Customer Story: DPR Construction

DPR Construction: Initial wins to long-term hiring growth powered by Skillit


April 2026 by Fraser Patterson

DPR Construction is a national commercial contractor known for delivering complex, technical projects in data center construction, healthcare, advanced tech, life sciences, and higher education. With their high bar for quality and tight project schedules, DPR is constantly seeking ways to move faster on craft hires without sacrificing candidate quality.

Massive data center projects have become a staple of DPR growth and Skillit has supported them throughout their expansion into this vertical.

Update: April 2026

After early success in mid-2025, DPR made Skillit their preferred source for craft hiring, a way to access quality, vetted workers quickly without scaling their recruiting team. What followed was rapid, compounding growth.

Over their first 12 months, DPR's usage of Skillit grew 544.4% — an average of 19.8% month-over-month — expanding to 58 trade-market combinations across 16 trades in 30 markets. As Skillit's worker network and platform capabilities have grown, so has DPR's reliance on it. That trajectory is not slowing down.

In 2026, DPR plans to 10x increase their initial hiring goals, driven by surging demand across their data center portfolio. What began as early wins across a handful of roles and regions has evolved into Skillit powering the majority of DPR's craft hiring nationwide, especially to support their data center builds.

DPR's growth is a blueprint for what Skillit delivers at enterprise scale: fast results from day one, and a platform that scales with you as your projects and ambitions grow.

The Challenge: Sourcing for Multiple Trades Across Regions

In May 2025, DPR faced an urgent staffing need: fill two different skilled roles, a Heavy Equipment Operator in Denver, CO and a Mechanical Drywaller in Atlanta, GA, immediately. These roles required not only specialized experience, but also certifications, regional availability, and job readiness. They had used job boards, but with no success.

Cesar and Samir, recruiters at DPR, turned to Skillit to help fill both positions in their first week on the platform.

The Solution: One Platform, One Workflow

Using Skillit’s targeted search and AI scheduling assistant Sam, Cesar and Samir built detailed searches for both positions simultaneously. They included:

  • Location-specific filters: Denver, CO and Atlanta, GA

  • Required trade experience and skills (e.g., grading, plan reading for HEO in Denver, CO; Drywall installation for Atlanta, GA)

After identifying and saving strong candidates, Sam took over, contacting the workers, following up automatically, and scheduling interviews directly into their calendars.

The Result: Two Specialized Hires in 7 Days

Within their first week on Skillit, DPR successfully staffed both roles in two different regions, across two different trades with only minutes of sourcing time.

The workflow was seamless:

  • One click to contact a worker

  • Sam scheduled phone interviews, and handled all follow up so the recruiters did not have to chase candidates

  • Cesar and Samir conducted interviews and made the offers

Updated at a glance:

DPR Construction’s Expansion

  • Expanding into 58 trade-market combinations

  • 16 trades

  • 30 markets across the US

Usage

  • With a plan to 10x hiring on the Skillit platform and the expansion, DPR needed to up its usage.

  • 544.4% usage growth across 12 months - 19.8% usage growth MoM.

Results

  • 42.75% Worker response rate

  • 7 days

  • 51 total minutes on Skillit

  • Two skilled hires across two different states in just 7 days

Customer since: 2025

Initial success at a glance:

DPR Construction’s Immediate Hiring Needs

  • 1 Heavy Equipment Operator (Denver, CO)

  • 1 Mechanical Drywaller (Atlanta, GA)

Challenge

  • With a tight timeline and specific trade and regional requirements, DPR scheduled 10 calls and the first 8 completed conversations led to 2 successful hires.

Results

  • 2 direct hires

  • 7 days

  • 51 total minutes on Skillit

  • Two skilled hires across two different states in just 7 days

Customer since: 2025

DPR grows faster in multiple regions with Skillit

100%

Interview show rate

25

Minutes per hire

25%

Interview to hire rate

“The platform [Skillit] has revolutionized our hiring process for heavy equipment operators, commercial and mechanic drywallers, offering a significant improvement over traditional job boards. This tool is truly a game-changer in the industry.

Samir Montealegre
Craft Recruiter | Self Perform
DPR Construction

About Skillit

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