Why EV Companies Keep Reopening the Same Technical Roles

 

An EV company spends weeks finding a battery engineer. The candidate accepts, joins the team and begins work. A few months later, the role is open again.

For the hiring team, it feels like starting from zero. The project still needs the same expertise, but the people who interviewed the first candidate are now under more pressure to fill the vacancy quickly. If they use the same brief and the same process, they may end up with the same result.

Why does this happen?

The Role Was Never Clear Enough

“Battery engineer” can mean very different things across EV businesses. One company may need someone to improve an existing battery pack. Another may need a person who can work with suppliers, investigate field issues or build a new team.

A job description can list all these responsibilities, but that leaves candidates and interviewers guessing about the real priority. Before restarting a search, the hiring manager should answer a simpler question: What must this person achieve in their first six months?

That answer helps the recruiter find relevant experience and helps the candidate decide whether the role is right for them.

The Interview Focused on the CV

When specialised talent is hard to find, a familiar company name or an exact technical keyword can carry too much weight. Neither tells the full story of what a candidate can do.

For a BMS specialist, for example, interviewers might discuss a system the candidate worked on, the problems they personally solved and the decisions they made when things went wrong. For a manufacturing leader, they might explore how the person improved a process or handled a quality issue.

These conversations take more effort than checking boxes. They also give both sides a clearer understanding of the work.

The Job Changed After the Candidate Joined

Sometimes the hire was suitable for the role described during recruitment, but the day-to-day reality was different. A candidate expecting to lead technical decisions may find that approvals sit elsewhere. Someone hired to build a team may discover there is no agreed plan or budget to do it.

EV businesses can change direction quickly. Hiring managers should be open about that. Candidates need to know what is settled, what may change and what support they will have when they join.

What to Do Before Reopening the Search

Speak with the hiring manager and the departing employee, where possible. Was the technical assessment insufficient? Were expectations different on each side? Did the role lack the resources it needed?

Then revise the brief and the interview questions before approaching candidates again. Reopening a role should produce a better search, not simply another round of the previous one.

At SilverPeople, we believe effective EV recruitment starts with understanding the business problem behind the vacancy. For roles in battery engineering, embedded systems, manufacturing or quality, that means looking closely at what a candidate has delivered and what the company needs them to do next.

A vacancy may need to be filled twice. The hiring process should not make the same mistake twice.