Specialist recruitment for construction & engineering

Your next great lecturer is on a building site right now.

Pineapple Talent places experienced construction and engineering professionals into FE colleges and commercial roles across the UK. We speak both languages, industry and education, because we grew up in both.

Book a free consultation See how we work

20 years of FE education in the family
One focus: construction & engineering
Shortlists in days, not months

Why we do this

Education has been part of our family for twenty years.

Our founder's father spent more than two decades as a mechanic before spending twenty more teaching the next generation at an FE college. That journey, from the tools to the classroom, is the exact one we help people make every day. It's not a business model we invented. It's one we lived.

Read our story

The gap nobody is closing

The skills gap starts with a staffing gap.

Colleges can't find lecturers

FE colleges are capping course numbers because they cannot find lecturers with genuine trade experience. The people qualified to teach construction and engineering are still out on site, and generalist recruiters have no idea where to look for them.

Employers can't find people

Meanwhile, commercial employers are competing for the same shrinking pool of experienced professionals, and losing weeks to agencies that send piles of CVs instead of a handful of genuine candidates.

Everyone is fishing in the same small pond. We built a bigger one.

How it works

One specialist network. Two destinations.

For FE Colleges

Lecturers with real site experience

We find time-served professionals who are ready for their next chapter and support them into teaching. Every candidate arrives with verified trade experience, an honest assessment of their teaching potential, and compliance checks under way before you ever see a CV.

Permanent, sessional and associate lecturers
Construction trades, engineering, motor vehicle, building services
Candidates briefed on in-service teaching qualifications
DBS and right-to-work handled up front

Find your next lecturer

For Industry

Professionals with verified track records

Site managers, engineers, estimators, supervisors and skilled trades. We match people to your project and your culture as much as your job spec, and we tell you the truth about every candidate we put forward.

Permanent and contract placements
Construction, civil, mechanical and electrical engineering
References verified before shortlisting
One point of contact from brief to start date

Build your team

Three steps from brief to hire

1
Tell us who you need

A 30 minute call. We ask the questions generalist agencies don't know to ask.
2
We shortlist from our network

A handful of properly vetted people, usually within days, rather than a pile of CVs to wade through.
3
You interview people worth interviewing

If the fit isn't right, we keep searching. No placement, no fee.

Our people

The calibre we work with, every week.

A sample of the professionals in our network. Names withheld, experience verified.

Placed: FE College

Plumbing & Gas

22 years on the tools

Ran his own heating business for a decade. Now teaching Level 2 and 3 plumbing, working towards his Diploma in Education and Training with college support.

Placed: Commercial

Civil Engineering

15 years, infrastructure & highways

Chartered engineer who wanted out of the big-consultancy grind. Matched with a regional contractor where he now leads a design team of six.

Placed: FE College

Electrical Installation

18 years, commercial & domestic

Approached us after mentoring apprentices on site and realising he enjoyed the teaching more than the job. Now a full-time lecturer, and his classes are oversubscribed.

Placed: Commercial

Site Management

12 years, residential builds

SMSTS qualified with an immaculate safety record. Placed as senior site manager on a 200-unit development within nine days of first contact.

What partners say

The word we hear back most is honest.

"Three agencies sent us CVs for eight months. Pineapple Talent sent us two candidates in a fortnight and we hired both. They understood what a construction lecturer actually does."

Curriculum Lead, ConstructionFE College, [Region]

"They told us honestly when a candidate wasn't right, which no agency has ever done. When they say someone is worth interviewing, they are."

Contracts ManagerRegional Contractor, [Region]

"I'd been on the tools for twenty years and didn't think teaching was possible for someone like me. They walked me through every step. Best decision I ever made."

Lecturer, Motor VehiclePlaced by Pineapple Talent, [Year]

Questions, answered straight

Frequently asked questions

Where do you find candidates that other agencies can't?

We don't wait for people to apply. Our network is built through industry relationships, referrals from people we've placed, and direct outreach to professionals who aren't actively job hunting. The best candidates are rarely on job boards.

Do lecturer candidates need a teaching qualification?

Usually not to start. Most colleges recruit on trade expertise and support new lecturers through an in-service qualification such as the Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training. We brief every candidate on this before interview, so nobody is surprised by the expectation.

How quickly will we see a shortlist?

For most roles, within days of the briefing call. We would rather send you three right people quickly than thirty CVs slowly. If a role is genuinely hard to fill, we tell you that on day one and agree a realistic timeline.

What does it cost?

Transparent terms agreed before we start, and no placement means no fee. We'll walk you through the fee structure on the first call, in plain English, with nothing hidden in the small print.

Which regions do you cover?

We work with FE colleges and employers across the UK. Our network is strongest in construction, civil, mechanical and electrical engineering, building services and motor vehicle.

I'm on the tools. Can you help me move into teaching?

Yes, and it's our favourite conversation. If you have solid trade or engineering experience and you've ever enjoyed showing an apprentice how to do something properly, get in touch. We'll give you an honest view of whether teaching could work for you and what the path looks like.

The right hire changes everything.

One conversation is all it takes to find out whether we can help. An honest chat about who you need, whether we know where to find them, and nothing owed at the end of it.

30 minute call, at a time that suits you
Honest assessment of your brief, even if the answer is "that's a tough one"
No placement, no fee

Prefer email? hello@pineappletalent.co.uk