About a year ago, I bought a pair of hiking shoes that changed my business.

No, they weren’t magical shoes that made me hike faster or smarter, but the person who sold them to me did something extraordinary: he listened. He asked good questions, knew the product, and cared about my experience. A few weeks later, he wasn’t selling shoes anymore, he was standing beside one of our plumbers, learning how to install water heaters, smart toilets, and work under sinks.

That moment taught me something powerful about recruiting in the trades today:

the best hires aren’t always looking for us, but they’re already showing us who they are.

Recruit character, teach skill

At Lutz Plumbing, we operate under a simple recruiting strategy: recruit character, teach skill.

You can teach anyone to sweat a copper joint or wire a circulator pump. What’s much harder to teach is attitude, curiosity, pride in craftsmanship, and the ability to make a customer feel at ease.

That’s why I look for people with strong soft skills and a genuine service mindset. Some of our best apprentices started out in completely different industries: retail, restaurants, hospitality. They’ve spent years solving problems, reading customers’ moods, and taking pride in their work, they just needed someone to open the door to a new career path.

From warehouse to dispatch desk

Our newest dispatch coordinator used to manage a warehouse at Best Buy. She came to us because she was tired of the corporate grind and wanted to be part of a smaller, people-first team.

She already had everything we needed: organization, multitasking, communication skills, and a love for structure. Now, she keeps our techs running efficiently, ensures customers are happy, and color-codes our schedules like a work of art.

She didn’t come from plumbing, but she had the heart of a service professional. The rest? We can teach that.

Look beyond the obvious

The truth is, great candidates are everywhere if you’re willing to look.

• The barista who remembers every customer’s order and keeps calm during a morning rush?
   That’s someone who can handle a dispatch board during the summer AC season.
• The bank teller who builds rapport with every client in line?
   That’s someone who can explain a service invoice with confidence and care.
• The restaurant server who anticipates needs before customers speak up?
   That’s someone who can read a customer’s home and build trust in minutes.

And sometimes, you’ll find the perfect service manager in unexpected places like a police officer who’s spent years managing people, systems, and unpredictable situations. I even know a company that brought one onto their team in Wisconsin, and it’s been a phenomenal fit.

Teachers, too, are an underrated source of talent. If they can handle a room full of high school students, they can absolutely handle a homeowner in a panic over a leaking water heater.

There’s a growing number of people out there who are craving what our industry offers, they just don’t realize it yet.

Why they’re looking for us, they just don’t know it yet

There’s a growing number of people out there who are craving what our industry offers, they just don’t realize it yet.

They want:

• Meaningful work.
• A tangible skill.
• A team that feels like family.
• A career where effort equals reward.

Many of them aren’t chasing college degrees, they’re chasing purpose, stability, and growth. When we connect with those values and show that the trades offer all of that (and more), we stop being a fallback option, we become the dream job.

The bottom line

Recruiting for the trades isn’t just about filling positions, it’s about building people.

If you focus on finding individuals with integrity, empathy, curiosity, and grit, you’ll have everything you need. The technical skills will follow, because character drives learning.

So the next time you’re out in the world buying shoes, ordering coffee, or checking out at the hardware store, pay attention. The next great technician, dispatcher, or service manager might be the person helping you that day.

All you have to do is recruit character, and teach skill.