How To Hire And Be Hired In The Growing Electric Vehicle Industry!
This podcast is brought to you by star charge the largest EV charging manufacturer in the world and is also a provider of residential and Commercial battery storage and microG grid Solutions and Kim power the reliable quick and scalable EV charging solutions for everyone and [Applause] Everywhere hello everyone and welcome back to the out aspect podcast I’m your host Francy as demand for clean and sustainable Transportation Rises so does the need for a skilled and diverse Workforce to propel the EV sector forward in today’s episode we explore the challenges and opportunities in
Recruiting for the EV space a sector that is characterized by Innovation rapid growth and a relatively Short History which comes into play too to join me in this conversation today I have Raymond mpir on the podcast CEO and founder of mpir mpir search and EV recruit recruitment and Raymond deling
Or Ry who we call him as to not get things things confused you’re the EV sales director and thank you both for joining me today thank you for having us yeah thank you of course I met Ry I met you up at the charin event in
Cleveland and I didn’t get to see you Raymond but now we are all uniting on the outter spect podcast and I’d love to start by setting the stage so can you tell me a little bit about your goals and your mission with Eevee recruit absolutely so you know personally I’ve
Been recruiting in the engineering and Manufacturing space for the last 10 years and you know asides from being an EV Enthusiast you know driving an EV cruising around the city in my ebike um what really attracted me to the industry is it’s ultimately a combination of you
Know a lot of technical fields that are intersecting so in my engineering and recruitment experience previously you know between working with um industrial electronics companies Power Electronics um components companies fuel cells battery manufacturers Telecom Engineering Services so it’s really interesting to see the industry as a
Whole when you know most people they see the oems but you know you take apart that charger you take apart that vehicle you know there’s a whole tiered supply chain of contributors that you know are actually you know in my opinion driving a lot of the Innovations within the
System so it’s been really interesting for us to kind of get a vantage point within you know those other you know technical markets um that are contributing to this revolution so um you know for us you know we’ve been looking to differentiate ourselves by you know maintaining that intellectual
Curiosity because what’s out there today is going to be completely different in six months you know as as you said we had met you at the charin testival event which was great um we’re actually going to be exhibiting and I’m leading a panel at the EV charging Summit this year um
And then Rey joined my team um and part of my commitment to serve the industry is to have individuals on our team that actually come from the EV space or preferably have a technical background um from the recruitment standpoint um you know Ray what are what are your
Thoughts yeah so I I came from I was working for an energy Service Company uh for about five years and started dabbling you know my first year in in the EV product stuff mostly we were focused around lighting um and then really just got an interest for it and
Saw the need for obviously still today infrastructure um and a lot of the clients I was working with were in those perfect locations they were townships and um commercial buildings with with companies in them um and that really got me excited about the EV space and seeing
Where it was going so when I had the opportunity to join EV recruitment um it was kind of just a continuation of what I’ve been doing but instead of working for one company to drive the EV future forward um now in a position to be able to help companies from pretty much every
Vertical that Encompass encompasses EV you know build their teams and and get their piece of the pie in this market yeah thanks for that and Raymond you mentioned that you have your experience getting around in things that are electric was that part of your motivation in moving into this space
Yeah absolutely so I actually had the car before we made a full commitment so you know for us we want to focus on you know the companies of today that will positively change our tomorrow so you know going back Beyond two years you know our focus is actually in Water
Resources um so you know we were working with a lot of companies in California and pump lines Pump Station levies and dams um so for us to you know focus on a niche um surrounding sustainability was important so you know it was an easy kind of transition for us just due to
Kind of our interest and where you know we saw the stage of the market and the growth opportunity so personally um you know I had a Mustang Maki somebody that drove a 10-speed GT before that um you know I liked the noise of that car um
When the Maki came out you know that was to me you know the The Best of Both Worlds you know past um you know the the past American Muscle you know mixed with the future so you know I had the Maki for about two years and actually
Recently had to uh make the transition to the uh Tesla Model y um it was purely an infrastructure decision you know you know perhaps maybe some of the charging networks you know are you know in a greater volume as we know in California but you know being based in Philadelphia
Driving to New York City um driving the DC um the infrastructure just really wasn’t wasn’t there for me yes I don’t think that is an uncommon story to to consider the infrastructure that’s around you of course at home charging is awesome if you can have it
But if you’re on the road if you’re commuting if you like road trips considering the whole ecosystem has definitely be definitely been at the top of mine so yeah interesting you have your own experience in EES which is great so to Pivot over to the strategy
Of your work what are the major Partners or Market sectors that you focus your recruitment work with or in yeah absolutely so I would say we could break it down into five markets happy to go into depth in each one um you know we’ve been working
With a lot of EV charging you know manufacturers um and it’s been interesting to see you know a transition to what I call like the Gen 2 EV charging manufacturers that you know have another layer of Ip or you know technology whether it’s from the iot
