5 Red Flags to Look for When Hiring Energy Sector Talent

Hiring in the energy sector can be tough. You may be facing a huge stack of resumes you need to screen on top of tackling your day to day responsibilities.

How can you find the best candidates in the pile? While you’ll need to mind the details to find your best choice, you can screen out many candidates in the first round simply by staying alert to the biggest “red flags” in the energy industry. Here are our top five:

Long Gaps Between Jobs

“Job hopping” isn’t unusual in the energy industry, where few projects last forever. But it’s important to look at the gaps between projects. Technology in this industry moves fast – spending only a few months on the sidelines can seriously impair an engineer’s or designer’s ability to stay current. Choose candidates with small or no gaps between projects or who filled those gaps with education or training to stay current.

Unfinished Projects

While you’re looking at recent jobs or projects, check the timeline. Is the candidate staying for the entire job, or do they have a habit of “hopping” before the job is finished? Candidates who do so may lack the perseverance needed to see a job through its tough challenges. In the energy industry, those challenges are inevitable.

Grammar and Spelling Errors

Attention to detail is essential to work in the energy sector, where a missed detail may literally mean the difference between life and death. This attention to detail starts with the resume and cover letter.

Questionable Social Media Presence

What do you find when you Google the candidate? While social media streams may be less formal than business communication, they should still present the candidate as a competent adult whom you would feel comfortable associating with your company and its work.

Applications With a “Form Feel”

Is the cover letter addressed to the hiring manager by name? Does the resume focus on specific work that qualifies the candidate for this position? If the cover letter is addressed to “To Whom It May Concern,” and both documents feel like the candidate could have substituted any company on the planet, consider shuffling them to the bottom of the pile. The candidates who are most interested in your company will take the time to research it and write about how they can help you.

Still need more time to screen those resumes? Work with a recruiter who can help! At FootBridge Energy Services, our experienced recruiters can help you find top talent with extensive experience in the energy industry. Contact us today to learn more.