Resources for locating entry level electrical tech?

[ianbuckley]

We are looking to hire an entry level electrical technician. Bascially need to be able to do repair work (solder) on the component level of mid size circuit boards, read a schematic and basic computing skills. We are willing to train candidate up to a service tech over time. We are having a really hard time trying to find good candidates that have the basic skills we need without being extremely overqualified. I know most, if not all, of the people on this board are overqualified for the position we are trying to fill. However, I know a lot of you are involved in the business part of your companies as well. I thought maybe you might share some insight on where you look for new hires. We have tried recruiters, but they don't really do entry level stuff. Thinking about monster.com, but worried about similar issues. Any ideas?

[Ken Moore]

Do you have vo-tech high schools? A recent graduate might be the ticket.

[ianbuckley]

I am in the process of writing a job description for what we really need. I asked our "HR" guy to talk to VoTech schools before, but I think he may have oversold the position and hence got no responses. We are replacing a retiring employee who has a much larger skill set, so I think the HR guy might not have realized what we really wanted. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Guest]

along the tech school lines ... call up the "electronics" instructor (or better yet the lowly lab technician) and ask if they know any likely leads ... based on my experience, if you go through the school's "official" channels, one "passing" student is just like every other "passing" student ... edit for another thought ... have you considered hiring through a "temp" agency? ... a lot of companies are going that route lately ... you get to try someone out for a few days with no strings attached - and offer them a permanent job only if they turn out ok ... if you get a dud, you tell the agency to send someone else tomorrow ... Edited March 6, 2008 by Ron Beaufort