Side or you know the software side we’re working with one company that allows for you know remote uh connectivity um without the use of Wi-Fi or Bluetooth um and what I’ve liked about the EV charging companies is there’s you know from a customer standpoint there’s no one siiz fits-all solution so you
Know really depending on you know the customer’s requirements you know there’s a case that could be made for one charger or five others um and it’s not just the charger it’s you know ultimately it’s the power um you know behind it you know is there you know additional battery storage required is
There you know a place to integrate solar you know now we’re looking at there’s companies looking at you know micro grids um you know so we’ve been able to work with a few EV charging manufacturers that are differentiating within you know certain kind of Niche
That one example I gave you so there you know application would be you know most useful in dead zones throughout the us or you know inside parking garages where you know there’s an issue um connecting to Wi-Fi um and then you know through our search Cadence um you know we
Recognize as you said you know that’s definitely you know a a kind of common line that’s you know used in any high growth Market you know you see kind of memes about it um where it’s like hey I’m looking for 10 years experience in a five-year industry um you know when
We’re recruiting for a new company in the space and they’re looking for a business unit leader you know they’re obviously coming to us to actually find somebody that you know has experience you know from a company or one that’s matured a little bit past them that has you know that background scaling certain
Teams or launching a certain product with a certain technical background um you know so for us it’s about identifying all those environments and then you know approaching these Executives and Senior leadership with a role that has a lot more upside um you know however when you know we’re
Building out teams um you know there’s certain roles where you know if they have budget for that’s a big thing you know they’re if you could always entice somebody with experience away but I would say some of our most interesting searches have been when you know clients
Are kind of open to you know different environments um so for us that’s you know through our search Cadence and our research um you know again you know can’t you know overstate that um you know my team with their engineering backgrounds and you know we’re constantly going to all these technical
Trade shows and you know jumping in kind of you know virtual conferences um when we get on a new client you know we take the time to really try to identify you know what are those transferable company types or or product lines that we could look for experience that would you know
Um that would make for a good good employee so I guess for that one connectivity and Bluetooth example then we looked for people that had sales experience through certain distribution networks resellers because that was one of the channels um but then also you know maybe smart home devices or um
Remote lock access or you know um Auto automated Building Systems um so for that particular client we identified those three areas and you know led to a um you know quick quick uh final interview process um I guess to go through happy to jump in the various
Ones there some of the trends that we’ve seen is on the so we work with manufacturers and you know TurnKey Engineering Services um you know we’ve we’ve noticed earlier this year there’s been a market entrance of a lot of telecom companies um you know that are looking to launch turn key division so
It’s not just from we see it from a singular head hunting standpoint of transferability but I think it’s important to know a lot of the companies that are going to be successful in this market you know they have a transferable product line and labor force that makes
Their pivot um you know a little bit you know easier or natural um to enter the the EV market so telecom companies they know utilities they know power um you know they have the um project management electrical engineering teams they’re kind of regionally focused um so you
Know it’s been cool working with a few of these large Telecom players um as well and you know when it comes to you know you can’t you know a lot of it is like Workforce retraining so for example we did an electrical engineering leader um placement for them who had experience
With evse and you know that those high voltage equipment and was able is coming in to ultimately like help you know train their project and engineering team on the um infrastructure nuances um similarly with you know their business unit leader who’s going to lead sales and oversee the project management team
Um so that was an interesting project um Ray what are what are some other markets that we’ve been focused in yeah I mean we were we were just at the um the advanced automotive battery show so focusing on you know Battery Technology um that’s a very interesting Market
Because as you know that’s a lot of the cost associated with EV right now of the car and then battery storage you know is going to play a big part in a sustainable charging system down the road um so that was that’s another Market as well that we’ve we’ve been
Getting into working with with clients there um trying to help them maneuver essentially a lot of those companies are 50 75 year old battery technology companies um and they’re looking to try to say well what is going to be the electric vehicle battery right what’s going to be the chemistry behind that um
Because that’s kind of a currently everyday changing there’s a lot of new technologies new chemistries um that are popping up in that space um you mentioned the the telecoms companies but you know just turn key companies in general telecoms play into that um but there are you know a lot of
Other electrical service companies like I said I came from a lighting company um solar companies as well are kind of in that similar space they understand Utility side how to work with their local utility companies um as well as power supply power demand and how to build build out those projects yeah and
Then also too on the you know Nev charging client portfolio you know we’ve seen um we’ve been starting to work with companies a couple that focus in charging as a service um focused on the fleet level so you know that’s been really interesting to me and us and
