How to Hire Maintenance Mechanics in San Diego

Current Environment

Since the inception of the Industrial Revolution, our world has been one that consistently includes electronics, products, and mechanical devices. With each year that passes, manufacturing becomes more and more complex, as does the machinery required.

No matter the simplicity or intricacy of equipment and machinery though, there must be a competent mechanic to keep it working and production moving.

History

The second industrial revolution started the need for maintenance professionals. Historically, maintenance has been viewed as an expense, necessary but not wanted. Although some organizations may still hold this idea to be true, many companies today regard maintenance as an essential part of business operations and an area where an experienced maintenance professional can find ways to decrease costs and diminish the impact on the bottom line.

How will Recruiting maintenance mechanics Help Your Company?

How will Hiring maintenance mechanics Help Your Company?

While the exact scope of work differs depending on the size of the company, a typical maintenance mechanic is responsible for keeping machinery running and production flowing properly.

Hiring the person for the role, which includes knowledge and experience maintaining the type of mechanical equipment and machinery your company uses will make a significant difference when it comes to ensuring your company’s operations are running and production is flowing properly.

Before we get to exactly how to hire the best maintenance mechanic in [city_name] let’s review some of the details.

maintenace mechanic Details

Responsibilities

Maintenance mechanics may seem similar to the role of maintenance technician, but they are more specialized and focus on one singular area: machines and mechanical equipment.

People in this role also focus on the following tasks and responsibilities:

Performs maintenance, examinations, and tests on all mechanical equipment
Responsible for equipment transport, assembly, and disassembly
Fabricates and adjusts repair parts via machining
Updates maintenance documentation
Trains new maintenance mechanics when necessary

Looking for another position? View other positions we place in San Diego, California.

Education

Maintenance mechanics typically need a high school diploma; a year or more of training after high school will help them significantly. Some may go through an apprenticeship program that could last several years.

Some maintenance mechanics complete a 2-year associate’s degree program in industrial maintenance. Industrial maintenance programs may include courses such as welding, mathematics, hydraulics, and pneumatics.

Community colleges often offer the types of courses and certifications needed for positions that require it.

Here are resources to help you find community colleges in California, Arizona, and your own state.

Top Schools

Community Colleges in California
Community Colleges in Arizona
Search Community Colleges in Your State

2019 U.S. National Data

Salary Range

maintenance mechanics in the U.S.

$33k

Low

$52k

Average

$74k

High

$59k

Average CA
Salary

$28.47

Average CA
Hourly

521k

Total maintenance mechanics Employed in the U.S.

95.9%

Men

4.1%

Women

maintenace mechanic Salary Comparison

National

The role of a maintenance mechanic is an important one that is integral to a company. It is a great opportunity to break into a rapidly growing field that provides a tremendous opportunity for growth and development and, eventually, well-paying salaries.

California

The average annual salary for maintenance mechanics in California was 59k in 2019. The hourly wage averaged $28.47.

For more detailed compensation information for maintenance mechanics in San Diego, download our free compensation/salary report below.

Working in San Diego

Do maintenance mechanics consider San Diego, California a great place to work? Here are a few things to keep in mind when you are recruiting for a maintenance mechanics in San Diego.

The city lies along Southern California’s Pacific Ocean coast. It is directly adjacent to the Mexico border and is located about 120 miles south of the metro area of Los Angeles. It’s home to approximately 1.5 million people, making it the eighth-largest city in the U.S.

San Diego is famous for its almost perfect climate, natural beauty, magnificent beaches, and a vibrant downtown with culture, restaurants, and nightlife.

However, like many Southern California coastal cities, it has a high cost of living and expensive real estate. This may affect a company’s ability to hire top candidates unless compensation is commensurate.

Pros

A study by Kisi ranked San Diego as the number one location for work-life balance in 2019. The factors considered in this study were work intensity, society and institutions, and city livability. Data suggests that workers who have a good work-life balance are more loyal to employers and more productive.

Innovation: San Diego is home to innovative companies, from tech and biotech startups to healthcare organizations to craft breweries.
The Weather: Obviously, you really can’t beat mild temperature and blue skies all year round.
Schools: Renowned universities, such as the University of California San Diego, San Diego State University, California State University San Marcos, Point Loma Nazarene University, and the University of San Diego.
Culture: It’s strong and growing, with Balboa Park, San Diego Opera, live symphonies, and over 7,000 restaurants.
“Small Big City” Vibe: Although San Diego is a relatively large city (1.42 million people), it has the qualities of a tight-knit community.

