Rental Careers
October 2006
Providing opportunity... filling a need
ARA’s extensive Rental Careers initiative aims to help bring more qualified candidates to the rental industry
BY Wayne Walley
Wayne Walley is editor of Rental Management, the official magazine of the American Rental Association, 1900 19th St., Moline, IL 61265; (800) 334-2177 or (309) 764-2475, ext. 253; fax (309) 764-2747; e-mail wayne.walley@ararental.org
The American Rental Association has embarked on the most extensive campaign ever to promote the rental industry as a career choice for people attending vocational schools, technical schools, colleges and universities.
The effort had its beginnings about a year ago when key ARA members asked the association to take the lead in raising awareness and helping create a unified message to attract employees to the rental industry.
"The rental industry has been fragmented," says Michael Kneeland, executive vice president, operations, United Rentals, Greenwich, Conn.
"ARA represents the industry, which consists of a broad audience of more than 12,000 rental operators. Collectively, we need to be willing to support the ARA," Kneeland says.
ARA stepped up to the challenge, working with member businesses during the past year to identify needs and to create a plan of action.
"ARA needs to be the organization that defines the dimension of career opportunities. We set out to describe the potential of the rental industry and what we accomplish," says Christine Wehrman, ARA’s executive vice president and CEO.
"People may not identify the industry automatically for career choices. The industry has grown up over time and remains a growth industry. ARA intends to establish the validity of the industry with potential employees and to demonstrate that the equipment rental business is an astute career choice. This industry has a wealth of career opportunities available. We stack up well against the competition," she says.
The ARA effort includes the development of recruiting brochures to help rental businesses better describe and promote equipment rental career opportunities. The three brochures — one targeting service technicians, one offering an overview of all job areas in the general equipment rental industry and one focusing on career opportunities in the party and event rental field — may be ordered by calling ARA Member Services at (800) 334-2177 (see story on page RC18).
The ARA’s new rental career center Web site, www.RentalCareers.com, went live on Oct. 2 and offers an opportunity for rental businesses to post job openings and for those seeking employment to post résumés (see page RC10).
An ARA-facilitated working group of members also addressed the issue of standardized position descriptions for technicians (see story on page RC13). The descriptions are expected to help recruit new technicians to the industry in addition to creating a career path for those already in the industry.
"You need to create career paths and demonstrate it is a ‘rental career’ instead of just a job. You need an industry where people come in, learn new skills, grow and move through the ranks of management," says Charlie Neffle, owner of All Occasions Event Rental in Cincinnati.
"The rental industry has a compelling story to tell with great growth, great career opportunities and opportunities for promotion," adds Craig Pintoff, vice president of human resources for United Rentals.
"We do fill our jobs and we are always looking for the best of the best. People may not know about the rental industry right off the bat, but once they hear the story, it is very compelling and it is easier today to sell that opportunity. We are in competition for qualified people with car dealerships and the equipment manufacturers. We have to make our story compelling," Pintoff says.
United Rentals’ Kneeland is particularly encouraged by ARA’s effort to facilitate an industry standard for job descriptions.
"Standards mean we are talking the same language when classifying a position. Potential employees get mixed signals if different people try to attract them and everyone talks in different languages. When you talk about airline mechanics, it is a professional atmosphere. If you look at the auto industry, there are professional mechanics and technicians," he says.
"How many high school graduates think about rental as a career opportunity? Do people in trade schools think about the rental industry? We have to put rental in the customer’s minds and also show people there is an opportunity for them to advance and grow if they join the rental industry," he says.
"We need to build awareness so candidates say, ‘Rental is where I want to be,’" adds Kenny May, director of recruitment and retention at Sunbelt Rentals in Charlotte, N.C.
"There just aren’t many qualified candidates right now who are aware of the opportunities in the rental industry. We recruit from many sources that include the military, trade schools, high schools, colleges and universities and we always have students who come up to us and ask, ‘What is it that you do?’ I think that most rental companies are struggling with this in the same way, so a concerted effort by the industry makes more sense," May says.
"We are hopeful that candidates will gain a better understanding of rental as a career. This concerted effort is proactive and unique and we, as employers, expect more qualified candidates to choose from as a result. Our biggest challenges are finding qualified drivers and qualified mechanics. These are the two positions with the highest rate of turnover and least amount of qualified applicants," May says.
Wehrman says the ARA’s involvement started with a working group to standardize position descriptions for service technicians, but those involved in the group felt the ARA should go further and take the initiative in building the image of the industry from an employee perspective and building awareness of career opportunities.
"We do have a very difficult time attracting people and I believe it’s the awareness," says Doug Fleury, marketing manager for Rebel Rents in Temecula, Calif.
"I’ve been in the business for 30 years and it has evolved quite a bit. Larger companies project more of a professional image, but it is the awareness factor. People ask what I do and I say, ‘I’m in the equipment rental business,’ and they don’t know what I’m talking about. If I say ‘I work for Goodyear and sell tires,’ they would know what I do," he says.
Fleury says everyone who works for Rebel Rents — assistant managers to sales staff — is always recruiting.
"We just want our fair share of the talent pool and we are not getting that right now. We’ve done job fairs and Web postings and we have our own Web site for people to apply for a position. We also offer referrals. If someone who works for us recommends someone to work for us and they are hired, we give a reward," he says.
The ARA plan includes targeting military centers, technical schools, high schools and universities with information to reinforce the equipment rental industry as a career option whether a person’s background is agriculture, military, technical school, community college or other training.
"This program will achieve a clear identity of the rental industry for potential employees to evaluate as they choose a career. Our vision is that ARA can provide the opportunity for our member companies to more easily recruit employees and give those businesses the launching pad to personalize their company’s recruitment employment, placement and retention programs," Wehrman says.