That’s the other thing as we get to work with like a new client that’s you know bringing a different perspective to the industry that you know no other company has you know we really enjoy going through you know the presentations that the leadership has had you know looking
At their wins their you know um joint ventures you know what differentiates them from the competition what’s their long-term value proposition so we’re just kind of curious and interested in that but you know as recruiters that’s super important because one it just it it helps us effectively map out the
Candidate targets but I think too you know we know how to articulate that in a very short amount of time to capture candidate interest and you know when it comes to you know the best candidate sure people could be between jobs and you know still a great candidate
Especially in this market that’s you know people are getting laid off that at no fault of their own um but you know most of the time I would say you know the best candidates are the ones that are happily employed um you know they’re not spending their time you know on the
Weekends throwing their resume around they’re working long hours they’re work they’re happy where they are um they’re hanging out with their families in their extra time so you know it’s all about really us just kind of capturing their attention and articulating the level of the opportunity to at least you know
Just get them to explore a little bit more then we take them through that interview process um you know charging as a service companies are interested because especially at like a fleet level you know you’re able to kind of take it from um a capex to an Opex and that’s
Important for them with you know cash flow management and the other part that I’ve learned you know researching about them is being technology agnostic is important they almost see themselves as you know a technology partner um where you know depending on the use case there could be different software there could
Be different layer of you know service required um and then I guess the next skill set good segue is due to the lack of you know the reliability issues that we’ve seen um which could you know it’s great the test that theme was about inoperability um which I think is so important you
Know that’s the huge benefit of Tesla right you know they’re vertically integrated so not just from the manufacturing side the infrastructure side when there’s new software you know they it’s not a third party that has to then update every system that touches so um you know I think it’s important when
You have companies that you know are manufacturing doing the technology installing the Chargers doing the turnkey and then doing the operations and maintenance you know the field service that there’s like full stakeholder alignment so you know perhaps that could also be a shortcoming where we Face a lot of you know
Reliability issues as well um so another role that you know we’ve been focused on is like asset performance um and you know engineering level field service um individuals remote monitoring um you know looking for continuous Improvement um more you know preventative um because at the end of the day it is important
That you know not just the amount of Chargers in the ground but you know the amount of uptime that they have um because from experience Ford you know lost the customer you know yeah there were some issues with the battery and some recalls um you know which I could get
Into But ultimately there was a lot of issues with the charging station so you know for me like switching to you know it’s not too much to ask if you’re you know purchasing you know an EV for Reliable charging um you know then you talk to Tesla customers it’s like wait a
Second you actually have issues like I’ve never heard heard about issues so I wanted it to work but you know maybe in a couple years I I’ll go back to the Maki yeah I think definitely that’s something to consider and yeah you consider also a lot of different clients
It seems like not only those who have been in a part of the industry for a long time maybe a bit Legacy that are switching over to a new kind of market so they’re looking for perhaps newer experience and also the the new companies that are looking for
Older experience to shift so it kind of has some diversity there where I’m sure you have to employ a few different strategies so do you think that it I mean whether it’s key to your work or their work a bit of an Adaptive mindset to what kind of team you’re trying to
Build and who you want to outfit it with is important 100% um I think when a leader is looking out building out a kind of cross functional team that the the the hiring managers that I think are approaching it the best are a little bit flexible with some of their initial
Hires um and then they could you know build around them um so you know sometimes you know we may be looking for you know certain criteria but then we’re sharing ideas with them where hey you could have somebody with a little bit less experience but they’re specialized
In the space and then maybe you could complement them you know in in that next phase um it’s really to I think for us with uh manufacturing um you know at the end of the day like a lot of the tier 2 companies they have been you know it’s
It’s very Capital intensive to launch a manufacturing site so you know a lot of these companies I would say most of the tier 2s they’ve been working in adjacent products for a long time and then are just launching their you know EV Focus team so what they need completely new is
Sales um you know we see application engineering and then kind of technical marketing like that is kind of like the first kind of stage um then you know there’s different Automotive quality in manufacturing requirements so you know then maybe they need somebody on site that’s a manufacturing manager with the
Strong quality background um you know that could could make sure they’re you know compliant there so one example is a DC todc um converter client of ours but you know for a long time they were working with data centers um Industrial Automation and you know they got into the space a
Couple years ago um and we’ve helped staff up you know sales leadership application leadership Global account managers um as well as a customer programs manager um so those key people and then they kept they’re able to utilize a lot of their existing U manufacturing and engineering team um
