Hiring a detailer: 7 tips

Harvard grads aren't lining up to work at my detail shop, so I've been through my share of clock milkers, late-shows, no-shows, and those with an "eye for detail" like a cave bat. And though I still draft an occasional dud, I've greatly improved my hiring process over the years. Here's 7 tips.

1. Ask the people you know and respect.
You might be surprised how many decent leads you can get simply by asking the people you already know if they have anyone they know that might be interested in a job that they would recommend. I have found lots of hard working, long-term staff members this way.

2. Hire people that are “trainable.”
I regret several hires that I found attractive because of their "experience." Often, experience means "experience with the wrong way of doing things." I'd rather invest in someone with a solid work ethic than one with an unknown work ethic with existing skills. It’s much easier to train a person that has a great attitude that is willing to learn than try and break someone with a bad attitude of his or her bad habits. I personally rarely ever hire “experienced detailers." I could be missing out on a gem, but when I get an application from an experienced detailer who claims to be great with customers, work like a horse, and have impeccable attention to detail, I have to wonder: "why doesn't he own his own shop?"

3. Put some time and thought into your “help wanted” ads.
Include all the info the person applying will need and clearly state your expectations. You can weed out a lot of unwanted candidates simply by making specific requests in your ad such as “please reply via e-mail to XXXXXX@jobs.com” and to include work references. We also ask that applicants do not call us – we will contact them after we review their resume. You will be surprised how many people will not follow the simple instructions we give. If you can’t make sure you are doing this when applying, what kind of employee will you make?

4. Ask applicants to send a resume with references in word or pdf format.
If they won’t readily give you work references, they probably aren’t the person you want to work with. Take the time to check the references they give you. You may expect to hear good things from the reference but they will most likely be honest and forthright with you about their experiences with the recommendation.

5. Put rules and expectations on paper.
I usually have applicants come by for an informal chat or interview and go over what the job entails, our expectations and a basic overview of our organization. If I decide to give the person a shot I immediately e-mail them a copy of our employee manual and all relevant company policies and have them sign off that they have read and understand all the information and agree to abide by the policies contained within it. This serves 2 purposes – it lets the employee know right from the get go exactly what is expected of them and in the event something goes wrong gives you written confirmation that the employee knew on hiring what the policies are. Have a written manual and make a point of enforcing the policies it contains. Having a uniform policy of enforcement cuts down on employee problems.

6. Probation.
All employees are probationary for the first 90 days. This allows you to observe and train the employee to do the job. Some people just aren’t cut out for detailing and you will quickly find that despite their best efforts they just aren’t capable of doing the job. Conversely, some really excellent detailers are so cumbersome to deal with as employees that you just shouldn’t keep them around. Use this time to familiarize yourself with an employee’s work habits and if necessary, terminate employment for staff that are sub par within the probationary period.

7. Hire when it's slow.
Don’t wait to hire staff until you need them. If you know when your busy seasons are then prepare for it and start looking at least a month before you will need someone so you don’t get caught and end up having to take the first person that applies. Once you get your staff in place keep a file of people that have applied and make sure you keep it up to date in case you need someone on short notice. The worst thing that can happen is the sudden loss of a staff member and not being able to replace them or even worse replacing them with someone that is unsuitable.

Conclusion: like choosing a wife.
You spend more time with your employees than with your wife. Be thorough, be deliberate, and don't commit long term until you've found a good fit.

Original article:
[appliedcolors.com]

Robert Keppel
Owner
Applied Colors
Paint Touch Up Systems for Detailers

Your help wanted ad will work for you in other ways as well. Put it where you will get attention from clients as well as prospective employees. Word it well and put it where your competitors will see it - it will give them the (hopefully correct) impression that business is booming in what you refer to as the slow time, Robert.

In short, your ad should sell your services and company wherever it is seen.

One other thing.... before you make that initial call to invite the guy in for an interview, check him on facebook. You never know what you find there! I picked that habit up after being set up with a couple of fake bookings by email. I just copy and paste email addresses into the FB search bar now just to check if they are real people at least! Almost everyone has a FB account these days....

FB is a good one. You see their "good boy" side during the interview. On Facebook...

