Can Fire And Security Companies Attract Engineers Without Paying The Highest Salary?
When experienced fire and security engineers start looking at new opportunities, salary is always going to matter. There is no getting around that. Engineers know their skills are in demand, they can see what competing employers are offering and, in many cases, they are being contacted regularly about other jobs.
However, paying the highest salary in the market is not the only way to attract good engineers.
In fact, an employer offering slightly less money can sometimes be the more attractive option if the overall job is better. Call-out expectations, travel, vehicles, management, training, progression and the type of work being offered can all influence whether an engineer accepts a position.
For companies trying to understand how to attract fire and security engineers, the important thing is to stop viewing salary in isolation. Engineers are comparing the complete opportunity.
Salary Still Needs To Be Competitive
There is an important distinction between not paying the highest salary and simply underpaying.
An engineer earning £45,000 is unlikely to move to a similar role paying £38,000 because the company has a nicer van or better management. Employers still need to understand where their salaries sit within the current market.
What companies do not necessarily need to do is automatically beat every competing offer.
An engineer comparing £45,000 with £47,000 may decide the lower-paid role suits them better because it offers less travel, fewer call-outs, better training or a clearer route into management.
The more attractive the overall job becomes, the less pressure there is on salary to do all of the work.
This is also why employers need to understand what actually increases an engineer’s market value. Experience with particular systems, specialist sectors, qualifications, commissioning capabilities and the ability to work independently can all influence earning potential. We explore this further in what makes an experienced engineer more valuable in the current market.
Call-Out Can Completely Change How An Engineer Views A Job
Call-out arrangements are one of the most important parts of a service engineering position, yet they are sometimes treated as a small detail during recruitment.
They are not.
An engineer comparing two similar service roles will often want to know how frequently they will be on call, how large the rota is, what they are paid for being available and what happens if they actually attend a call.
There is a significant difference between being on call one week in four and one week in eight.
The same applies to the geographical area being covered. An engineer may be perfectly comfortable with a reasonable call-out rota covering their local region but far less interested if they could potentially be sent several hours away in the middle of the night.
Companies with well-organised call-out arrangements should make this clear from the beginning. It can be a genuine recruitment advantage.
Travel Matters More Than Many Employers Realise
A salary can look attractive on paper until an engineer discovers that they will spend several additional hours every day travelling.
Fire and security engineering has always involved travel, but there is still a major difference between covering a manageable local patch and regularly driving across large parts of the country.
This becomes particularly important for experienced engineers who have already spent years doing long journeys.
Many reach a stage in their career where reducing travel becomes more valuable than earning another couple of thousand pounds.
Employers should therefore be clear about:
- The normal geographical coverage.
- How jobs are allocated.
- Whether engineers are generally kept local.
- How often overnight stays happen.
- Whether travel time is paid.
- Where the working day officially starts and finishes.
A company that genuinely manages engineer travel well has something worth selling during recruitment.
The Company Vehicle Is Part Of The Job
For mobile engineers, the vehicle is effectively part of their workplace.
Engineers notice the difference between employers that provide appropriate, well-maintained vehicles and those that treat vans as an afterthought.
Vehicle choice alone is unlikely to convince somebody to accept a job, but it contributes to the overall impression of how engineers are treated.
There are also practical questions candidates may ask. Is there private use? Are there trackers? Can the vehicle be taken home? How frequently are vehicles replaced? Is there enough room to carry tools and equipment properly?
Companies sometimes focus heavily on headline salary while overlooking benefits that engineers experience every working day.
Training Can Be Worth More Than A Small Salary Increase
Training is particularly powerful when recruiting engineers who want to develop their careers.
An engineer currently servicing relatively straightforward systems may be interested in moving into enterprise access control, integrated security, advanced fire systems or commissioning. Another might want manufacturer training that their current employer has never offered.
If one company offers slightly more money but essentially the same work, while another provides genuine access to new systems and skills, the second opportunity can have much greater long-term value.
The key word is genuine.
Almost every job advert says that training is available. Engineers are more interested in knowing what that actually means.
Which manufacturers do engineers receive training on? Are courses booked regularly? Can engineers gain additional qualifications? Is there structured development towards commissioning, project engineering, design or management?
Specific examples are far more convincing than simply writing “excellent training opportunities” in an advert.
Engineers Want To Know Where The Job Can Lead
Career progression does not necessarily mean everybody wants to become a manager.
Some engineers want to become senior engineers. Others want to move into commissioning, technical support, design, projects or specialist systems. Some are perfectly happy remaining hands-on but want increasing responsibility and recognition.
The most attractive employers understand that progression can take different forms.