With just adding a few more kind of EV Automotive Focus Specialists it seems like there are pretty clear transferable skills that you can bring over when you’re moving into a new space the EV space for instance and then there’s some that might require specific EV focused
Experience but like we said it’s a new industry it’s uh emerging there’s limited truly limited expertise that we can have in a lot of ways I mean I guess you could stretch that a little bit but it seems like you do tend to focus on those transferable skills which are
Important can be very clear but in terms of the relatively Short History what qualities do you encourage folks to uh consider or prioritize in potential hires again it it depends on the role I guess you know to maybe start with um you know advice that I would have for
You know any any candidate um you know that’s either especially ones that are looking to break into the space you know understand and be able to articulate where exactly you know your product experience is transferable so you know research yourself you know maybe you have experience in a certain product
Category then you know you see is high growth um within the EV supply chain so you know to be able to articulate that um you know in your resume um maybe even add a line hey um you know area of transferability right let’s say um you
Know there’s a lot of Gatekeepers um you know companies today because it’s so easy to apply to a job where there will a LinkedIn posting and the next day there’ll be like 300 applicants um and ultimately the hiring manager isn’t going through all of those but you know
Somebody who’s um you know not technical um you know internal recruiters and and HR is great but you know sometimes an HR person they’re also responsible for uh payroll um you know um internal relations um and then they’re expected to recruit in all disciplines within that company whether that’s Finance
Whether that’s legal whether that’s Administration and Engineering so they’re told um you know with very certain criteria from the hiring manager hey only share with me you know the 10 top resumés so you know you have to understand that perhaps if the hiring manager had time to go through all of
Them yours would have been in the top 10 but make sure you’re articulating your resume where you know anybody um you know could kind of understand it um you know in terms of the it really depends on on the so you know for us a lot of
Our um sales leaders you know cro that we work with that are looking for new like VP of sales or even just you know an accountant executive Hunter um you know just examples of you know kind of problem solving um you know where have you know you executed on like an
Enterprise level deal um you know how you know did you Salvage it you know what what value did you bring as an individual speak in eyes versus yeah my team did this um you know from it sometimes it gets a little bit more straightforward for engineering related roles because ultimately you you have
The experience or you don’t but um I think you know just by positioning your background with a willingness to learn um you know doing your research on the company the looking up the people on LinkedIn that you interviewed with or even checking out like you know sometimes what I recommend for
Candidates is if you’re interviewing with the SE Suite you know the best way to really understand like a person’s mindset is I would say listening to a long form you know communication podcast so you know I’m always sending over podcast recent podcasts they were on you
Know may maybe there’s an area of um you know connection maybe there’s a connection point there um you know you just kind of understand their tone you know how they would may approach the interview um so it kind of gives you kind of a leg up because you already
Know you know the kind of personality that you’re going to be speaking with over you know the next 30 minutes that is a great like bite of advice I feel like that’s you outlined it really well if people are looking to move into the EV space like that should
Be a sound bite that they listen to because it can be intimidating it’s a new technology you might not have that much experience but find your value and find a team to bring it to and be able to communicate it those are great points thank you Raymond the other thing too
Sorry just to put on especially maybe for you know a recruiter’s value comes in most to clients for I would say like you know a few years experience minimum but you know just some advice for some you know recent grads or college students that are looking to get into
The space I’ve always been like really surprised that like this year we were at the like nov battery show um you know I had a a ketering um intern working with me who was studying and you know had while she was like supporting me on the
Floor also one of the days I’m like hey go out like just start talking to companies learning about things I’m always like surprised by like the lack of college students I see you know walking around a lot of these trade shows and you know sure some of them are
Expensive but you know if you’re gonna in you know instead of spending your money on a Friday Saturday night like nov battery show is a free show flights to Detroit are very cheap um so I would just encourage you know people to you know get out in front um you know shake
Some hands ask some questions um you know maybe you pick something up and then you bring that to your coursework next year to look deeper into to it and then you also have a reference point to leverage um to try to get your foot in
The door in that company so um I would just encourage people to you know just do a little bit more research and and attend some of these trade shows where a lot of these companies that are driving the Innovations are there and they’re open to talk that’s a good point I think taking
That kind of initiative is really important I wonder how much Co has changed that putting kids that were you know in school out of all the social situation and taking that back but really really taking that step forward just putting yourself out there it is so appreciated you learn so much it’s
Invaluable experience uh so I agree I never did that but I think that would be a good idea go to the trade shows easier said than done hindsight’s 2020 right exactly well the younger version version of me was listening to this and I’d hop on a
