Use this form as your phase through the hiring process with a candidate: Interviewing Check Lists
Step 3 - Consider Their Online Screening Form
Look At Their Screening Form & Ask Yourself...
- Did they complete the form?
- Are their pay requirements in line with the job?
- Are they available when we need them?
- How soon can they start?
- Do they have a decent car within the last 10 years for use all day?
- Have they been working low-paying jobs that anyone would hate (because A-Players probably aren’t working for the bus station or Sonic or a warehouse. Of course, anyone could be working one of those jobs….but typically not a highly-relational achiever)?
- Do they answer any of the questions lower than a 7?
Look At Their Social Media Pages & Ask Yourself...
- Appearance: If this person is all that our clients ever knew of us, by just looking at their pictures/posts/closest friends in their pics, would you send them to a $1 million house in Collierville to uphold the crisp, happy, strong and professional Wonder Dog brand?
- Life Energy: Do they look like they have a strong life energy and zest for living? Or do seem lazy, tired, or have a slack-jaw like an aimless teenager who's looking for a job? (Note: no matter how eager they are to work here, if they have low energy, then they are off the list. We are ONLY looking for people who, not because of hope or a good mood, have a ridiculously high amount of energy just NATURALLY bubbling out of them waking up each day without coffee or pills. Hard stop.). So do they have that?
- Leadership Potential: Could see them being promoted to a leadership position as our company grows? Would you entrust them with more authority, more staff, more of our brand, more decisions that affect the lives of our team and clients?
- Intelligence: Do they look intelligent, like go-getters and able to solve complex problems on their own?
- Unbusy: Do they seem to be wrapped up in any non-work activities, projects, schooling, hobbies, family issues that would hinder them or complicate their schedules from giving themselves 100% emotionally to this mission? (The more complex their lives, projects and schedules, they more likely they are to be cut, no matter how awesome they are, simply because we need teammates who are fully able to emotionally invest in all we do and have the time to do it.)
- Family Schedules: No matter how eager someone is to work here, if they have to get even more babysitting to work with us, then we won't do it simply because of our value of family life. The same goes for a couple who has been on the same schedule, but then working for us would mess that up. They will tell you otherwise, but we have seen it go sideways just too many times. The only real exception here is for couples who already have conflicting schedules. If our schedule works better or is just as messed up as they have now and we are not taking away from life-critical quality-time, then we will still consider them.
- Curating Their Own Brand: What kind of stuff are they posting (because our clients will look them up on social media)? Are they posting inappropriate or offensive things on there that might offend or cause disrespect? (They are loose with their public image, then they will most likely be loose with ours.)
- Anger & Offense: Are they ranting about this and that, and seem angry on their social media profiles about guys hurting them, people being mean, depression & anxiety, suicide and mental health, and angrily posting about how all kinds of evils in the world are ruining everything? (People are as free to be self-expressive as they would like, but a poor use of social media and over-sharing in public spacing is revealing things about their life, their character, how sensitive they are to offense, how normal it is to rant and be angry).
- Fitness: Do they seem fit enough to bend over and work with dogs, and get on the floor with them? (This might include weight issues, health conditions, being pregnant, etc).
- Healthy Relationships: Does their significant other seem like a good person, that is, do they seem to be in a healthy relationship or have a history of them (because those relationships WILL spill over into their work efforts eventually for the good or the bad)? Would you want their significant other at the company parties? (You might look them up as well to see what they are bringing into the household. This might sound odd, but people ARE affected by their life-partners and best friends and so we want to take a global look at their lives to see what they will be bringing into the culture of the company and into our client's homes. Our work isn't just about lifting boxes onto shelves, but is emotional work as well, so our team must be emotionally and mentally health because everything in our lives eventually spills over into everything else.)
- Strong-Work Ethic: Can they work independently - self motivated, managed, disciplined - either by what they do now, or by completing college, or something? (Really, you can see all sorts of things in a person's profile).
*** If you still have a green light on them, or at least, haven't said NO yet, then call them!
Text Them This to Fix Social Media Issues (Only If You Want To)
To Unlock Their IG Account - Sarah, this is Brad at Wonder Dog Training & Games. Your IG account is locked so I just requested access to it so that I could consider you for the position. Let me know when it’s unlocked for me, ok?
OR
To Get Their Social Link If They Left It Off & You Want to See Them - Sarah, this is Brad at Wonder Dog Training & Games. We'd like to consider your application, but I will need a social media account that you ACTUALLY use. Would you send that to me so that I could consider you for the position. Let me know when it’s unlocked for me, ok?
Saying it as we do above, names them and you so that you can keep up with who you are texting and they know who you are, as well as explains why we need their account unlocked. Once reviewed, feel no need to reply back if cut from the list.
Step 4a - Phone Screening Call
The Purpose of This Step
As always, we are looking for reasons to cut them from the list.
Most social media profiles will get most people cut off the list, but occasionally, you'll find someone who will at least NOT get cut from the list, so you'll want to call them to get those questions answered
Besides a few technical questions, we are mostly looking for the high-energy factor, their social skills and ability to hold a conversation as well as their intelligence
Here is a screening call with a high-energy A-Player and a low-energy C-Player
Text Them This To See If They Are Available for a Quick Call
Sarah, this is _____ at Wonder Dog Training & Games. We are doing some screening calls later in the day. Would you have 5-10 mins to chat?
