The best places to find service and drain technicians are your own techs’ referrals, job boards and social ads with a specific posting, supply houses, and trade schools or apprenticeship programs. Which channel fits depends on whether you need someone who can run a truck now or someone you can train. Most shops need a mix.
Decide what you are hiring first
Before you pick a channel, pin down the seat. A service tech who runs calls, clears drains, and presents repair options is not the same hire as a journeyman who does repipes and installs. And an apprentice is a third thing.
Write down three items: the license level you require, whether you will train someone on drain machines and camera work, and how the tech gets paid. Licensing rules for service work vary by state, and some states treat drain cleaning differently from other plumbing work. Check your state board for what applies to your techs. Do not guess.
Channel 1: referrals from your own team
Your current techs know who is good, who is unhappy at their shop, and who is looking. Referrals usually bring candidates who already understand the work and the pay structure.
- Pay the bonus in two parts, for example when the hire starts and again after they pass a set period. That keeps the new hire and the referrer invested.
- Ask in person at the morning meeting, not just in a group text.
- Tell your team exactly what you need this month, such as “a licensed service plumber who is comfortable on call.”
The limit is volume. Referrals rarely fill more than one or two seats at a time.
Channel 2: job boards and social ads
Job boards and Facebook or Instagram ads reach the most people, including techs who are not actively searching but will respond to a good offer. They also bring the most noise, so the posting has to do the filtering.
A plumbing ad that works says plainly:
- The license level you need, and that it must be valid in your state.
- That the tech runs service calls and presents repair options and prices, so sales comfort matters.
- How pay works: hourly, flat-rate, commission, or a mix.
- The on-call rotation, stated honestly. Nights and weekends are a top reason plumbers leave. If the ad says how often someone is on call, you attract people who accept it and skip the ones who quit in month two.
Then screen at the door. Ask about license level and state, years of residential service experience, driving record, and whether they have worked flat-rate or commission. If you take every applicant straight to an interview, you will spend your week talking to apprentices for a journeyman seat. For a closer look at the tradeoffs, see how posting on job boards yourself compares with a managed approach.
Channel 3: supply houses and your vendors
Counter staff and sales reps at plumbing supply houses see every tech in your market. They know who buys quality parts, who shows up early, and who has been in the same truck for years. Tell your rep you are hiring and what you pay. Reps tend to be glad to pass names along, but they will not poach for you, so ask for introductions rather than lists.
Channel 4: competitors and passive candidates
Experienced service techs are often employed and not browsing. Reaching them takes an offer that beats what they have now, and usually not just on hourly rate.
- Describe the call volume and how the board stays full. Techs hate sitting on slow days.
- Be specific about the truck, tools, and who handles estimates and financing.
- Offer a clear on-call schedule, with comp time or extra pay.
Be careful about non-compete or non-solicit agreements that a candidate may have signed. Those rules differ by state, so ask them to check their paperwork and talk to your attorney if it comes up.
Channel 5: trade schools and apprenticeship programs
If you cannot find enough licensed techs, grow them. Local trade schools, community college plumbing programs, and apprenticeship programs all graduate people who need a first job. Contact the instructors directly, offer to speak to a class, and host a shop tour.
Apprentices take time. Pair them with a strong plumber, set a clear path toward a license, and be upfront about how drain and service work fits into it. Apprentices who see a path stay longer.
Channel 6: your own past applicants and former employees
This one is cheap and overlooked. Go back through applicants from the past year who were close but the timing was off. Contact former employees who left on good terms. A short, honest message about what has changed at your shop, such as a new pay plan or a better on-call setup, can reopen a conversation.
Close the gap between applying and interviewing
Many plumbing shops lose candidates after the application. A tech applies, nobody calls for two days, and they take another offer. Respond the same day, confirm interview times by text, and follow up with no-shows once or twice before moving on.
That follow-up is the part we run at Recruitomatic: applicants are screened as they apply against the requirements you set, and we follow up by text, email, and calls until they book. You can see the full process on how it works, or read more about plumbing recruiting.
Match the channel to the need
- Need one licensed tech soon: referrals, supply house contacts, and a targeted job board posting.
- Need several techs: job boards and social ads with strong screening, plus follow-up that gets people to interviews.
- Need to build a pipeline: trade schools and apprenticeships, alongside one of the faster channels.