Flight and go that’s exactly it yeah I mean yeah I I totally have done the same thing where it’s you know if I had known this when I was you in your situation I would have would have loved to do this or that um and taking those risks I
Think in this space is you we don’t know where it’s going it is such a dynamic industry lots of things are changing the technology changes the regulation changes the standardization changes and it’s a it’s growing really fast as well do you see certain sectors that are growing faster than others and also I
Mean you you kind of called back to layoffs that we’ve seen that a lot of us have experienced and like you said it’s not always due to your performance but the sh the shifting of the industry um and those Growing Pains so which sectors have you seen
Grow really quickly and then also do you maybe see slowing um I think that at the end of the day in a high growth Market where there’s a lot of upside and opportunity you know you’re having a lot of companies you know have a different approach that are ultimately fighting
For that same kind of market share within so you know in any high growth industry you know you’re going to have um ultimately more losers than winners I think that you know there’s definitely been some challenges for smaller companies that maybe are you know showing some you know good growth to
Raise money in these Capital markets to sustain growth um I think that’s obviously trickled down like you know it’s funny you could you know you could obviously cut up a statistic in any way but you know a lot of people are well you know EV sales you know sure we we
Pass 1 million but you know we thought they would be a lot higher you know you could also say well you know with these high interest rates you know there also hasn’t been a lot of sales for cars overall so I think that you know a lot of companies anticipated um you know
More adoption um you know and we’re passing this kind of early adopter phase you know and I was talking when I was selling my Maki back to the dealership I was just kind of asking some questions I was like hey do you have people that
Come in the door that um you know buy an EV after considering you know all the vehicles and he’s like no everyone that walks in the door is like hey I want to check out the Maki I’m also looking at a Tesla I’m also looking at a rivan um so
It seems like you know there’s not a lot of people or not enough right now that um um you know are evaluating and the fact that he doesn’t even you know he didn’t know that the the sales guy didn’t know that the 7 and a half grand
Tax credit you could realize on site next year and that’s like in a couple weeks so you know those are strong selling points um I don’t think it’s super I don’t think it’s that complicated you know why are they not you know so they’re not being whether they’re incentivized enough or they’re
Not you know being trained or directed enough to actually you know push the benefits of these um so I think it starts with you know with the Salesforce and kind of education as well um so it’ll be interesting to see you know how next year plays out but um you know
There’s been companies that you know I don’t know if we want to name names but you know we’ve worked with some companies that just kidding yeah just name them that have gone you know we’ve seen some big companies like you know Pro teror for example um you know it’s
Tough you know for us too like when a client owes us you know money for a lot of work that we spent on searches and you know they they just go under um you know we’re you know you you’re in the back of the line so it’s you know
Imagine then all the other service providers all their you know tiered manufacturers that have been supporting them that aren’t getting paid so there’s definitely a trickle down effect with every you know large company that goes under um you know for for growth I would say there’s you know a lot of um you
Know manufacturing you know coming back um to the US which is great um you know I think the administration did a great job um to kind of En encourage that um so there’s a lot of investment in in the US markets um so you know that’s been
Another kind of um target for us is identifying the international companies that have been in the space at a high level whether that’s in Asia or whether that’s in Europe that then you know see the the opportunity in the US market entering the US market but as a
Requirement to do business here need to have X amount made by us manufacturers um so that means you know they need to have a boots on the ground team they need to you know pay for a a you know one example is a pretty reputable um EV charging manufacturer from Europe you
Know they’re building out you know their their site in the Carolina is going to start as more of kind of a service center um you know they boots on their ground at their us-based contract manufacturer um you know then their you know kind of supply chain changes where
They need to Source kind of components and subassemblies from us manufacturers um so there is you know a growth in I guess every area um however there’s players in all those areas that are just because it’s just business that are are going to struggle that are you
Know going to get surpassed so um yeah yeah and so as we’re talking about you know Financial stability stability of the market and I also think about sustainability but also the mission oriented sustainability more of that environmental Consciousness that is more and more popular especially among the workforce and young people and older
People everyone I mean a lot of people are trying to say I want to make an impact with my work of course different values for different people but Rey have you seen an emphasis on this amongst whether it is companies recruiting or people trying to find a job with a more
Mission oriented goal become more popular or do you think it’s still kind of just a good job that’s yeah I think that a lot of the you know what companies are looking for in these employees and kind of what Ray was touching on when when saying you know
How to position yourself in front of these companies is they want somebody who’s who’s driven right and and is a problem solver and wants to innovate and contribute um you know that’s that’s the mindset that that most of these companies are really looking for um and
I think that is because that’s where all of these companies are um no matter if you’re on the evse side I mean obviously level two has kind of gotten to a point where they’re they’re pretty standard right but there’s still a lot of room in level three um I would say Battery
