Part of the how to hire cluster in the employment knowledge graph — connected to occupations, documents, hiring guides, career guides, country guides and employment law.
Scope the role before you hire
Define whether you need general labourers or workers with a specific trade, the project stage they will support, and how long the work will last. Note the site conditions, the tasks involved and any tools or plant the worker is expected to use.
Set out the safety certifications and site cards expected for the role and location. A clear scope helps candidates judge whether their skills and tickets fit and keeps your advert accurate for a project that may be fixed-term or phase-based.
Where to find candidates
- Job boards aimed at construction, trades and site work.
- Labour and trade staffing agencies for short-notice and phased work.
- Workforce matching platforms connecting employers with available local workers.
- Referrals from current site staff and subcontractors.
- Local trade networks, colleges and training providers.
- Your own talent pool and careers page.
How to screen and shortlist
- Confirm relevant trade or labouring experience for the tasks.
- Check any required safety cards, tickets or certifications are valid.
- Verify right to work and identity as required.
- Ask about familiarity with site safety and PPE.
- Confirm availability for the project dates and hours.
- Look for reliability signals from previous site work.
How to interview
- Ask candidates to describe relevant tasks and tools they have used.
- Explore their approach to site safety, PPE and hazard reporting.
- Discuss working in a team and to a site programme.
- Cover physical demands and working in varied conditions.
- Consider a practical task or reference check for skilled trades.
- Let the candidate ask about the project, hours and duration.
Documents, checks and onboarding
- Proof of any safety cards, tickets or trade certifications.
- An offer letter or assignment terms confirming the project and dates.
- An employment or fixed-term contract, or agency assignment terms.
- Right-to-work and identity verification before site access.
- A site safety induction record specific to the project.
- An onboarding checklist for PPE, tools and site rules.
Common hiring mistakes
- Not verifying safety tickets and trade certifications are current.
- Underestimating the site induction needed before access.
- Leaving right-to-work checks until after someone is on site.
- Confusing labouring needs with skilled-trade needs in the advert.
- Failing to confirm availability across the full project dates.
- Skipping reference checks for skilled or safety-critical work.
Export, edit and share documents
The documents, policies and templates this involves can be exported, edited, signed, stored and shared as PDFs with the HELPERG PDF Editor.
Workforce communication tools
Employers, agencies and recruiters often need candidate screening calls, international candidate calls, recruitment coordination and team collaboration. TwinPhone provides browser calling, virtual numbers and international business communication workflows.
Measuring recruitment marketing and traffic?
Related tools from the HELPERG ecosystem that may help with this:
- WebmasterID — Privacy-first website analytics for recruitment marketing — understand traffic sources, visitor behaviour and conversion performance on your employer or careers site.
Need hiring support?
Tell us about your workforce needs. We can help connect you with recruitment and staffing partners that match your hiring requirements — HR helper group is a matching platform, not a recruitment agency, and makes no placement guarantees.
Free, printable HR & employment resources
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