BY SANDY SMITH

After a significant swerve — from record low unemployment to record high — you might think the challenges of hiring would have changed. Not so, said Bob Rust, CEO of Iron Fox Company, which operates five car washes in Virginia and South Carolina under the brands White Horse Auto Wash and Liquid Highway.

“The unemployment stimulus creates strange incentives and the volume of applicants is low. We think it will pick up dramatically as soon as those benefits expire,” Rust said. “There are millions of people who would be well suited to our industry without jobs currently. The key right now is to let people know there are fantastic opportunities available in an exciting and growing sector, namely tunnel car washes.”

Rust said his company’s biggest needs are detailers and entry-level management. Those needs are similar at Hoffman Development Corporation, which operates five car washes and two quick oil change locations in upstate New York.

“Prior to COVID-19 pandemic, our most challenging hiring needs were sales-oriented people and leaders for our locations,” said Mary Ellen Olenyk, Director of Human Resources for Hoffman Development Corporation. “Our highest volume need is always our car wash attendants.”

These days, there are many tools available to find workers. But it’s not as simple as placing a notice on the company’s website or a “help wanted” sign in the window. Instead, there might just be too many ways to promote openings — leading to too many candidates to sift through.

FINDING THE WORDS

Iron Fox uses tools like the employment website Indeed.com, Facebook ads and LinkedIn tools to promote its openings. It also uses online local newspaper ads and targeted campaigns. But “so many people blast their resumes to every job possible, which might not truly interest them,” Rust said. “Advertising for a great CSA (customer service associate) and getting 200 applicants from people who have no customer interaction experience and no interest can prove tiring for the hiring team. We would rather talk to people that know they want to be in the business.”

Rust recommends placing requirements to weed out those who don’t meet the minimums. “For a supervisor, a must-have could be three years’ experience in a car wash and if this is not acknowledged, the application is weeded out,” Rust said. “For detailers, if they do not have at least two years’ experience and attest to it, the application is weeded out. Pre-qualifying questions at the onset of the application help discard resumes or applications that are not in sync with specific needs.”

There is no one-sized-fits-all ad wording, however. Olenyk recommends assessing specific needs based on the current team, including “what is this team doing well and what do they need?” and looking at other job postings in the market. “We decide on the keywords that we are looking to add in our posting. Pay and benefits we offer is a huge thing that drives people to posting.”

Crafting the perfect online job listing doesn’t require a wordsmith, however. “In many ways, we are simply describing the perfect person for the job, which resonates with people when they fit the description,” Olenyk said. “Fad words like ‘Ninja’ we have not found effective for us. A clear description, adding words like ‘fun,’ ‘exciting,’ ‘hard-working,’ ‘exhilarating’ and ‘rewarding,’ seem to attract the best talent.”

She recommends appealing to those who like to work outdoors — using words like “fresh air,” “plenty of space” and “refreshing” — techniques which “help us get the perfect candidates.”

Even though those targeted words may lead to the right candidates, Iron Fox adds a three-minute test on an application “which helps us garner their real interest and experience, and those candidates that do the quizzes online are always sorted through first by the recruitment team,” Rust said.

Brie Reynolds, Career Development Manager for the job listing website FlexJobs.com, suggests including “a short list of key things an applicant must include in their cover letter in order to be considered for a job. For example, three specific questions about their professional history. This makes it easy to winnow down a pile of applications to only those who were able to follow the directions in the job listing.”

An increasing number of jobseekers want some level of flexibility in their careers, which is the driving force behind FlexJobs.com. While much of that is focused on work-from-home opportunities, Reynolds suggests thinking more broadly. “For some, a part-time schedule is the flexibility they need. For others, the ability to change their schedule outside of, perhaps, a two-week window, is helpful. A car wash might survey existing employees, she said, to get an idea of what types of flexible work arrangements would work well for them. That would be helpful in assessing the current needs and crafting an outline for incoming employees.

If there is any flexibility in the job, spell it out in detail, Reynolds said. “Avoid using general phrases like ‘work-life balance’ or ‘flexible options’ because those can cause people to apply who may not be a good fit for the specific flexible work option that comes with the job. This can waste both the hiring manager’s and the applicant’s time. For example, if the job is a 20-hour-per-week job, don’t just put part-time; put 20 hours per week.”

PROACTIVE APPROACH

Hoffman doesn’t just wait for applicants to find its open positions; it seeks out candidates by using Indeed’s resume search function and LinkedIn’s recruiter function, said Katie Riha-Sutton, the company’s recruiter. “We would do several different searches based on similar job titles, companies with similar services, similar skills that are needed for our positions, or based on any educational requirements.”

Riha-Sutton recommends keywords searches to find someone who has the word “leader” or “customer service” in their resume or profile. “It will give you a wider pool of candidates to look through, but you can filter the search by adding other fields such as a similar industry or geographical area, etc.”

That means really understanding the needs for each position, she said. “It comes down to analyzing what are the real qualifications of the role and what do our high performers possess that make them exceptional employees.”

Olenyk said the most successful searches include words like “carwash,” “outdoors,” “drive through,” “retail,” “auto” and “mechanic.”

OTHER TOOLS CAN HELP

If online listings provide too many applicants, other tools can help streamline the hiring process.

Iron Fox uses background checking tools like TruthFinder, Intellius and Instant Checkmate to help establish a rounded picture. None of those are free, however, and Rust finds “the budgets getting out of control at certain sites.” Unnecessary waste also comes by not ending unneeded job ads or not sharing resumes between sites, he said.

Hoffman prescreens using the text-based interview software Canvas. “They answer automated messages that we predesigned, and once completed, the system would either disqualify them or send them to our HR team to schedule in-person interviews,” Olenyk said.

The company follows that with SparkHire, a video interviewing software. “Candidates would record their answers to our prerecorded questions. We can then decide on which candidates from there we want to bring in for in-person interviews.”

Word of mouth and employee referrals may ultimately yield a better candidate more quickly, but Rust believes that online and newspaper advertising should be in the mix to “get a great diverse and energetic workforce.”

Jump Start Your Career

With the new Car Wash Career Center created by International Carwash Association, it’s easier than ever to connect employers and job seekers in the car wash industry. Employers in the retail, supplier, and distributor space can post jobs, search resumes, and share details about their organizations to appeal to candidates. Job seekers can search available jobs and create their own profiles at no cost while accessing a variety of tools to boost their car wash career — including coaching, resume writing, reference checking, and free training resources that will supercharge your job search.

Learn more at careers.carwash.org.