including onboarding and training. If they only focus on getting people in the door, you might want to look elsewhere. End-to-end hiring can have long-term benefits for your team, such as not needing to handle onboarding and training for new hires.
Also, ask about the company's use of technology in its hiring practices. For example, learn whether it uses an applicant tracking system (ATS) or any other tools. This software should allow you to oversee the process, enabling you to openly discuss hiring practices.
Enquire about how scalable their business is. If your driver requirements suddenly increase, can you rely on them to boost their output? Now and then, you may need to undertake a recruitment drive, so you should ask how much time they need to handle such an event.
Similarly, if you need to reduce your intake for any reason, can you reduce your work with them? If you can, this can help with your own cash flow during potentially difficult periods.
7. Understand the Benefits of RPO Providers
Instead of a traditional hiring firm, you may want to investigate working with an RPO provider to get the drivers you need. These hiring businesses can offer a more streamlined hiring process than traditional recruiters. For this reason, they can provide benefits that far outstrip those of other companies.
As an RPO provider takes ownership of as much of the recruitment process as you need, they can reduce the work you need to put on your staff. They can not only perform the hiring but also advise you on the best recruitment practices.
An RPO business should start its process with a detailed discussion that helps its staff understand your company. They will then use this to tailor their hiring to your needs and help you discover what changes you could make that would be beneficial when hiring.
The best RPO providers also aim for a high level of transparency. They can offer detailed analytics and reports on their recruitment processes and their outcomes. This allows both you and them to make changes based on a full understanding of the work done and the nuances of the hiring process.
Another benefit of working with an RPO business is that they are more likely to ensure that any hiring fits your branding rather than their own. They want recruits to understand who you are before their first day, so they will work with you to enhance your employee brand. Their goal will be to make it both appealing and honest to those who research you before they apply.
8. Explore the Provider's Recruitment Strategies
Every company handles its hiring processes differently. Therefore, it is important to learn how the recruiter attracts and assesses every individual who might work with you in the future.
Don't limit yourself to learning about the talent provider's general strategies. Also, dig deep into more innovative tactics they may have used when facing challenges. They may have case studies that address these concerns or be happy to boast about them when you contact them.
You need to understand how they handle:
- Sourcing candidates
- Attracting potential hires
- Engaging with passive contacts who are not actively looking for work
- Short-term recruiting and onboarding
- Long-term employee training
- Communication with individual candidates
- Tailoring their driver recruitment strategies to the state of the market
- Leveraging different communication channels
Each of these may be very different depending on the company you work with. As such, you will need to have a comprehensive understanding of their processes. Doing this can help you judge which RPO provider will work best with you by allowing you to understand where your methods overlap.
9. Assess Their Communication Strategies
Make sure that the provider's outreach methods match your needs and the habits of the drivers you want to hire. Depending on the demographics you tend to hire from, you may find they need to use:
- Email communication
- Social media
- Job boards and online listings
- Career fairs and events
- Your company website and career page
- Direct outreach
- Video interviews
More recently, you may even need to look into how a company uses chatbots and large language models in its process. Some potential hires consider these useful, whereas they could turn off others due to the lack of the human element.
Either way, ensure their methods will bring in the highest number of qualified potential hires in the shortest time possible. They need to be proactive, not only reactive, and should follow up with candidates who do not respond after a set time but without being pushy.
10. Analyze Their Use of ATS Technologies
Ask the company about their use of ATS systems. Not only whether they use them but also to see how they use them to their advantage.
Check to see if they use automated screening in their processes. These will flag applications based on predefined criteria, making them more or less likely to be accepted. This tool can significantly reduce the time it takes to decide which applicants best fit your business.
Ask any hiring partner about how they use data analytics when recruiting. This is not only about understanding how many people are applying from different groups. They also need to use this information to iterate on their processes.
11. Check for Compliance Knowledge
Compliance with regulations and laws is critical when engaging in the driver recruitment process. Failure here can lead to legal issues for both you and the RPO provider.
As such, ensure that the hiring group knows both local and federal regulations. If you need to hire globally, ask how they handle conflicting rules or similar issues.
Specific areas to ask about include:
- DOT regulations
- EEO laws
- DQF management and ensuring these meet privacy laws
You may also want to check their track record for compliance-related issues. Due to ever-evolving regulations, many companies face such problems as they continue to work. You can then enquire how they resolved them, giving insight into their process when they meet legal challenges.
Ask if and how often they hold compliance training for their staff. Doing this will give you a good idea of how proactive they are in ensuring they follow regulations.
Discover the Best Driver Recruiter for Your Business
Selecting recruitment agencies to match your business needs can have a huge impact on your hiring success. It both speeds up your recruitment and ensures you get the best candidates.
As such, thoroughly vet driver recruiter options in the above areas. This will ensure that their work stands the best chance of helping you meet your company goals.
For expert driver recruitment solutions, trust Hire Velocity and partner with us today. We can work with you to develop a tailored strategy that meets your needs. Discover a sustainable method to attract and retain the best drivers available in your business.