What a great profesional post!
What you stated is SOOOOO correct for 99% of the way to hire someone for the work in a truly professionally operated shop!
I love it, you, welll, you are a business oriented person, not just a "detailer", which of course you just demonstated in your post.
My hat is off to you, sir.
Grumpy

What we have learned after 30 years in this business as operators and consultants to detail operations in dealerships, car washes and free standing operations:

1. NEVER hire experienced detailers. Their experience is only good if you let them do what they want to do. Then who is in charge?

2. Here is the foolproof ad either in the want ads or on Craig's List

AUTO SERVICE TRAINEE- Auto service business has immediate openings for career-oriented individuals. No experience, will train.
Must be willing to work hard, put in long hours and go the extra mile. High school diploma; valid driver's license and good driving record.
Random drug testing. Apply at 1234 S Detail St between 10am and 1pm Monday through Friday only.

When they come in for an application no information is given they simply fill out and leave the application. At that time our secretary looks them over and if they come in with a tank top; unshaven; baseball cap on backwards; shorts,etc that is noted. Based on her notes and reviewing the application they are usually tossed out. For those who pass the visual test, the application is reviewed and if they have had 5 or 6 short-term jobs in 2 years, they are tossed. Once we find a number who have passed the visual test; whose applications are filled out properly and who have a good work history we call them in for an interview.

Without exception we have gotten absolutely excellent candidates and we then hire based on the interview if we feel they are a fit for us and we are a fit for what they are looking for in a job. Some people are looking only for part-time work, some a part-time position until they have enough money before going back to school and some are looking for a full-time, growth opportunity.

This method has NEVER failed to get us qualified applicants.

Regards
Bud Abraham

Thats spot on. I'll never hire anyone as I prefer to do quality over quantity work and do it all myself (only do exteriors anyway) and then work part time for another shop that does the exotic cars which hires people

much easier

buda Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What we have learned after 30 years in this
> business as operators and consultants to detail
> operations in dealerships, car washes and free
> standing operations:
>
> 1. NEVER hire experienced detailers. Their
> experience is only good if you let them do what
> they want to do. Then who is in charge?
>
> 2. Here is the foolproof ad either in the want
> ads or on Craig's List
>
> AUTO SERVICE TRAINEE- Auto service business
> has immediate openings for career-oriented
> individuals. No experience, will train.
> Must be willing to work hard, put in long
> hours and go the extra mile. High school diploma;
> valid driver's license and good driving record.
> Random drug testing. Apply at 1234 S Detail
> St between 10am and 1pm Monday through Friday
> only.
>
> When they come in for an application no
> information is given they simply fill out and
> leave the application. At that time our secretary
> looks them over and if they come in with a tank
> top; unshaven; baseball cap on backwards;
> shorts,etc that is noted. Based on her notes and
> reviewing the application they are usually tossed
> out. For those who pass the visual test, the
> application is reviewed and if they have had 5 or
> 6 short-term jobs in 2 years, they are tossed.
> Once we find a number who have passed the visual
> test; whose applications are filled out properly
> and who have a good work history we call them in
> for an interview.
>
> Without exception we have gotten absolutely
> excellent candidates and we then hire based on the
> interview if we feel they are a fit for us and we
> are a fit for what they are looking for in a job.
> Some people are looking only for part-time work,
> some a part-time position until they have enough
> money before going back to school and some are
> looking for a full-time, growth opportunity.
>
> This method has NEVER failed to get us qualified
> applicants.
>
> Regards
> Bud Abraham


I like this because your receptionist is screening out a lot of bad hires before they even get to the interview. There's just a "feel" you get about a person even if you're just sharing a room for 5 min.

Ruling out experienced detailers sounds questionable to me. Presumably, an experienced detailer can be expected to be able to work fast, have endurance, tolerate heat and sun and have some knowlege . You can train such a person to use your system unless he's stubborn. Maybe he can teach you some tricks too ?

Do any of you require new hires to watch training videos and take a test on the material presented ?

Doug

Most good, experienced detailers are working those that aren't are even more suspect.

Of course in our business we had videos for them to watch; tests to take and procedures cards to follow.

The experienced detailers generally found a reason not to watch the videos or if they did do not pay attention and in most cases flunked the test and did not follow the procedures cards. And without exception 95% of them forgot their cards the first day on the job and the second too. There was not a third.

Wasted effort to hire the typical experienced detailer.

BA