If you want your recruitment to succeed, you need to go beyond traditional ads. Consider LinkedIn, industry forums, and professional networks specializing in transportation. Geographical mobility is often a criterion to be valued. It is essential to source in a diversified way to recruit profiles that aren’t too similar and have the potential to enrich the service and the company. Take an international transport company for example. By targeting profiles abroad for positions requiring specific language skills they broaden the candidate pool and increase their chances of finding highly qualified candidates.
Fauve’s 6 Essential Tips for Successful Recruitment in Transportation
Recruiting in the transportation sector is a complex challenge due to the profession’s specific requirements and talent shortage. At Fauve, our years of experience in transport recruitment have helped us refine proven strategies to attract, evaluate, and secure the best candidates. In today’s article, the team at Fauve offers 6 tips to help optimize your transportation recruitment.
1 - Clearly define your needs for the transport recruitment
Before starting the recruitment process, define the position clearly: Is it an operational or strategic role? Does the role require fleet management skills? Should the candidate have a Class C license? For example, if you’re a carrier wishing to recruit a logistics manager you will need to specify the IT systems to be mastered (TMS, ERP) and the necessary experience in team management. If you’re hiring for the role of Logistics Director, you’ll want a candidate with an APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) certification and a good knowledge of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems like SAP or Oracle.
2 - Strengthen your employer brand to attract top transportation talents
The transportation sector sometimes suffers from a less attractive image. The best way to attract potential candidates is to highlight your strengths. Do you have good working conditions? Will someone interested in a role at your company have many career development opportunities? Highlight your Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives to attract people who align with your values.
If you’re recruiting for a transport group, you can highlight your company’s investments in environmentally friendly vehicles to attract candidates sensitive to environmental issues. Shining a spotlight on your employer value proposition will help you attract motivated candidates.
3 - Rely on a head hunting firm for transport recruitment
Implementing your own recruitment strategy may seem cost-effective, but without the proper industry connections and know-how, you run the risk of drawing out the process and potentially hiring the wrong candidate. Partnering with an executive recruitment firm like Fauve gives you direct access to top-tier candidates—many of whom are not actively searching but open to the right opportunity. We provide an external perspective on the position, working conditions, and management, increasing the likelihood of finding the best person for the position, and ensuring a successful integration.
At Fauve, we fill transportation roles in an average of 90 days. Our dedicated recruiters, specialized approach, and limited mandate workload ensure efficient and high-quality placements.
4 - Expand your recruitment channels to reach the best candidates
5 - Rigorously assess skills and personality
In addition to interviews, technical tests or simulations can be valuable tools for assessing a candidate and will help you verify their actual skills in an operational context. The recruitment process can take time, but it is essential to challenge the profile in several ways to identify patterns (habits, good or bad, of the candidate that they cannot constantly hide). For a management position, planning a management simulation could provide some much-needed insight into how candidates operate and overcome challenging situations.
6 - Ensure a smooth onboarding process for long-term success
A structured onboarding process is essential to ensure a smooth transition and long-term success. In the case of a logistics manager, setting up sponsorship or Buddy outside of their own department will reduce their adaptation time and help them settle in much faster. A well-planned support system ensures new hires integrate smoothly and increases retention rates beyond the onboarding phase.
Conclusion
Hiring in the transportation sector requires a strategic approach. Without industry expertise and the right recruitment strategy, finding top talent can be challenging. At Fauve, our approach includes personalized support and rigorous methods that have been used numerous times and have yielded success for both candidates and clients.