On the other hand, there are a few common complaints about living and working in San Diego.

Cons

The high cost of living: mainly due to real estate prices, which drives the cost of owning or renting a home, although it’s less expensive than San Francisco or Los Angeles.
Lack of professional sports, although this may not be an issue at all for many.
Lack of seasons. Yep – almost always 72 degree.
Traffic. San Diego ranks #40 for traffic in the U.S. So it is tolerable, but still something to consider.

San Diego, California

Current Weather

Not your city? View other cities where we place maintenance mechanics.

Demand for maintenance mechanics in San Diego

There is a quickly growing need for qualified maintenance mechanics and is projected to be so for the next 10 years. In fact, the BLS projects that this field will grow at a much faster and significant rate than average job growth, 13% versus 4% the national average growth rate for all jobs combined.

Now is a great time to enter into the profession, knowing that there is job growth potential and these positions tend to be well compensated.

The supply of candidates and demand for open positions have a direct correlation to a company’s ability to hire. Download a free Supply and Demand report for maintenance mechanics in [city_state] below.

The supply of candidates and demand for open positions have a direct correlation to a company's ability to hire. Download a free Supply and Demand report for maintenance mechanics in San Diego, California below.

How to Hire the Best maintenance mechanics

Finding and hiring the best maintenace mechanic candidates can save you money right away and well into the future.

The costs of making a bad hire are well documented. The cost can run as much as 30% of the employee's first-year earnings according to the US Department of Labor. Bad hires can cost a whopping $240,000 in expenses related to hiring, compensation, and retention per The Undercover Recruiter. 74% of companies who admit they've hired the wrong person for a position lost an average of $14,900 for each bad hire according to CareerBuilder. These statistics support our long-held position that behavioral questions are the best way to get to know your candidates and past behavior is the best indicator of future performance.

Recruiting Best Practices

The information below comes from the best practices Amtec uses for finding the highest quality candidates.

Defining the Position

When defining the role you are creating, we recommend a position profile to fully evaluate the position you are hiring for. You must decide if the engineer can work remotely or must work in California. If working in San Diego is essential, make sure you include that in your job posting so candidates can decide how many miles they can commute.

How to Source the Best Candidates

When you are looking to source the best quality candidates for your open positions, make sure you have done the legwork to hire an "A Player". You can do this by making sure your company's perspective is aligned with the current market, you have taken into account the job responsibilities, as well as what type of characteristics you are looking for to fit your company culture. Then proceed to write a job posting to attract high-quality candidates.

Characteristics of maintenance mechanics

Hiring qualified maintenance mechanics becomes more and more important for companies as equipment and devices become more mechanized and technical. For keeping your equipment and machinery in shape, maintaining business continuity, and meeting your commitments to customers, mechanics will be an integral part of your workforce.

For more detailed compensation information for maintenance mechanics in [city_name], download our free compensation/salary report below.

How to Screen Candidates

You wrote a job posting, posted the position online, and received a lot more resumes than you’d bargained for! Next comes the enormous task of sorting through those resumes to eliminate the ones that are clearly not a good fit. Now, you have a stack of resumes for candidates who have potential. So how do you go about screening the remaining candidates?

It starts on the phone! As a recruiter, the goal of your telephone screening is to learn more about your candidates. You can confirm that they have the educational qualifications and relevant experience, but you also need to determine if they would fit into your company's culture. To make this job easier, use a system to consistently evaluate results. This way you can equally and objectively compare candidates and evaluate their "soft skills", like communication and thinking process. Download Amtec's Professional Assessment Questionnaire below to help with screening candidates.

Free Professional Assessment Questionnaire

An individually customized questionnaire that helps assess a candidate's competence with written communication skills, thinking processes, and other relevant skills.

How to Interview Candidates

At Amtec, we believe in the power of behavoral interview questions to go beyond the experience and skills listed on the candidate's resume. Although you will want to confirm in the interview that the candidate does indeed have the experience listed on their resume, your assessment needs to go much deeper than that. An interview using behavioral questions can help you determine how well the candidate will fit with your company culture.

Download Amtec's best practices on conducting super effective interviews to find the best candidates and fill your open jobs.

Behavioral Interview Guide

Get the info you need to hire the best maintenance mechanics

Free Interview Guide