Ask-an-Expert: Want advice on Job Posts, Interviews, Training, or Retention...send them!

Hi Kasy,

Thanks for your posts, here are my insights and suggestions:

Salary:

1. Great job stating the salary. However, I recommend changing from a range to an hourly pay rate. A range of $400 per week at that pay rate is very wide, and Job Seekers will be deterred from applying because such a wide range makes the post appear less creditable. For your knowledge, the average hourly pay for a cleaning job in your area is $22.78 phr ($911.20 week at 40 hours).

Skills Questions:

1. Why are you asking if they have a driver’s license and if they have driving experience? This seems repetitive unless applicants require a CDL or specific commercial experience. If a CDL is required, I would make that a separate question, otherwise remove “Do you have experience in Driving” question.
2. Your question of “Do you know English” could be confusing. Do Job Seekers need proficiency in speaking and understanding English? Do they need proficiency in writing and reading English? If so, make each its own question.

Benefits:

1. You mention providing paid training and on-the-job training. I recommend stating the pay rate during this training period if it is different than during normal employment. Most jobs provide a different pay rate, so being clear is important for setting expectations.
2. 2.Do you provide any matching for the 401(k)? If so, stating the matching percentage is a HUGE differentiator for talent selecting your company over your competito.
3. What do Job Seekers have the opportunity to advance to/in? Pay, roles, responsibility, etc. Providing more detail here is a big part of finding the right fit talent that you seek to grow your company.
4. A “Flexible Schedule” is currently the most desired benefit of Job Seekers. I would move this benefit to the top of the list, and also explain what a flexible schedule at your company means.

Responsibilities:

1. This section needs WAY MORE “meat”. The fact that you’re having difficulty with Job Seekers not understanding the expectations of the role is likely because this section lacks details on the actual day-to-day operations of the job. In a section like this, I like to put in an “Easter Egg” phrase that applicants should report back either in their application or initial phone screen. This helps ensure you’re spending your time responding to serious Job Seekers and not just folks clicking the quick apply button.

Final Word

1. This section is confusing and seems like a copy/paste of information above. I would remove this section entirely.

Hope that helps, and Good Luck!

Hi Judi,

Thanks for your posts, here are my insights and suggestions:

AI

Correct me if I’m wrong, but it appears this job post was written using AI. The high number of “—” throughout the document is a dead giveaway. A major issue with using AI written job posts is that Google Jobs has extremely sophisticated systems to identify them and prevent them from appearing on searches.   

 Salary:

1. Great job stating the salary. However, your pay is at the bottom range of both agency and private cleaner pay for your area. Commercial agency cleaner pay averages at about $20.50 phr in Calgary.
2. “Paid gas reimbursement” Let Job Seekers know when they’re paid, i.e. each day, end of week, bi-weekly.
3. Is training paid at $19 phr? If there is a different pay rate let Job Seekers know.

 Responsibilities:

I highly recommend adding a Responsibilities section to let Job Seekers know right up front what is expected of them and what they can expect when it comes to day-to-day operations of the job. In a section like this, I like to put in an “Easter Egg” phrase that applicants should report back either in their application or initial phone screen. This helps ensure you’re spending your time responding to serious Job Seekers and not just folks clicking the quick apply button.

Communication:

Email is DEAD!!! Asking Job Seekers to email you is like wishing on a falling star. Text messages are the preferred method of communication for all age groups. For context, 99.1% of communication between Job Seekers and Employers on BlueRecruit is via text. On the contrary, only 11% of emails from Employers to Job Seekers on BlueRecruit are responded to. My top suggestion for your job posts is to start text messaging Job Seekers. If you must, wait to rely on email communication until after initial communication has been made and the interview process has begun.

Hope that helps, and good Luck!

Hi Op,

Thanks for your question. That is a very open-ended question, that without diving into your books and knowing your location (state laws) is impossible to answer. However, here are some universal statements to keep in mind when making such a decision. Again, without knowing the details of your company, I can’t give you direct insight:

• For most trade companies, highest long-term profitability comes from W-2 employees.
• 1099s are efficient for geographic expansion, specialty work, or short-term overflow work.
• 1099s are often more costly because of callbacks (as you mentioned), warranty work, company reputation, lost referrals, and inconsistent customer service and work quality. If more than 25% of your projects/jobs are requiring call backs or rework, then you’ve lost any margins and 1099s are costing you money.
• 1099s are effective in the short-term because of no payroll taxes, benefits, and ability to scale.
• Long-term subs are often the worst of both worlds because they act like contractors but expect to be treated like employees (sorry guys, got to choose one or the other).
• CompanyCam (which I love) will assist with accountability issues, but the same is true of your W-2 employees.

Bottomline: I suggest only using 1099s to surge, not as a long-term plan.

For the record, we do not have any 1099s at BlueRecruit, so take that for what it’s worth.

Hope that helps, and good Luck!

Hi ProGrow,

Thanks for your posts, and congrats on your launch. Here are my insights and suggestions:

1. The problem is in the description of what you’re looking for. No one who is a “talented gardener” with “solid horticultural background” is seeking “casual” work. You need to decide if you want temp labor or plant health technicians/arborist.

2. Given the age of your business, I would assume that you are not yet able to hire, and should instead on growing the business alone for this spring/summer. This will allow you to build a book of business, gain a solid local reputation, develop company standard operating procedures, and build a cash reserve. That way, you will be able to hire top level talent next winter and be ready to hit the ground running come spring.

3. Series Job Seekers are not on Craigslist, Facebook, or Kijiji (had to look that one up, we don’t have that in the states). When it is time to hire, use a platform like BlueRecruit that focuses on skilled trade workers or heaven forbid Indeed (just kidding).

Hope that helps, and good luck!

Hi 3hservices,

If you're asking what is the average pay rate for Handymen in TN, here is the current average pay for 3 major metros:

Memphis: $27.63 phr

Nashville: $32.80 phr

Knoxville: $27.75 phr

If you're asking what to charge customers, that is not what our platform does. I suggest checking out Angi's consumer reports for such information.

Hope that helps, and good luck!