About Us

— Who We Are

About
Austin Nichols

At Austin Nichols, we provide client companies with more than a resume. We give employers additional information through skills sheets and candidate profiles in order to test the viability of the best candidates available. We also give our clients access to our offices at Crown Center to conduct initial interviews.

We have extensive experience in target recruiting for the engineering and manufacturing industries. Our employees pride themselves on meeting all local job candidates for face-to-face interviews in order to ensure our clients are receiving top talent worthy of their consideration and time.

Our
Philosophy

Our interest lies in developing long-term business relationships instead of the short-term commission mentality that exists with many recruiters.

What We Do

As a direct hire and contract recruiting firm specializing in manufacturing, and engineering, Austin Nichols connects the best candidates with the best jobs. We’ve been recruiting top professionals for over two decades, and we do more placements for engineering and manufacturing jobs than anyone else in Kansas City.

75+ Years

More than 75 years of combined experience in manufacturing and engineering recruiting.

87% Conversion

We maintain an 87% temporary-to-direct-hire conversion rate.

— What We Do

For Our
Candidates

Our candidates receive exposure to top KC job listings with some of the highest rated employers in the area—many of which are exclusive to Austin Nichols. We believe in matching the best talent to the best jobs, and we work to ensure that candidates are matched to fields in which they will excel.

We offer both direct hire and contract recruiting services. Contract-to-hire placement grants a variety of benefits for skilled candidates and for employers alike, allowing candidates to make decisions informed by actual on-the-job experience before accepting an offer for permanent employment.

 

— The Extra Mile

With You
at Every Step

Unlike some job placement firms, we don’t stop there. We work with our candidates through every step of the hiring process, from interview and resume preparation to feedback on offers and advice on negotiations. And because our team specializes in manufacturing and engineering, we know the ins and outs of the industry, and can tailor our approach to suit the needs of our candidates and our clients.

— What We Do

For Our Clients

Austin Nichols delivers superior recruiting services to leading clients in the manufacturing and engineering fields and beyond. Unlike many recruiters, we bring more than just a resume or a list of names to the table. We recruit the best talent available, and provide a full-service support structure throughout the recruiting process to ensure that the best person for the job is the one who gets hired.

Recruiting, hiring, and training all take time and cost money, and so it’s something our clients want to get right on the first try. Austin Nichols provides the expertise and the access to top talent to make that possible.

Our History

March 2, 1988
Founded
Austin Nichols Founded

On March 2, 1988 Dave McDowell founded Austin Nichols Technical Search, Inc. (ANTS) in a small, windowless room with only a borrowed metal desk, a trash bin, and two $10 chairs. Austin Nichols began as a one-man show, the culmination of McDowell’s longtime dream of owning his own company. After leaving the recruiting firm he had been working for to strike out on his own, he found himself bound by a non-compete contract that precluded him from recruiting anywhere within a 50-mile radius of downtown Kansas City, so Austin Nichols started out in small office in St. Joseph, Missouri, exactly 52 miles from the KC metro area.

After a year of commuting back and forth, his non-compete expired and he moved Austin Nichols Technical Search to City Center Square in downtown KC, where he spent twelve years before moving the company to a new office in Crown Center overlooking the Mayor’s Christmas Tree—the same office we still occupy today.

1994
ANTT started
The Origins of ANTT

Prior to that move, though, McDowell made another big move, founding a sister recruiting company called Austin Nichols Technical Temporaries, Inc. (ANTT). Focused on contract and contract-to-hire placement of manufacturing and engineering specialists, Austin Nichols Technical Temporaries quickly grew into a multi-million dollar business. Shortly thereafter, in 1997, McDowell sold ANTT to a publicly traded company based out of New Jersey.

2001
The ANTT Return
Reacquiring the ANTT Name

Unfortunately for them, the new owners didn’t experience the same level of success with the business, and in 2001, McDowell bought back the rights to the Austin Nichols Technical Temporaries name, the database, and existing non-compete contracts.

2008
Talent Acquisition
Establishing a Talent Acquisition Department

In an effort to service clients better and faster, Austin Nichols created a talent acquisition department focused solely on identifying and delivering superior candidates.

2009-Present
Success
Success at Every Turn

Once both companies were back together, McDowell merged them into a single entity, called simply Austin Nichols Technical. Having survived—and thrived—through three major manufacturing and economic downturns, Austin Nichols Technical continues to do more engineering, construction, and manufacturing placement work than anyone else in Kansas City. Over the years Austin Nichols has accumulated a lot of accolades, including being nominated five times for Kansas City Small Business of the Year, but what matters most to us is providing staffing solutions that promote long-term business relationships, and we’re proud to say that we’ve had numerous clients who’ve worked with us for many years, including one dating all the way back to that very first year in 1988.

Dave McDowell

President

Where do we begin with Dave? He’s been president of MKSSA (Missouri & Kansas Search & Staffing Association) three times. He’s won numerous individual awards (including two Missouri Businessman of the Year awards) and has overseen Austin Nichols to the tune of five Kansas City “Small Business of the Year” awards and a National Blue Chip award for the National Small Business of the Year. Dave served on the board of Habitat for Humanity of Kansas City for seven years, including the final two as board president. Backed by 30+ years of experience, he still loves the new challenges that come from working in staffing and recruiting. Those close to him will tell you he is the go-to expert in his field. Those closer to him will tell you they heard it from him.

FAQs

We are a direct hire and contract recruiting firm in Kansas City that specializes in placing candidates in top engineering, construction, and manufacturing jobs around the Greater KC Area. We have been recruiting professionals since 1988 and we have been named Kansas City’s “Small Business of the Year” five times.

We specialize in the engineering, construction, and manufacturing fields, but we cover a lot of ground within that specialization, and there’s a lot of overlap between the three fields.

  • Engineering: We offer positions across a range of skill sets, including industrial, mechanical, electrical, chemical, and civil engineering, just to name a few.
  • Construction: More than just the labor needed to make the plans of engineers and architects a reality, Austin Nichols offers construction positions with upward mobility and good pay and benefits. Some of the construction positions we’ve filled recently include Business Development Manager, Construction Manager, Structural Design Engineer, and Senior Project Manager.
  • Manufacturing: Many of our engineering candidates go into manufacturing fields. But manufacturers need more than just engineers to get the job done. That’s why we also focus on production and plant management, quality management, purchasing, logistics, and human resources.

We connect the best candidates with the best jobs. For our candidates, we provide exposure to some of the top job listings in the Kansas City area, many of which are exclusive to Austin Nichols. For our clients, we recruit the best talent around, and follow-up with full-service support throughout the recruiting process so that our clients can get the right person for the job right out of the gate.

Because you want the best. Whether you’re looking for a job in engineering, manufacturing, or construction, or whether you’re an employer looking to hire the best people around, Austin Nichols can provide more than just job listings and resumes. We work with our candidates through every step of the hiring process, from resume and interview preparation to advice on negotiations and support once you’re in place.

How do I get started?

You can submit your resumebrowse our job listings, or simply call us at (816) 471-5575 and we’ll help you find the opportunity that’s right for you!

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