In more than 35 years of recruiting in Power & Energy, I struggle to remember a time when so many projects needed the same engineering experience at once.
Grid reinforcement, offshore and onshore renewables, interconnectors, battery storage and data centre power infrastructure all draw on some of the same skills. A transmission programme and a data centre development can look very different on paper, yet both may need engineers with high voltage design, grid connection or commissioning experience.
Where experience matters most
Across the roles I work on, a few requirements come up repeatedly.
HV and EHV engineering
Design, delivery and commissioning experience across transmission and distribution.
Protection and control
Experienced P&C engineers are among the hardest specialists to find.
Substations
Design leads, project engineers and managers who understand the work from concept through to energisation.
HV cables
Project managers and engineers who have delivered cable installation work.
Commissioning
Engineers who can take a project through testing and into service. A gap here can put the handover date at risk.
Data centre power
Engineers who understand how to connect critical, high-density loads to the grid.
Commercial and delivery leadership
People who can run a complex programme, manage the supply chain and keep clients informed when plans change.
Experience built over several projects takes years to develop. How long it takes to get an engineer from first conversation to offer is something employers can influence now.
Where good candidates are lost
A process I see regularly starts with a promising conversation. The first interview takes ten days to arrange. Getting three managers together for the second takes another fortnight. Add a technical assessment, a final conversation with a director and offer approval, and six weeks can pass.
Each step may have a good reason. From the candidate's side, though, there can be long gaps when they have no idea where they stand. In that time, another employer can make an offer, or their current employer can give them a reason to stay. Candidates also take cues from how a company communicates during interviews. If decisions are slow and updates are patchy, it can shape their view of what it would be like to work there.
The project feels the delay too. If a design lead role stays vacant while a team is mobilising, someone else has to pick up the work. That puts pressure on the people already delivering the programme and can make deadlines harder to meet.
What a faster, fairer process looks like
>Agree what the project needs before the search starts. Which experience does the person need from day one? Which skills could they develop on the job? Get the hiring team to agree before candidates start interviewing.
>Give each interview a clear purpose. Two well-planned interviews are often enough. If you need a technical assessment, decide what it should test and who will make the decision.
>Hold time in interviewers' diaries early. If three people need to be in the room, reserve time before the shortlist arrives.
>Give candidates an update within one or two working days. If a decision is still pending, tell them when they can expect to hear.
>Discuss the package early and agree who can approve the offer. By the final interview, both sides should know whether the package is likely to work.
Before opening a critical role, work backwards from the date the project needs that person in place. Allow for the interview stages, offer approval and the candidate's notice period. That gives the hiring team a timetable they can commit to and candidates a clear idea of what to expect.