Technology kind of going back on that um there’s there’s a lot of room for big environmental impacts to be had um companies there talking about saving 50% energy and producing 25% more product with like 50% less byproduct I mean we’re not talking about a point or two right which which in some Industries
Could be major changes of half of a percent a percent difference right there’s still major major percentages to be had in this market um and I feel like that’s for the candidates and for the companies right kind of that that joint of like we can both make a big impact um
So I definitely think that a lot of the the candidates side are you know focused on sustainability they have a general interest in that um because that is what at the end of the day aligns with most of these companies true mission statements right they’re they’re trying
To do their part obviously but the end goal right if you’re producing the car itself the the charging system right okay well ebsc companies I know I’ve worked with a lot of them you know they’re working with battery storage companies they’re working with power providers right to how can we work
Together to make sure that this all comes together um so I feel like each each Avenue even whether it’s engineering sales a technical position um you’re you’re always going to be surrounded by that you’re going to be selling a new product you’re going to be selling a different version of your
Product um to really actually have an impact to what the future is going to be which we all know is electric vehicles yeah I think the move towards you know the triple bottom line people Planet profit is more more not only you know an ideal but actionable because of
How the way that technology is going whether regulation is pushing for it or you have Innovative leaders that are saying look we can solve this problem be it a social or a natural issue and alleviate it with this kind of technology and of course you build a
Business model of it so I think you can find the kind of technical prowess interest good jobs that align with missions more and more and I think that is very very cool and of course this space tends to consist of a certain demographic I’ll let you fill in the
Blanks but how do you see building equity and diversity into teams um to be like what is the best approach for that do you see it being prioritized in the ways that it should what’s your thoughts on that definitely um prioritized um you know for us we’re very you know vocal um
And transparent with you know for when we’re representing a candidate um that would be a diverse hire you know we’re making sure that hey diverse higher opportunity um you know as recruiters you know naturally we are you know we’re we’re we’re looking at the skill sets and what’s on the
Resume you know I know from in in in regards to our team in the selection process you know I very rarely have I come across I actually haven’t come across where you know I haven’t submitted a candidate or added a candidate because of a certain color or
Sex or you know uh belief system that they ascribe to so all you know recruitment is really based around you know for us anyways is around skill set um however you know there’s definitely companies that hiring managers that we’re working with um where you know it’s important for them that a
Particular role you know they they do add a diverse hire to the leadership team because it’s clearly and obviously you know very important you know there’s a lot of um statistics out there with you know the performance of a diverse board and leadership team um and their
Success versus ones that aren’t so um you know when it comes you know for us with certain search initiatives you know we we’re looking for um a diverse candidate um for sure so it’s been really cool um and great to see you know companies prioritize that um you know at
The end of the day I think it’s you know super important and it’s not you know just the right thing to it’s actually you know we we’ll make a more productive work environment which I think is the ultimate goal yeah I definitely you know it’s not just checking a box there are true
Studies there’s data and statistics that point to like you said a diverse team whether it’s background like you know which is awesome I think bringing background but different ideas and perspectives to a team you can have the the best kind of success and be more creative with your problem solving and
All of that so very interesting thank you for diving into that I’d love to touch on your in your work so far you obviously have diverse clients um you’re in a very Dynamic sector what are the can you share a success story or a key Insight from your experience in
Recruiting for the EV space and perhaps highlight how you know the the short timeline that it has existed presents an interesting challenge but there’s ways to overcome it and build a great team I would say you know from a success story there’s a couple but the most fulfillment I get is
When you know for for when we place a candidate we’re like Ben like one we’re changing the candidates lives in their career trajectory you know we’re creating a you know better um a better chance of success for the client because they landed a great candidate and you
Know we’re you know working towards a better future for the Next Generation so you know we find you know a lot of fulfillment and then you know putting myself in some of the candidate shoes you know it’s been really cool to you know land placements of you know International candidates that are having
Their visa sponsored um and you know talking about their families and you know where they want them to you know go to go to school you know I would say you know despite um a lot of you know challenges in our our political system um and this isn’t just the EV industry
You know over the last 10 years of myself recruiting and highly technical manufacturing sectors you know there’s been dozens of um placements um of international candidates that you know are adding a lot of value to the US um you know manufacturing ecosystem and are pursuing you know the American dream um
And you know looking to set themselves up in a better life for for their fam so you know I think that’s you know something that you know I think is important to share too um I guess specific success stories within um you know the I would say you know there’s this
