Recruiting is the process of finding, assessing and hiring people. Whether a hire should be made at all is a separate and prior question — see hiring decisions.
Where candidates come from
Referrals from existing staff are the most reliable source in the trades. The person referring knows both the work and the candidate, and stakes their standing on it.
Trade schools and apprenticeships, which reach people entering the trade rather than moving within it.
Job boards, which produce the most applicants and the lowest proportion of suitable ones.
Competitors, where the candidate is proven but arrives with expectations set elsewhere.
What the advertisement decides
Most trade job advertisements are indistinguishable: the same duties, the same requirements, no pay range.
Stating the pay range filters out mismatches before either side spends time, and in a market where skilled people have options, an advertisement that does not state it is frequently not read.
Assessing
For skilled work, a practical assessment tells more than an interview. Describing a job well and diagnosing a described fault are different capabilities.
Verifying licences and certifications is a check, not a formality, and it is worth doing before an offer rather than after.
Speed
Skilled candidates in a short market are hired within days. A process taking weeks loses them to whoever moved faster, regardless of which offer was better.
The cost of the vacancy
An unfilled role has a cost: work turned away, overtime, or delivery slipping. Weighed against it, a candidate who is good rather than perfect is frequently the better decision, provided the standard is not abandoned.
Keeping them
Recruiting into a business people leave is a permanent expense. The cost of replacing someone generally exceeds what it would have taken to retain them — see employee retention.