The bread and butter of every company is their employees, especially for trade/construction businesses. Employees are the ones who:

• ensure services or products are fulfilled
• are the face of your business for client interaction
• contribute to the success of your business

It makes sense for employers to be protective of who they hire into their company. It’s important to recruit workers who not only possess relevant skills but are also a team player that gels well with other workers.

But when it comes down to the hiring process, should employers depend on recruitment agencies for compatible hires?

Better Quality Candidates

Employers have a multitude of responsibilities going on at the same time, and hiring someone can be a long, tedious task. Hiring in-house also needs a number of extra hands to ensure a smoother vetting process. They would need to go through all the received resumes and find suitable candidates to interview.

A recruitment agency, on the other hand, carries out all the vetting processes for you. They will ensure candidates have the right skills that match the role, hold the right licenses and any other legal stipulations. Agencies also carry out a preliminary interview to ensure the candidate fits what your company is looking for.

This way when the candidate finally reaches you, there is a stronger chance of hiring them as they’ve already been evaluated beforehand.

Knowledge of the Market

Professional recruiters are ones who have a solid understanding of specialist markets. They take time to learn and keep up to date on all construction/trade industry trends. They will be able to give your hiring team insights into salary rates, career expectations and any hiring complexities that you come up against.

Employers can now make more informed choices with hiring decisions.

Company Culture

In-house recruiting gives you a more hands-on approach when finding candidates that will also mix well with your company environment. It can be tricky for recruiters to get the right feel for it.

However, even with recruiters finding potential candidates, it is the employer that has the final say. And it is possible for an employer to conduct a final screening to ensure the cultural fit of candidates.

Finding the Right Agency

There are many recruitment agencies out there. However, to make the most out of recruiting services, go for agencies that specialise in the recruitment of tradespeople.

Oz Labour Solutions is led by individuals that have decades of experience in Australia’s construction and trade industry. If you have any questions or queries about recruiting for your company, talk to our team today.

Trade work is something vital and beneficial for every household, corporation, hospital and building around the world. Trade work is a necessary service in our society today.

And yet, there are many who still hold negative connotations towards individuals taking up trade work. Students who might be more skilled in vocational work are rarely encouraged to take up that line of training as trade work isn’t taken seriously.

In this blog, Oz Labour Solutions discusses the common misconceptions surrounding trade work.

Myth 1: Tradies Aren’t Considered ‘Smart’

One of the recurring stereotypes surrounding those that work in trade is that they aren’t ‘smart’. This is so far from the truth. Trade work does take skill and knowledge; any person off the street can’t just engage in trade work.

Tradies are typically required to obtain a Certificate III/IV that gives them the necessary vocational training. And depending on the job and machinery operation needed on the job, other certificates or licences might be required as well.

Tradies also need skills in critical thinking, complex problem solving and well-developed judgment and decision making. Most people don’t see the years of training and hard work that goes into each trade job.

Myth 2: They Don’t Make Enough Money

In today’s economy, there is an increasing demand for good quality tradespeople. The skills they bring to the market are proven to be advantageous as private and government sectors depend on trade workers when things need fixing.

According to TAFE Courses, tradie industry insights show the average weekly pay for trade workers is $1 142. Trade workers can definitely make a living wage, especially since their job is in high demand. Plus, it is predicted that even into the future, demand for these jobs will see growth.

Myth 3: Tradies are Lazy

People often assume tradies laze around not doing much work throughout the day. Not many see that they often have early starts, spend the day travelling to different locations and doing rather laborious jobs.

Jobs that are different to the norm of 9 – 5 doesn’t mean less work, it means different work. And their work contributes to the fabric of our society, like any other job.

Trade workers bring a lot of value to ensure communities can function efficiently. Don’t let the misconceptions of this industry stop you from pursuing a rewarding and fulfilling career. If you’re thinking of starting a trade job, take the first step of finding employers with Oz Labour Solutions. 

We often hear of the dos and don’ts of resume writing when it comes to white collar jobs. Yet, even in the trade world, a well-written and well-presented resume can go a long way at helping you secure your dream position.

Resumes are an advertising board for yourself. You want to ensure you put your best foot forward and make it as easy as possible for your potential employer to envision you working at their company.

Oz Labour Solutions has a few tips to help you update and improve your resume.

Know What Employers Want

Before starting on your resume, it’s important to understand things from an employer’s perspective. When it comes to trade jobs, they are likely looking to know that the applicant has:

• Enough field experience to suit the role
• Trade skills from previous experience that are transferable to the new role
• Achievements that show positive contribution in a previous role
• Demonstrable soft skills like communication and teamwork

Training, Education & Necessary Licenses

List:

• all the schools/courses you attended including dates
• all licences and certification including when you attained them

This information should be well-placed so that it is easy to find for the reader.

Responsibilities, Key Skills & Achievements

Sometimes writing all your skills and achievement can be taxing and overwhelming. If you get stuck and unsure, try to avoid copying your previous job description. Those tend to be vague and don’t do enough to highlight what you can bring to the table.

Focus on specific events or situations that showcase how you’ve put a certain skill in practice or a situation that helped you gain an achievement. Always provide concrete examples to substantiate any listed skill.

Tailor Your Resume

No one likes long-winded resumes. At most they should be between 2-3 pages. Something that should help keep your resume concise is tailoring them to the job you are applying for. Read and understand what that position entails so you can include information that shows your ability to be an efficient worker.

All employers want to ensure they hire not just highly-skilled employees but also ones that fit well with the company and the team. Finding the right person can help improve productivity and efficiency, strengthen team ties, and positively impact the bottom line.

But what about when the alternative happens, and your company unfortunately ends up with a bad hire? Despite being able to fire them and rehire, there is a huge loss associated with a bad hire.

What is a bad hire?

This happens when the candidate you hired turns out to be the wrong fit for your company. Common signs that indicate you’ve made a bad hire:

• They don’t possess the skills you expected them to have
• Lack of understanding about their role
• Doesn’t gel well with the rest of team
• An arrogant attitude and doesn’t adapt easily
• Makes numerous references to how things were done at their old job

Essentially, the behaviour and temperament of this hire doesn’t add value to your team and reduces instead of enhances performance levels.

What is the cost to your company?

Dampened Morale & Lack of Teamwork

If a new employee is underqualified or lacking the ability to carry out their role efficiently, it means the rest of the team will have to pick up the slack — often resulting in their workload being heavier than it was before the new recruit started. This can lead to a tense working environment, a decrease in productivity, and produces a lack of team cohesiveness.

Reputational Damage

A bad hire can damage a company’s reputation. If the new employee deals with customers poorly or they produce work that isn’t up to standard of their colleagues, it is reflected onto the company.

Financial Costs

Unfortunately, there are significant financial costs associated with a bad hire. Studies have shown that a bad hire can cost up to two and a half times the salary of the employee in question. The high financial cost is usually related to replacing the wrong hire and trying to compensate for hours of productivity lost in the interim of finding a replacement.

Higher Turnover Rate

On the flip side, trying to keep them on can also negatively impact the company. A large percentage of employees’ decision to quit has been directly caused by other employees. When you keep someone who promotes an unfavourable working environment, you increase the likelihood of losing good employees.

Enlist the help of experts

Qualified and skilled job recruiters are one of the best ways to ensure you are getting the right talent to your company. Recruiters can help you conduct all the necessary background checks, license checks, and skills test to get you the best fit.

At Oz Labour Solutions, we help connect jobseekers with quality construction jobs in Australia. Our experience, combined with our dedication to understanding the needs of each individual client, means we match highly qualified job seekers to complementary companies.

Let us help you enhance your team.