One semiconductor client um that you know the who had diverse product lines and as the EV product category started to you know increase in Revenue this individual um had more say over hiring not just under his team but um teams that would affect his team so really
Being able to strategize with him as he’s maneuvering internal Dynamics with other leaders to ultimately you know have those positions that report to other leaders you know have a background that he’s also interested in so was cool to kind of work with him and strategize on
You know not just the challenges of you know the candidate but also you know his internal challenges of you know his positioning and and working directly with him so you know then fast forward a year you know we’re five placements later you know they’re you know doubling the revenue of their product category
You know they’re looking to open up a new facility and expand um and you know those placements were key contributors to that growth so you know a lot of our Su you know what I enjoy is seeing you know it’s great you you could be transaction which a lot of recruiters
Are in land of placement but then if you could actually fast forward a year two years from that relationship and you see the several people that you’ve placed there and you know they’re happy their careers are growing they’re getting promotions um you know I love when I see
A placement I made five years ago then was promoted you know to me that’s that’s the best um you know so we we are focused on you know repeat business um you know we do get 70% you know resume to uh submission interview ratio so um
You know we really share in in our in our clients wins and you know we’re we’re equally excited every time a new candidate accepts a position that’s really great yeah in terms of like key performance indicators not just that you place someone but what’s happening a year from now five
Years from now uh I think that’s really important especially when we’re thinking long term and how this space shifts and as things shift I’m sure you have future plans so could you tell me a little bit about what your next goals are what you are looking out for is there a certain part
Of the tech here or the industry that is really exciting for you yeah we’re starting to work with more um you know technology companies um on the semiconductor side you know we’re working with more Gan companies um that’s been interesting um you know other as a service type companies
Companies that are battery as a service charging as a service um Fleet as a service you know which is more kind of like a fintech product there’s a few companies that are that are doing that um you know so and that’s cool the the the fleet as a service um because the
Titles are owned by a fund where investors could offset their capital gains um by you know acquiring you know those titles through the fund and then you know then the their customer um has the ability to you know lease um whether it’s a vehicle or a fleet so just just
As a side not that’s a new client that we’ve been working with um for us it’s super important um for us to stay engaged in the space that’s you know my commitment and you know why I’m looking to hire like-minded individuals um so you know we’re adding to our team you
Know this quarter um you know we last year we did um it was I called it Philly EV so we had a I did a 300 person um networking and panel event where I brought representation from as you know Ry was saying you know different stakeholders um within the space so from
P from the utilities companies from uh the director of sustainability from uh City Hall came um individual from wireless charging companies uh battery companies Engineering Services so we had a very successful panel um and I’m looking to build on that this year in June um you know hoping to do you know
Have close to 500 people out um I’m going to have um the GM from EV box on there um the chief product officer from inductive EV which is a wireless charging company um and then a a few other um tentative commitments so you know that’s important to me um we’re
Going to be sponsoring um and exhibiting at the EV charging Summit this year um that was actually one of the more exciting shows we were at last year um you know where I’m going to be moderating um and and leading a panel um on um changing or organizational structures and Workforce retraining so
You know that should be interesting but at the end of the day it’s just you know trying to you know make our set our clients up for for Success um so we need to grow to you know make a larger impact um so yeah it’ll be exciting to see
Where we are this time next year yeah that sounds like a really interesting event a great panel um that you take the initiative to put together I I like that I appreciate that I would probably enjoy attending that event okay I will um that would be great
And then I know you also didn’t mention your Vault styles.com aspect but do you want to talk a little bit about that in terms of You Know The Branding side of things yeah so that was kind of just a fun uh project for me because I previously um
Was you know spent some time in the retail space in design as well so um for the holidays um it started as an idea to you know give our clients a gift but to create you know um industry inspired merchandise where design themes are you know from our client’s product
Categories um so what I’ve done is for all my clients created a 100% discount code for them um and then directed them to the design that I think they would be most interested in so you could check it out at bolt styles.com um you know at the moment um
It’s you know 100% And this is for the unforeseen future 100% of proceeds um are going to go to an electrical Eng a high school student looking to study electrical engineering um I think that as we’re talking about you know um EV adoption and society’s transition as you
Know you are as we are you know contributors to the space um you know it’s even more important um to spread that awareness and encourage you know future contributors um and adopters that are making a decision between another industry or you know another um car
Selection so um you know to to me this was you know just was a natural fit within our mission I thought it was kind of cool and and fun thing to do and sounds like I got to make you a discount code after after this interview go ahead and go ahead and do
