Whenever I am hiring a technician, I’ve found that it’s critical to ask a few questions before I even identify my business. It’s important to make sure that “the word doesn’t get out on the street” every time I need to upgrade or replace a staff member. No one wants to work for a shop that they have “heard” is suffering from a turnover of people. When they hear from the tool guys, the parts salesmen, and others that the shop is having “personnel problems,” or “can’t keep their techs,” your shop is suddenly plagued by the famous Can’t-Find-A-Tech-To-Save-Our-Lives disease.

So, when I advertise, I never list the name of the shop, and I often use a service like www.evoice.com in order to help me handle the process confidentially…I have a friend who is not associated with my shop record the message, and we have them email their resume (part of the message), and leave a detailed voice message….all before they even know who we are!

That allows us to review their resumes and listen to their voices up front. This is very helpful! You might be quite surprised at how much more sharply you can focus when the person is not sitting right in front of you. Sometimes an attitude comes through in the tone of voice, a large ego is often revealed, as are many other attributes that might not be desirable for this position.

Once you listen to them, and rule out the candidates who are not easily understood (marble-mouths), people who can’t follow the simple instructions left on the message, and others-you can SAVE A TON OF TIME by not meeting those applicants and instead zeroing in on the ones that really sound like what you WANT your staff to sound on the phone…people who convey a sense of hospitality, happiness, energy, and positivity!

Once I do call the best of the batch back, I am going to ask them about 20 questions, but here are the top three!

1. 
    
   
2. Are you working now, and how long have you been at this job?
   
3. In which areas are you certified, and are all those certifications up to date?
   
4. What type of work do you prefer, and what are you least comfortable with/capable of doing?
   

Even if you don’t ask anything else before they come in, these three questions are necessary before I am identifying my shop, and certainly before I am inviting the individual to come and disrupt my schedule and busy shop for an interview!

Remember, every time you hire the wrong person, you damage your relationships and credibility with all the other staff, and you could lose some very valuable customers…quickly!

Never hire a warm body, and seriously…take the time and make SURE the applicant FITS your NEEDS!