Copier Careers Enjoys Bird’s-Eye View of Evolved Industry Employment Landscape

People of the pre-internet age enjoy sharing stories—some of which are undoubtedly embellished romanticized—in which they walked into a business, unannounced, and declared, “If you hire me, you won’t regret it.” Unusual though it may sound to most people born after 1980, walk-in job seekers weren’t all that unusual. Attempt that in 2026, and you won’t even be able to open the front door, if you’re lucky. Worse-case scenario, security is alerted.

Coincidentally, Paul Schwartz kicked off his industry recruiting firm Copier Careers in 1980, not long before office technology dealerships began pivoting away from the waning typewriter. Much has changed since then, both in terms of office technology and the ways and means of pairing businesses with candidates. But the value of a third-party facilitator, if anything, has grown despite the fact more technologies exist to aid the hiring cause.

That’s where Copier Careers flexes its value proposition muscle. Initially recruiters for OEM-trained technicians, its scope widened to include sourcing service managers, sales reps, back office/admin and even C-level executives. Today, the Golden Valley, Minnesota-based firm is viewed as the preeminent matchmaker to the office technology channel, representing approximately 450 mostly independent dealerships across the United States.

Whether you’re a job seeker or an industry business, Copier Careers leverages a massive applicant tracking system and boasts territorial recruiters scouring every corner of the country to help make those connections. As Schwartz observed, “We have toner in our blood, and we understand the channel and how it’s evolved.”

In this installment of From the Trenches, we sat down with Schwartz and Jessica Crowley, managing director, to assess the current job climate, the most common missteps among companies and job hunters, what today’s employment seekers prioritize, generational trends and AI’s growing role in the process.

ENX: How would you characterize the current hiring environment for the office technology landscape? What are some of the variables behind what you’re seeing?

CROWLEY: It’s still very much a candidate’s market. When candidates are available, they’re active and selective, holding out for the right fit. However, we’re seeing clients becoming more cautious and slower to make hiring decisions than they have in previous years, which creates a disconnect between the candidates’ and our clients’ time frame. This delay often results in losing top candidates to competitors or other industries. We’re having to remind clients that while it’s important to find the right fit, timing is critical—candidates won’t wait forever. Hiring is about people, and people’s circumstances can change quickly. It’s a puzzle with many moving parts, and aligning them all is increasingly challenging.

ENX: What are some of the less-heralded traits that enable industry employers (dealers, OEMs, etc.) to differentiate and make them more attractive destinations?

SCHWARTZ: Culture and environment are key differentiators. Every company has a unique culture, and size plays a role—larger organizations offer structure but also more bureaucracy, while smaller ones provide direct access to decision-makers. Candidates are drawn to environments where they feel connected and valued.

ENX: By the same token, what are the most common stumbling blocks hampering applicants? How can candidates do a better job of selling themselves?

CROWLEY: Preparation is everything. Candidates need to research the company and interviewer, learn their history, understand the role and see if it aligns with what they want in their next role. Too often, people show up unprepared, thinking they can wing it. That lack of effort shows and can derail the process. Knowing what you want and how it fits with the opportunity is key to making a strong impression. That preparation enables candidates to put their best foot forward.

ENX: With some candidates, is there a tendency to provide the canned/rehearsed answer instead of being more natural?

CROWLEY: Yes, and again, it comes down to preparation. If candidates truly understand their goals and the opportunity, they’ll come across as authentic. Whether in sales or technical roles, being genuine resonates more than a rehearsed pitch. If all the candidates are doing is trying to sell themselves to the other party, it’s going to come off that way. When it comes to technicians, it’s typically not natural for them to sell themselves. If candidates want employers to invite them back for the next round in the hiring process, they need to be themselves.

ENX: With many of the companies that engage your services, do you see a common denominator in terms of faulty hiring practices?

CROWLEY: A big issue is timing. Clients often ask how quickly we can deliver candidates, but the reality is we can’t control when someone is ready to make a move. Great candidates don’t always align with hiring timelines. We encourage clients to stay open to conversations—even if they’re not hiring immediately—because you never know when the right person will come along. The market is unpredictable, and you never know when a strong candidate is going to become available.

SCHWARTZ: Hiring is about people and life circumstances. Changing a position is one of the top stressors in life that people endure, and there’s no way to control when a candidate is available. They might suddenly be ready to move due to personal reasons, so if a client isn’t ready to act, they’ll miss out. Our most successful clients recognize opportunity and move quickly. Even if they don’t have an immediate need for the individual, they see the value in developing bench strength, which is something we talk about a lot. Those clients think like entrepreneurs—if a great sales lead came in, they wouldn’t wait. It should be the same with talent.

CROWLEY: I’m working with a top-performing sales candidate relocating from California to Virginia for family reasons. I put this candidate in front of a couple clients, and for some reason they’re dragging their feet. He’s now in final interviews elsewhere, which means he’s going to become a competitor who’s going to succeed in that market. We can only control what we can control.

ENX: Many dealers we speak to have had longstanding openings for account representatives.

CROWLEY: Often, hiring managers are overwhelmed, and they end up doing a Band-Aid solution, covering territories themselves or redistributing accounts. They hesitate to hire because they assume it’ll take too long to train someone new. But even when we present experienced candidates who don’t need hand-holding, some still hesitate. It’s frustrating, because these candidates are ready to contribute immediately. For whatever reason, the dealer just isn’t budging.