During recruitment, companies should be able to explain what has happened to other people who joined in similar positions. If engineers have moved into senior roles, project management or technical positions, those real examples provide far more credibility than promising that opportunities may exist in the future.
Good candidates tend to think beyond their first year.
They want to know whether joining your company is likely to improve their career or simply change the logo on their workwear.
Management Has A Huge Influence On Engineer Retention
Many engineers who speak to recruiters are not leaving solely because of money.
They may be frustrated with poor planning, unrealistic workloads, constant changes to their diary, lack of communication or managers who only contact them when something has gone wrong.
That means good management can become a powerful recruitment advantage.
Engineers value companies where jobs are organised properly, information is available before they arrive on site and managers understand the practical realities of engineering work.
They also want to know that somebody will support them when a difficult technical or customer situation arises.
This can be difficult to communicate in a job advert, which is one reason recruitment needs to go beyond simply posting vacancies online. Many experienced engineers are not actively searching job boards at all, something we discuss in why traditional job adverts often miss experienced engineers.
When approaching passive engineers, the way the company operates can often be one of the strongest parts of the conversation.
Working Conditions Build A Company's Reputation
The fire and security industry is smaller than it sometimes appears.
Engineers speak to former colleagues, subcontractors, suppliers and people working for competitors. Companies gradually develop reputations as good or bad places to work.
That reputation matters.
If engineers consistently hear that a company looks after its staff, keeps people reasonably local, invests in equipment and provides good technical support, recruitment becomes easier.
The opposite is also true.
A high salary might initially attract attention, but experienced engineers may still avoid a company if they repeatedly hear negative stories about excessive travel, poor management or unrealistic workloads.
Employer reputation is built through everyday working conditions rather than recruitment marketing.
Flexibility Can Be Surprisingly Valuable
Different engineers value different things.
For somebody with young children, flexibility around start and finish times may be extremely important. Another engineer might value being able to organise their own diary. Someone else may prioritise overtime opportunities because they want to maximise their earnings.
There is no single benefits package that appeals to everybody.
The advantage comes from understanding which parts of the role can genuinely be flexible and communicating them during the recruitment process.
This is also where a specialist recruiter can help. If we already understand what is motivating an engineer to consider leaving their current employer, we can explain which parts of a client’s opportunity are genuinely relevant to them.
That creates a much stronger conversation than simply sending somebody a salary and job description.
Recruitment Speed Still Matters
A company can have an excellent opportunity and still lose an engineer because its recruitment process takes too long.
Experienced engineers frequently have several conversations happening at once. If one employer arranges an interview quickly, provides feedback and makes a clear offer while another company spends two weeks deciding whether to arrange a second interview, the decision can effectively be made for them.
This does not mean companies should rush recruitment decisions.
It means they should prepare.
Managers should know who needs to interview, what salary range has been approved and how quickly an offer can be authorised before the right engineer enters the process.
Recruitment generally becomes much easier when companies anticipate their requirements rather than waiting until an engineer has already left. We cover this in more detail in {why planning recruitment earlier gives employers more options}[Why Does Fire And Security Recruitment Work Better When Companies Plan Ahead?].
Find Out What The Engineer Actually Wants
One of the biggest mistakes employers make is assuming every engineer has the same priorities.
They do not.
One engineer may happily accept additional call-out because the earning potential is attractive. Another may immediately reject any role involving call-out because they have spent the last ten years doing it.
One engineer may want a multinational business with structured progression. Another might prefer a smaller independent company where they know everyone in the office.
The recruitment process therefore needs to identify motivation rather than simply test technical ability.
Ask why somebody is considering leaving.
Ask what they would change about their current position.
Ask what would make a new role genuinely better.
Once you understand the answer, you can decide whether your opportunity actually provides it.
The Best Offer Is Not Always The Highest Offer
Salary will always remain an important part of recruiting fire and security engineers, particularly while experienced people remain difficult to find.
But employers should not assume that the company offering the most money automatically wins.
A competitive salary combined with sensible travel, manageable call-out, quality vehicles, strong management, good training and genuine progression can be far more attractive than a higher salary attached to a difficult working environment.
For employers wondering how to attract fire and security engineers, the challenge is therefore not simply deciding how much to pay.
It is building a role that experienced engineers actually want.
At Complete Security Recruitment, we work exclusively within the fire and electronic security industry. That means we speak to engineers every day about the reasons they move jobs, the reasons they stay and the things that make one opportunity more attractive than another.
If you are struggling to recruit engineers, we can help you understand how your salary, benefits, working conditions and recruitment process compare with the wider market.
Sometimes the solution is paying more.
Quite often, the bigger opportunity is making the job itself better.
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