Painting Contractors: 11 Interview Questions for Hiring an All-Star Part 2
We went through 1-6 previously, click here to read them now.
Also, be sure to grab your free download of these 11 Interview Questions, so you don’t have to write them down!
Anyways, I am Ron, I am a DYB coach, also a painting contractor up here in northern Massachusetts.
The reason I tell you I am a painting contractor is that I live through the issues and the celebrations that you all have in the painting business.
It is great to be self-employed, even better to be a painting contractor of course, because everybody needs us.
Anyways, when asking these questions you are sitting down having a face-to-face interview after your phone interview with a potential team member; we call them team members because we get things done as a team, we celebrate as a team and we win as a team.
Question 7: What are your goals?
Download Your FREE Checklist...
11 Interview Questions For Hiring All-Stars, E-mailed to you NOW!
Ask them, “do you have goals?”
Some of them might be, “I want to be a doctor someday,” or, “someday I want to own my own business,” and that’s fine; I’ve had many of my employees break off and go their own way and open up their own businesses.
It’s great because now I have someone to refer work to.
This will also help you see if they have aspirations, we want them to have aspirations.
We also want to hear them say, “well, I just want a company that I can work for and also make money, but I also have an ideal future for myself,” and this is one way we know they’re going to be a great team player.
They are going to be someone who is going to be around for a long time and we like that.
Question 8: What aspect of your past jobs did you find most satisfying?
I really like to get in there and get my hands dirty, and like I said, we are not looking for yes or no answers on anything.
We want to pull some good thoughts out of them, we want to hear some good answers, some answers may be, “ah-ha!” moments, and some of them you may have heard a hundred times before.
So, “what aspect of your last job do you like most-satisfying?”
I really like hearing that they work hard, I love hard workers, I love seeing the before and after change in the work that we do, it’s great.
Question 9: What is your ideal work atmosphere?
Some people like to work alone, some people like to work with a team, I like working inside with one other guy or two other guys.
If you hear, “I don’t care, as long as I work,” that’s a red flag.
Question 10: What type of people do you have difficulty getting along with?
Ask, “what type of person is difficult to work with for you?” all-stars don’t like to work with lazy people.
Although we don’t want to be pointing fingers at anybody but dig deep on this one to find out who they would be a good mix with.
If you are going to hire a person, you want to be able to have them communicate well with the rest of the crew.
Also, you may find some signs that they won’t work well with other people, be it other nationalities, unfortunately, some people don’t get along with others; but this is a great way to get this out on the table ahead of time and it will assist you in making that big decision.
Question 11: What do you take pride in on the job?
So, ask them about this, when you are on the job, what do you really take pride in?
“I take pride in all my work,” so we want them to take pride in their work, but it’s great if they can show a passion for something.
“I love refinishing kitchen cabinets,” or “ I love working on exteriors,” “I love taking that whole deck and just making it look like it’s brand new.”
Maybe they are full on painters, “I love wallpaper, it’s a lost thought nowadays and I love getting in there, being the person to make that room just look beautiful with the silk wall coverings.”
We want to dig that out and that’s also something that you can use in the future to motivate them.
Maybe there are some classes that they can take, that you can reward them with, that you can pay for, you can let them grow and they really feel like they are part of the team but you also have a vested interest in them.
That sums up the 11 questions we use for hiring all-stars.
When I last hired one of my all-stars, I was looking for a team leader, I needed someone to take over a team as this guy I had was moving on, he was probably in the industry for 30 years, he had been around and he was a phenomenal painter, we sat down and after I asked these 11 questions over a cup of coffee, he said, “this is the first time I ever had to think when I was looking for a painting job.”
You know, sometimes painters jump around, he had been through a few companies that he wasn’t happy with, he goes, this is got to work, he says, “you don’t ask how high I can go up on a ladder, different kinds of products I use and things like that, you asked questions that made me think, and I really like that.”
They might find it kind of odd that you are asking these questions, and you are going to find some answers that are not prepared which is going to help you make a decision if the person is a great team player or not.
If you have any questions you can email me at ron@dybcoach.com, you can also leave a comment here, send me a message on Facebook here, like I said, many people have already, you can reach out to me anytime.
I am a DYB coach, also a painting contractor up here in northern Massachusetts, I help painters work on their business so they don’t have to work in the business, have a great day and good luck hiring!
Download Your FREE Checklist...
11 Interview Questions For Hiring All-Stars.
E-mailed To You NOW!