That I love it um yeah I think that is it’s good to have fun as well as you know do the hard work and get creative that creative mindset I think cannot be overvalued you got to have a little bit of fun sometimes and get to brainstorming and I like that aspect too
And thank you Raymond and Ry you know you went from Tech you know the technical of thing handson to this side of things what has kept you most motivated what has been most exciting about the work so far that you keep taking into the each day after each day
Yeah so I was working uh essentially selling TurnKey projects for for level two and level three station so I spent a lot of time on the phone with pico one of our local providers um as well with walking through buildings with building Engineers um and then in the early days
Downtime was surprisingly worse than it is today even so um you know a lot of times standing out there next to the station and on the phone with text support a different levels and and kind of learning where could this be going wrong um so that was kind of my initial
Curiosity so now now getting to see the whole spectrum is is extremely interesting um I also drive an EV right so um that’s that’s pretty recently for me so you know another way to see what are the challenges right where where are the struggles for drivers because I need
To experience them so I can best help our clients you know realize those as well and then we can best position clients or um candidates that might have that expertise to bring to the table for those companies um so for me it’s been really expanding my Horizon right and
And seeing the rest of the rest of the picture um when I was just working on the charging stuff I knew a lot about kind of that and all the verticals that that go into that space um but you know now getting into the cable connector side um the the building
Of the vehicle with the tier On’s the tier 2s The Battery Technology you know it’s not just the battery in the in in the bottom of your car there’s hundreds of companies you know bringing cathodes and um electrode material and all of that together to pull that battery
Together so for me it’s just been very you know curious Market to be in in and get to get to learn in and see the different pieces of the puzzles and how everything comes together to be this you know seamless experience for the user at
The end of the day where they are just plugging in a car and they’re going about their day all marry and they’re not putting any thought to you know what’s behind the curtains that that we get to dive into and learn about yes that is the ideal right don’t
Even have to worry about this conversations that we have on the dayto day will be history one day about charging infrastructure and all that but yeah it is a big picture it’s a lot to take in so thank you for helping to fill in some color in this part of the
Exciting and growing industry which is you know recruiting for this Dynamic space as I’ve said and we’ll say again and again so I appreciate your time today Raymond and Ray so much I’m so glad that we got to meet half in person and half virtually So yeah thank you for
Your time and effort for sharing with me and our audience your expertise about this I think interesting part that we don’t really cover that much on the atect podcast yet yeah we’d love to um you know hear from your audience whether it’s a possible client or you know
Perhaps just a candidate you know looking for some Direction so we’ll always make time to you know people that proactively reach out to us um I think the two area the two U markets that I’m looking forward to the most this year would be um wireless charging um have
Really been enjoyed following and working with the company in that space and then you know the other missing component to batteries is battery recycling company so um you know once we get to that point to you know ultimately recycle the full battery you know that’s that’s when the loop is essentially
Closed right so um you know that’s exciting I’m looking forward to Innovations there me too I love the topic of EV battery recycling it is so interesting closing that Loop that’s really I feel like the epitome of what we’re going for here Cradle to cradle Society So yeah thank you both Raymond
And Ray of course folks if you have questions for them leave them in the comments but definitely go straight to EV recruitment.com reach out to them as Raymond said seems like they’re open to it and thank you for tuning in to the aisf podcast we will catch you next time on the next Episode this podcast is brought to you by star charge the largest EV charging manufacturer in the world and is also a provider of residential and Commercial battery storage microgrid Solutions and Kim power the reliable quick and scalable EV charging solutions for everyone and everywhere
Join Francie on today’s episode as she speaks with Raymond McSpirit, CEO and Founder of McSpirit Search and EVRecruitment, and Ray Delfing, their EV sales director. They speak to the ironic paradigm of job descriptions that call for 10 years of experience in a sector that has existed for 5 years, the best advice for those seeking to join this dynamic industry, how companies in the space can build the best teams, the parts of the market that their company works with directly, and more on their insights, lessons, and challenges working in the EV recruitment industry.
Raymond and the team have generously created a discount code for our audience for EV merch – use “EVRECRUITMENT20” for a 20% discount at https://voltstyles.com.
Their website: https://www.mcspiritsearch.com/industries/ev
Why Diverse Teams Are Smarter by Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2016/11/why-diverse-teams-are-smarter
Shoutout to our sponsors for more information find their links below:
– Star Charge:
https://www.starcharge.com/charging?id=20
– Kempower:
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#electricvehicle #evindustry #recruitment
[ CHAPTERS ]
00:00 Welcome Back
01:30 Who Is EV Recruitment?
04:15 Raymond’s Electric Experience
06:15 Their Major Partners/Market Focuses
17:00 Strategies To Building Best Teams
19:50 Best Qualities In New Hires
24:15 Advice For Folks Looking To Work In The Space
26:40 Fastest and Slowest Growing Sectors?
31:55 Mission Oriented & Sustainable Work As A Motivator
35:20 How To Build Equitable & Diverse Teams?
38:00 Success Stories & Key Insights Into EV Recruitment
42:05 EVRecruitment’s Next Goals & Future Plans
47:20 Ray’s Biggest Motivators Working In This Space
49:55 Conclusions
