The shortage is licensed people, not applicants

Public agencies aren't short of applications in general. NEOGOV's 2026 data shows applications per public sector job up 8.3%, and for civil engineers, applications per job up 10.9% while postings fell 13.1%. But ineligible candidates per job rose 10.8%, faster than eligible ones at 4.4%.

Engineering is still the role HR finds hardest. In MissionSquare's 2026 survey, 66% of state and local HR managers had trouble filling engineering roles in the past year, more than any other position, and more than 60% still see fewer qualified engineering applicants than openings. The problem is the qualified, licensed part of the pool, and that is the part a job posting reaches least.

Why they miss the window

They aren't looking

A licensed engineer with a stable job doesn't browse job boards. Yet nearly every agency posts on the same one: 90% of public HR teams use GovernmentJobs.com, according to NEOGOV's 2023 report. The posting is there. The people you want aren't.

The window is short and rare

A filing period may open for a couple of weeks, once every few years. Someone who hears about it a week after it closes has missed it, and so have you.

They don't know what the agency does

Many engineers in private practice don't know what a district or municipal utility builds, what it pays, or that it hires from outside at all. Without that, an exam announcement looks like a form, not a career move.

The conditions are unclear

Residency rules, the exam itself and the time from filing to appointment all raise questions. An engineer who can't get a straight answer usually doesn't apply.

The pay or the grade doesn't fit

Sometimes the honest answer is that the band is below what the market pays for the license. That's worth knowing, and it's only knowable if someone asks.

How to reach them

  1. Start before the window. Map who holds the license in your area and where they work, so outreach can begin the day the exam is announced.
  2. Contact people directly. A phone call or a personal message reaches people a posting never will.
  3. Screen against the class specification first. Confirm the license, degree and experience before encouraging anyone to apply, so your HR team isn't processing ineligible applicants.
  4. Explain the agency and the conditions. What the work is, why it matters, how the exam works, and any residency rule, up front.
  5. Make applying easy, then follow up. Send the link, and check that they filed before the window closes.
  6. Go back to the people who said no. Circumstances change. Someone who wasn't ready this year may be ready for the next window.
  7. Record why people declined. Pay, residency and location reasons are evidence an agency can use when it needs to argue for a change to a band, a grade or a requirement.

That is the work the MakoHire Talent Pipeline does for public agencies, with no part in the exam or the eligible list, and no placement fee. For how the overall process works, see how civil service hiring works.