Ask-an-Expert: Want advice on Job Posts, Interviews, Training, or Retention...send them!
Your job posting is often the first impression a Job Seeker gets of your business, and most owners don't realize they're turning people away. Hey, I'm Rich Camacho, CEO and co-founder of BlueRecruit. BlueRecruit is a Jobber Partner and works with trade businesses across the US and Canada every day to help them find and hire exceptional talent. Next week, I'm bringing that expertise straight to the Home Service Community. From May 20-26, drop a link to your job posting or any questions concerning talent acquisition in the comments, and I'll give you personalized feedback on: The effectiveness or ineffectiveness of your job post(s) How and where to find talent What today's trade workers are looking for Don't have a job posting right now? Ask me anything about your hiring process, interview questions, or recruitment strategy! 👇What did you do when you lost your best employee?
We’re going through this right now in our business. Our lead technician is moving out of state. Honestly, it’s bittersweet. I’m genuinely happy for him because this is a great life opportunity for him and his family, but I’d be lying if I said it hasn’t caused me a lot of anxiety too. He has been a huge part of our growth. A lot of the consistency our customers experience came from him: reliability quality of work customer trust leadership in the field helping train newer employees When you have someone like that on your team, it’s hard not to feel like “How are we supposed to replace this person?” And the honest answer is you probably do not replace them immediately. My wife and I already know we’re going to have to pick up extra work temporarily while we hire and train again. That part is uncomfortable. One thing this situation has reinforced for me though is how important standardization becomes as the business grows. Because if all the quality, knowledge, and expectations only live inside one employee’s head, losing that employee can seriously damage the business. Over the last couple years we’ve worked hard to document things like: customer communication, how to reply to someone, when to send our "On The Way" text messages gate procedures to make sure dogs are safe and secured after each visit completion expectations for each yard common customer issues onboarding processes to bring new employees up to speed faster training expectations to know what a "finished" job looks like None of that magically replaces a great employee. But it does make rebuilding much more realistic. I also think moments like this expose whether the business was built around systems or around specific people carrying everything. Still learning through this one myself. What did you do when you lost your best employee?Who is a better employee, old school or new school?
I have 2 people who are interested in a position I posted for a apprentice/helper. I took each of them on a one day ride along to see what they thought about the position. One is an old school guy, hard working, knowledgeable, rough around the edges, "get it done" mentality, just your typical guy who grew up in a different time. The other is a 24 year old, energetic, absorbing of information, helpful with technology, very much one of those cell phone kids. I would say that those are are the pros of these two but they also have cons. The older guy is set in his ways, smoker, hard headed, know it all. The younger guy showed up 10 mins late, on his phone all day, had to stop for lunch, complained about getting dirty. I did like them both and saw advantages to both, but also disadvantages. I wonder if anyone else has experience with these types of guys? Am I missing something that I should reconsider? Maybe neither one is the right fit? Maybe for context also, I am 40. I maybe have a foot in each each of their worlds which is why the decision isn't as easy as I thought.What changed after you hired your first employee?
Hiring my first employee did not suddenly free up my schedule. For a while, it actually made things harder. I was still answering all the questions: “What do I do if the gate is locked?” “What if the dog is outside?” “Do I skip this area?” “How should I message the customer?” I realized I had a lot of expectations in my head that were never clearly documented anywhere. So every small issue still came back to me. One thing that helped us a lot was creating repeatable standards for the things that caused the most callbacks or customer complaints and using Job Forms to make sure my employees followed those standards. For example: gate photos at the end of every appointment customer instructions attached directly to the job clear arrival communication (sending an on the way message 30-45 minutes before each visit) completion forms with a checklist of all actions done on the visit (waste hauled away, gate locked and secured, sanitized boots and equipment) Once those things were written down and repeated consistently, the business became a lot less dependent on me making every decision throughout the day. Curious what other owners experienced with this. What got easier after your first hire? And what unexpectedly became harder?Hiring Slow - Would You Hire Someone that Didn't Look in to Your Company?
I'm a part of breakthrough academy and they really recommend hiring slow, so being really picky about who you hire. With that, comes creating a lot of barriers that the candidate essentially needs to "fight through" to get to that next stage and ultimately be hired. I do some of these things now but I had one thing pop up on a few interviews and I was wondering if ya'll think I'm being too hard headed when it comes to this. Keep in mind these candidates applied where they had to submit pictures of their work - then they filled out a lengthy survey about job skills and abilities. The first interview, the first question is "Did you look in to our company at all?" - most the time I'm being told no. LOL For me that's crazy but it also makes me want to just hang up the phone. Why should I care about you if you don't care about the thing you're going to commit most of your day toward? My job postings are pretty long and descriptive but would you automatically disqualify someone why hasn't even been to your website?How are you Hiring Reliable Employees in the Cleaning Industry?
Hi everyone, I’m currently growing my cleaning business and getting to the point where I need to start bringing on employees. I want to build a solid, dependable team—not just people who show up, but people who actually care about the work and take pride in what they do. For those of you who have already gone through the hiring process, I’d really appreciate your insight: Where are you finding your best employees? (Indeed, Facebook, referrals, etc.) What qualities do you look for when hiring cleaners? Do you require prior experience, or do you train from scratch? How do you handle background checks and trust/security in clients’ homes? What pay structure or incentives have helped you keep employees long-term? Any red flags you’ve learned to watch out for during interviews? In my business, we don’t do quick surface cleans—we focus on deep, detailed, time-consuming work. Because of that, I want to make sure I’m hiring people who can handle that level of effort and consistency. I’m also trying to build a positive, supportive work environment while still maintaining high standards. Any advice on balancing that would be helpful too. Looking forward to hearing what’s worked (and what hasn’t) for you all!Do You Train Your Team to Think or Just Work?
Every Monday, we hold a short training session with our team. We train on communication. leadership. & mindset. The reason being most tradespeople aren’t struggling because they can’t do the work. They’re struggling because they were never taught how to: Speak with clarity Handle conflict Lead a crew Represent the business professionally These tend to be the issues I see bottling up, either from our exit interviews or customer feed back or when things are misunderstood. Thats why I'm curious: Do you train soft skills with your crew?What Features Would Be Helpful for Dealing with Subcontractors on Your Team?
Subcontractors can be a powerful way to grow your service business—but managing them smoothly takes the right tools. From scheduling to paperwork to payments, things can get complicated fast if you're relying on spreadsheets or text threads. Here are a few key ideas to kick off the conversation: Insurance Certificate Tracking + Expiration Reminders Making sure your subcontractors are insured is a no-brainer—but keeping track of their certificates and renewal dates can be a hassle. A built-in feature that stores insurance docs and sends automatic reminders before they expire would help keep your business protected and organized. Built-in Payment Processing for Subcontractors Paying subs quickly and clearly is essential for maintaining good relationships. Imagine being able to approve their invoices and process payments right through Jobber—no more chasing emails or juggling payment apps. Subcontractor Availability Scheduling Knowing when your subs are available is half the battle. A shared calendar where subcontractors can input their availability would make job assignment way easier and help avoid scheduling conflicts before they happen. What would you like to see added to help manage subcontractors better? Drop your ideas in the comments—👇Upsides and downsides of hiring a summer helper?
I am thinking about hiring someone to help me in the busy season and the idea of a high school kid as a summer job sounds like a promising idea. I wouldn't have to pay them a crazy salary, they are like sponges with information and they are typically more physically full of energy. I wouldn't be able to send them on their own, but they could help me get a few more jobs done in a day. I am wondering if anyone has tried this and what would be the pros and cons of doing it?