SCHWARTZ: The candidates we present can maintain or grow a business. So it’s puzzling when dealers don’t act quickly on someone who could be a game-changer. If we bring them a multi-year president’s club candidate, they need to have a greater sense of urgency to meet with them, especially since that person could potentially grow their business significantly.

ENX: It seems like it’s a matter of prioritizing, but when you’re inundated with work, parsing out sections of a territory is the chosen Band-Aid.

CROWLEY: Exactly. It’s the same with service managers—they’re out handling calls themselves because they’re short-staffed. Then it’s hard to get them to schedule interviews. We remind them we’re here to help, not just with finding candidates but also with moving them through the process. Once we place someone, they’re grateful, but getting there can be a struggle. That’s why they retain us—to keep things moving. We’re there to help push them forward.

ENX: Remote work opportunities gave many firms the upper hand in hiring in the post-pandemic period. Is it still a major selling point for prospective employees?

CROWLEY: It depends on the candidate. Those used to remote or hybrid work often want to maintain that flexibility, especially if their current employer is pushing for a return to the office. But since our industry is largely face-to-face, most candidates are open to in-office roles. That said, for hard-to-fill positions where there aren’t a lot of quality candidates—such as e-automate billers—offering remote options can expand the talent pool, grow the scope of our search and give companies a hiring edge.

ENX: My son is a Gen Z worker in the field of IT. Once he secured a work-from-home position, it became a must-have when he started looking for his next position.

CROWLEY: That’s common, but we’ve also seen the opposite—people who’ve worked remotely now want to return to the office or prefer a hybrid setup. Administrative roles, in particular, have thrived remotely, and many question why they need to return to the office when they’ve proven they can be just as, if not more, effective from home.

ENX: What qualities are prospective employees prioritizing in the current industry environment?

SCHWARTZ: Stability is really important. With so much uncertainty in the industry, candidates want to know their future is secure. They’re also looking for growth, whether it’s technical skills, sales development or leadership opportunities. They’re seeking organizations that can make that happen for them.

ENX: It may be an unfair characterization, but millennials developed a reputation for being job-hoppers.

CROWLEY: It’s still a trend, and some hiring managers struggle with it. But if you want younger talent to grow in the industry, you have to be open to them. Understand why they’ve moved around and focus on how to retain them. What worked for employees who’ve been with you for decades won’t necessarily work for someone just out of school. You have to evolve your hiring and retention strategies.

ENX: For years, we’ve heard doomsday predictions regarding the increasing dearth of service technicians. What are you seeing in terms of available talent levels?

CROWLEY: The shortage has been ongoing since I started here in 2010, and each year it seems they’re becoming even scarcer. Clients are adapting by being open to candidates from parallel industries—HVAC, point-of-sale, ATMs, even automotive techs. If someone is mechanically inclined, they can be trained into the channel. It’s important to find ways to incentivize those individuals to make the switch from their current industry, whether it’s more compensation or providing them with a trajectory to evolve their career if they want to move into the managed services or IT world. There are ways for us to sell the industry. And when you’re talking to techs about staying in the industry, it’s important to find out about the pain points in their current roles and what would motivate them to make a move.

ENX: Many dealers we’ve spoken to have resorted to finding young, mechanically inclined candidates through colleges, vocational schools and job fairs.

CROWLEY: As long as clients are open to training technically inclined individuals, we can find strong candidates. And when we find someone already in the industry with two or three years of experience who wants to stay, they’re gold to us, so we try to find them the best option possible. We make sure clients understand how valuable that is, and they typically appreciate that.

ENX: Both position seekers and employers are leveraging AI. On one hand, resumes and cover letters are optimized to match job descriptions, while companies use the technology to ferret out the best matches. Is there a danger in leaning on AI too much?

CROWLEY: AI is a great tool, but it shouldn’t replace personal input. I tell candidates to use it to enhance their resumes, not write them from scratch. At this point, HR professionals can tell when something is purely AI-generated. Unless you’ve consistently used AI and it knows how you speak and the way you operate, it can backfire on you. Where AI can be really useful is interview prep—feeding in job descriptions and resumes to generate potential questions. Used properly, AI can be extremely effective.

SCHWARTZ: Exactly. Recruiting is personal. We’re matchmakers, and that requires human interaction. AI can help, but it’s not the solution. It’s a tool, not the endpoint.

ENX: What are the primary reasons in support of employers engaging recruiting partners?

SCHWARTZ: We help maintain and grow your workforce. It’s really exciting for us when we can place game-changing candidates who drive revenue and open new opportunities. The cost of engaging us is minimal compared to the return on investment. Whether it’s service, sales, admin or leadership, we help you get there faster.

CROWLEY: We’re long-term partners. Many of our clients have been with us for over 15 years. We’re there for immediate needs and future planning, such as finding successors. It’s fulfilling to help a client retire knowing we’ve found the right replacement. That gives us great joy; it’s why we do what we do.

SCHWARTZ: Plus, we save time and resources. Our recruiters know the territory, the candidates, the clients and the competition. This is all we do every day. We speak the industry’s language and know how to get results.