Discover Home Repair Jobs In your Area

2021 is showing an uptick in the amount of home repair and improvement projects being scheduled, making it an opportune time to pursue employment in the industry.
Home repair contractors always value experienced, skilled laborers and the increased workloads mean more job openings are available. How do you find home repair jobs in your area and what salary and job security expectations should you have? Most jobs in the home repair industry consist of skilled, manual labor performed by crews, which were previously compiled largely through word-of-mouth referrals. Often these jobs were handed down from generation to generation in the same families, bolstering business longevity and community trust. Modern times have expanded application processes and now even hands-on businesses utilize online applications and recruitment websites. 



Even if you have years of training and on-the-job experience, learning how to navigate modern job searching techniques might be necessary. Where do you look for home repair jobs and how do you get into the home repair industry? Find helpful tips about how to discover home repair jobs in your area, potential salaries and more, below.

Where to Look for Local Home Repair Jobs

It is true home repair job listings can still be posted in local papers, whether printed or electronic. Checking the want ads in your local paper is a valuable albeit potentially limited place to start searching for jobs. Some local contractors also post project listings on Craigslist because it is cheap or free to use and also targets a specifically local demographic.

Most newspapers today, however, have gone the way of online recruitment advertising. The two largest online job boards in the U.S., Career Builder and Monster, now include most of what used to be newspaper print ads. This means home repair job applicants can still find employment through local sources, but those local sources have been assimilated into the online job board.

Additional Home Repair Job Search Options

• One reliable competitor is Indeed.com, which has expansive listings for home repair, handyman/home repair, construction/home repair and more.
  
  
• Jobs2Careers also boasts tens of thousands of home repair job listings in various aspects of the field.
  
  
• Simply Hired is another online job board website posting over 3,000 home repair positions. Even LinkedIn has over 4,000 handyman jobs listed in the United States.

How to Start Working in the Home Repair Industry

One of the challenges to obtaining employment in the home repair industry is the majority of applicable experience is acquired on the job. This is part of why home repair has previously been a referral and handed-down industry. If you are new to the field and looking for a job, increase your chances of being hired by narrowing down your searches to listings including the phrases “no experience necessary,” or “will train.” 

This means contractors are looking for new recruits and willing to train on the job. Make sure you at least have your own tool belt and basic set of tools before being interviewed. It is one thing to train new employees and a different matter to let them borrow random tools from crewmembers. Purchasing your own belt, box and set of tools is a valuable investment potentially making the difference between being hired or not.

Community colleges and vocational schools are quality methods available to help you start working in the home repair industry. Programs training students in HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), plumbing and electrical work are available and are great ways to show potential employers your dedication and fundamental skill sets. Even if your specifically desired job is different than one of those three trades, the respective training still provides valuable experience using various tools and with general home repair situations. 

If you are an experienced home repair worker your application should display your years of experience in the industry. It should also mention your specialties and strengths, especially with power tools and heavy equipment. For example, can you operate a scissors lift or bulldozer? Do you have a special license allowing you to operate more specific, heavy machinery or vehicles? Are you qualified to handle and transport Hazmat materials? Not all home repair jobs require such prowess but letting a contractor know you are able to handle the larger jobs makes you a more attractive hire.

Start Your Own Home Repair Business

Maybe you do not want to work for anyone else and you like the idea of starting your own home repair business. There is much to learn when starting a business of any kind. Aside from being proficient as a home repair person, you also have local, state and federal licenses you must obtain. Additionally, you must set up your business as a legal entity. All of this information is easy enough to obtain. The best place to get a step by step tutorial on the process is to go to your state’s secretary of state website. Somewhere on the site it lists a “new business” or “start a business in (state)”. The other place to get information is directly from the IRS.

Home Repair Salary Expectations

The online job board Indeed.com states the average base salary of a handy man in the United States as being $18.68 per hour, with over $5,600 in overtime earned each year. These numbers were updated as recently as August 20, 2020. The site also lists many other details about potential home repair salaries including which companies pay the most on average, which U.S. cities boast the highest home repair salaries and more. There is even a search option allowing you to compare average salaries between specific regions in the event relocation is a viable consideration.

Projected Job Growth in the Home Repair Industry

The U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics reports the job outlook for maintenance and repair workers at 6 percent growth through 2028. This is stated as being an average growth rate compared to other industries. Because people are spending more time at home in 2020 and less money on vacations or other recreational activities, more money is being poured into home improvement projects. This means job availability and growth rate in 2020 is likely higher than the reported 6 percent average. There is no projection as to when this spike will peak or begin to drop again. If you are looking to discover home repair jobs in your area, however, the present is providing ample opportunities to find them.