Making The Move To Commercial

[stevehvac]

I've been running a light commercial branch in North Carolina for about two years now. I've always looked for commercial technicians when openings came up. After reading the residential section I think finding good residential technicians who are tired of the attics and craw spaces may work out better for the type of work my company does.

My questions are what made you residential guys finally make the move to commercial? Are you a residential guy thinking about making a change? If so what is stopping you?

What really prompted this post is the ad I listed here and in several local papers looking for "Commercial" guys. I began to wonder if good residential guys would not answer the ad because of the wording. Do you think people would not respond because they are intimidated by the wording? When ever someone lists an ad they are looking for a good technician more than a "commercial" or "residential" guy.

I just wondered what you guys thoughts were on such a basic thing like the wording of an ad.

[Freeze Stat]

Residential and Commercial work is like night and day.

That's not to say that techs in both fields can't be top notch (or lousy).

A good technician can learn to do either.

Just list the position as "HVAC Technician". Under that, you could describe what type of education/experience was needed.

"No attics or crawl spaces" would definitely appeal to a lot of guys.

"Year round work" would be even better (if that's the case.)

[Freeze Stat]

BTW, I read your add, and it's excellent.

Maybe the words are just too big for us down here in the Carolinas!

Try "Got EPA Card? Got Drivers License? We Got Good Job For You!"

[Edited by Freeze Stat on 06-21-2005 at 09:09 PM]

[stevehvac]

Actually this site leaves a lot of room to type a good disciption. The problem is newspapers and such only allow 5 lines of text to try to convince you to call me. It's becomes some strange new short hand speak. "AC Tech needed. Good $, 5 year min, Call Now".Even if you pay extra for more lines it still doesn't get the point across. I read some of the other ads and I think they are still in the newspaper mind set when they listed it.

My weakest area has been hiring guys when I need them so I'm trying all the things I can to get past this road block. Thats when I thought about trying to find those great residential techs that may want to get into commercial.

[Freeze Stat]

I recently installed some controls for the military at a base in your area. The Sgt. who worked on the HVAC was really sharp, and is getting out of the service next year. I am wondering if there is a good way of recruiting veterans leaving the service?

Just a thought...