Recruiting Skilled Trades Workers Online: Websites & Video That Attract Crews
Key takeaways
- Skilled tradespeople research an employer online exactly like customers do, and most contractor career pages give them nothing.
- Real jobsite photos and a short crew video outperform stock imagery and benefit bullet lists.
- The application should take minutes on a phone from the seat of a truck.
- Recruiting content also reassures owners and GCs that you have the workforce to deliver.
Why does a website matter for trades recruiting?
Because the best candidates are already employed, and before they risk a move they quietly check you out. Your website is that check. A careers page with real people, real equipment, and plain talk about pay, work, and advancement tells a journeyworker this is a company worth a conversation. A stale page with a PDF application tells them to keep scrolling.
What belongs on a construction or manufacturing careers page?
Show the work honestly and make the next step tiny. That means photos of your actual crews and shop, the equipment they will run, a paragraph per role in plain language, what makes your shop different, and a short application that works on a phone. Wisconsin employers competing for the same finite pool of welders, operators, and electricians win on clarity and proof.
- Real photos and a 60 to 90 second crew video, not stock handshakes
- Plain-language role descriptions: the work, the schedule, the growth path
- A phone-friendly application under two minutes
- Apprenticeship and training partnerships, named
How does video change recruiting results?
A short film of your crew doing real work answers the questions candidates will not ask: what the sites look like, what the culture feels like, whether the equipment is maintained. We shoot these with the same team that does our production work, ground and aerial, and cut vertical versions for the social feeds where tradespeople actually spend time.
Where should recruiting content live beyond the website?
Post the same photos and clips to your Facebook and Instagram on a schedule, because referrals start when a crew member shares a post that makes the company look good. Our social media management keeps that drumbeat going without pulling your office staff into content work.
What should the application process feel like?
Like texting a friend who already works there. Name, phone, trade, years in, and an optional line about what they run best; that is enough to start a conversation. Confirm receipt immediately and have a human reply within a business day, because in a tight labor market the first company to call back usually gets the interview. Save the tax forms and background paperwork for after mutual interest; asking for documents up front filters out exactly the experienced people you want.
- Five fields, phone friendly, under two minutes
- Instant confirmation, human follow-up within a day
- Paperwork after interest, not before
How do you keep recruiting content honest?
Show the real conditions, seasons, and pace of the work, because a hire who was sold a fantasy quits by August and tells friends why. Feature actual employees who want to be featured, mention the certifications you will actually pay for, and let the shop speak for itself. Honest content filters as much as it attracts, and the people it filters out were never going to stay. The goal is not more applicants; it is the right ten.
Frequently asked questions
We are a small shop. Is this worth it for two openings?
Yes. One unfilled operator seat costs more in lost production than a careers page and a crew video, and the content keeps working for every future opening.
Can candidates apply without creating an account?
They should. Short forms with name, contact, trade, and experience get completed; portal logins get abandoned.
Can you photograph active jobsites safely?
Yes. Our photographers and FAA-certified drone pilots coordinate with your superintendent, and we cover jobsite media in our construction documentation guide.
Does this help with bids too?
It does. Owners want proof you can staff the job, and a visible, skilled workforce on your company website is that proof.
Make your company the one worth switching to
We build the careers pages, shoot the crews, and run the feeds for Wisconsin contractors and manufacturers. Request a quote and start showing candidates who you actually are.
There are 6 million searches per second on Google
Internet and Drone Industry Facts
- There are now 3.74 billion Internet users in the world as at March 2017.
- Projected number of drones in the US by 2020: 7 million
- The number of people using the Internet in China is more than double the population of the U.S.
- The internet influenced sales to the tune of $2.1 trillion in 2016.
- Estimated number of commercial drones in the air in 2018: 600,000
- Over 2 million blog posts are published on the Internet every day.
- Over 5.5 billion Google searches are made every day.
- There are 1,547 domain name extensions (TLDs) as at the 17th of August 2017.
- The most expensive domain name ever sold is LasVegas.com, which was bought in 2005 for a $90 million.
- As at August 2017, there are 1.24 billion websites in the world.
- Percentage of Americans interested in drone deliveries: 47%
- Largest concern about drone deliveries among Americans: Theft Concerns (72%) and Damaged Packages (72%)
- Top industry using drones in America: Photography
- The world’s first website was published on August 6, 1991 by British physicist Tim Berners-Lee.
- 51.8 percent of all internet traffic comes from bots, while only 48.2 percent of internet traffic comes from humans.
- Google is the world’s most visited website, followed by Youtube and Facebook. Chinese search engine Baidu is the world’s fourth most visited website.
- The e-commerce industry is responsible for about $2 trillion in annual sales.
- 95 percent of Americans shop online at least yearly.
- Second largest industry using drones in America: Real Estate
- People spend an average of 5 hours per week shopping online.
- Men spend 28 percent more money online than women.
- Of the sales that occur through online marketplaces, Amazon is responsible for about 80 percent of sales.
- The best day to send an email is on a Wednesday, and the worst day to send an email is on a Thursday.
- 8 out of 10 consumers will shop online if offered free shipping.
- Project size of the drone industry in 2020: $13 Billion
- There are more mobile Internet users than desktop Internet users. There are 3.5 billion global mobile Internet users as at August 2017.
- 72 percent of females and 59 percent of males have abandoned a purchase due to shipping costs.
- 78 percent of shoppers want e-commerce sites to include more images on their products pages.
- There are 2.79 billion active social media users in the world. This is an increase of 21 percent from 2016.
- Facebook now has over 2.01 billion monthly active users.
- Projected value of the drone industry by 2025: $90 Billion
- Instagram has 700 million monthly active users. 28 percent of adult internet users use Instagram.
- Twitter has 328 million monthly active users.
- LinkedIn has 112.5 million monthly active users.
- Projected number of small, hobbyist drones in use by 2021: 3.5 million
- Social media influences the shopping activities of 23 percent of online shoppers.
- Social media ad spend is expected to overtake newspaper ad spend by 2019.
High Falls Flowage • Peshtigo River • Marinette County, Wisconsin
High Falls Flowage is man-made lake from damming the Peshtigo River and is located in Marinette County. It is a 1,400+ acre lake and 54 feet at its deepest spot. Fish include Musky, Panfish, Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike and Walleye. This drone aerial was taken on July 25, 2017 from the Johnson Falls Natural Area by Gary Michael Arndt of Fox Valley Web Design.
Fire, bad. All those in favor?
Fox Valley Web Design LLC ~ Wisconsin Responsive Web Design & Development. Join us on social media:
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Ski Green Bay
Steve Thoe ~ Ski Green Bay