“It’s not just a job….”

Back in the 1970’s, the US Navy released a series of recruiting ads on television touting the benefits of joining their ranks. The ads usually started by showing a Navy vessel in some exotic port of call or out at sea, showing some of the more glamorous positions available in a very positive light.

The ads all ended with the tagline, “It’s not just a job, it’s an adventure.” With all due respect to our maritime friends, I think it’s time our industry adopts the slogan as its own.

The car wash industry is undergoing growth like it’s never experienced before.  New locations are opening almost daily across the country. Reports of huge volumes, unheard of a decade ago, are now commonplace. Unlimited plans are at record highs with no end in sight. Most owners report they are actively looking for properties to further expand their businesses. So, it’s all good right? Not really. With growth, comes growing pains and in the case of the car wash business, the pain is being caused by a lack of quality managers to run all of the new locations.

So what are owners to do? Slow down the growth and hope managers from other industries start to take note of what’s happening? That could take a while. The most successful owners are being aggressive in their recruiting and taking the battle for managers to other industries rather than waiting for the managers to come to them.

How? One of the most effective ways is through their “Job Posting”. What, exactly is the job posting? The job posting is YOUR SALES PITCH to prospective employees. It’s your shot at making them WANT to work for you.

What does one look like? An effective job posting should be comprised of at least the following components:

  1. Define whom your looking for, call their names
  2. Position your offering/Title
  3. Pay range
  4. Location of opportunity (a prospect in Tulsa may not be interested in a position in Indianapolis)
  5. Description of the opportunity listing the best-selling points of working for you – benefits, growth opportunities, etc.
  6. Any special requirements of the position (mechanical aptitude, working outside, etc.)
  7. Contact info and directions on how to apply.

If you want to compete for top talent, you have to sell your company and the industry to the prospect. Most still equate the car wash industry as a low paying, dead end job when it has become anything but! Anyone who’s worked in our industry knows that that this is far from just a job. By writing a successful job posting, you can convince prospective employees that it is, indeed, an adventure.

Bob Fox has over 30 years of industry experience and is an instructor and the manager of CarWash College™. Bob can be reached at BFox@sonnysdirect.com. For more information about CarWash College™ certification programs, visit www.SonnysDirect.com or call the registrar’s office at 1-800-327-8723.