Saying the text this way does several things: it names them so that you can keep track of who is who; it introduces you and the company that you are calling from for them to keep up with who is who in their interviewing process with several companies, and sets up the expectation that this will be a fast call, so that if you don't like them you can quickly get off the phone with without them being offended.
Basic Screening Scripts & Questions to Ask
“Hi _____, I’m (name), the (title) with Wonder Dog Training & Games. Did I catch you at a good time?”
"We are doing quick screening calls because we got so many applications so I'll only need you for a few minutes, is that ok? "
This sets-up the call so that if you don't like them, you can get off the phone within just 3-4 minutes
"Tell me about yourself."
Let them talk all they want.
Be personable, and even a tad informal because the less formal YOU are, the more likely they will relax and give you REAL answers.
Remember: we are looking for high-energy, great attitude, confidence, availably, intelligence, confidence, accent, ability to communicate clearly and UNBUSY. A few reminders...
Curiosity questions
Ask whatever you want to ask them based on their answers so far, for instance...(all of these are 100% optional)
What kind of dogs do you have?
Why would you leave what you doing now?
So what's the big idea: What are you looking for in a career? What's the next move for you? (Looking for their criteria, core motives & how long they plan on staying with us.)
What are you looking for in a job? A company? Not looking for?
What have you found so far out there? Anything that matches what you are looking for?
How much do you need to bring home? (Then explain our comp plan for that position)
What kind of schedule are you looking for? (Then explain how our schedule works)
If hired, when could you start? (If they say 2 weeks, then ask if they think their boss would really hold them to that).
Do you tend to get energized when you are alone or when you are around people? That is, do you tend to be more introverted or extroverted?
We are looking to see if they like talking to people all day or if it will exhaust them, or if they like being alone all day. Ambiverts who have both are ideal.
**Name 3 things that you’ve been offended by in the past year.** (Required question!)
If they can come up with 3, then its a no, unless you see a fighting spirit in them that fights for their identity, like people calling them short or dumb, etc)
Deal with Anything Offensive: Ask them if they would be willing to cover their tattoos, or clean up their social media, or drive all the way from _______, or make less to work here, etc (if there are such issues)
You CANNOT legally ask about their age, religion, sexual orientation, race, disabilities, marital status, nationality, credit history, criminal record or military discharge.
A Few Additional Questions When Hiring A Sales Person
Since our sales team will be the face of the company, the standards for likability and trustability are even higher for them, so ask yourself…
- Do you naturally like him/her as a traditional archetypal man or archetypal woman?
- Would you lean on him/her to drive ALL the sales for the entire company (to pay our bills and payroll!)?
- Does he/she has presence in the room?
- Is he/she instantly charming and likable?
- Is he someone that we’d promote quickly because he’s/she’s so awesome?
- Does he/she have the confidence to be a closer when it’s time?
Step 4b - Make a Decision
If they don’t qualify, ask them just 1 or 2 more basic questions to be cool about it and then tell them...
"Ok, that's about all that I needed for today. We've got several more to screen and will be asking some back to do ride days with our Lead Trainer. So if I call you back by _______(2 days in the future), then congratulations you made the cut. If not, then it just means that we went with some of the other candidates, ok? Ok, well thank you for your time. Have a good day."
2. If you like them, then move to the Making the Pitch section below.
Life Energy: Do they have a strong , bubbly life energy and zest for living? Or do seem lazy, tired, or have a slack-jaw way of talking?
Leadership Potential: Could see them being promoted to a leadership position as our company grows? Would you entrust them with more authority, more staff, more of our brand, more decisions that affect the lives of our team and clients?
Intelligence: Do they seem intelligent, like go-getters and able to solve complex problems on their own?
Conversation: Are they responding to you with their own original thoughts? Do they have an accent that is too thick, too lazy, broken thoughts, slurring, mumbling, etc?
Unbusy: Do they seem to be wrapped up in any non-work activities, projects, schooling, hobbies, family issues, family schedules that would hinder them or complicate their schedules from giving themselves 100% emotionally to this mission?
Step 4c - Making the Pitch
The purpose of this step is to shift into sales mode. If we have someone we like, we now need to sell them on the vision, mission and culture of Wonder Dog, with a heavy emphasis that we are aiming to change the world for one million dogs and dog families, as well as changing the entire dog training industry to help even more dogs that we DON'T train, and how that project is coming along so far.
If we can find someone who can pay their bills with our comp plan and make our schedule work in their personal lives, but who actually just wants to get behind a mission that they really believe in (instead of just clocking in and restocking shelves or whatever), then that is exactly what we are looking for. Here is how we do that...
Scripting
Do you know much about Wonder Dog?
If yes - What did you notice about us on our site about what makes us any different than any one else?
If no - Ok, well, we are the #1 in-home dog training specialists in town. We are still small now, but aim to have 100 locations and train 1 million dogs by 2050. We should be in ________ (the next city over) by the end of the year. We are growing fast and promote from within when we can.
We do something very unique in the dog training world, you see....we believe that training a dog where it lives and runs and plays and eats is the safest, cheapest and most effective way to train a dog because not only is it being trained in it's own home environment, but we are training the family as well!
So while most people think that we are dog trainers, actually we train dog trainers - that is, the family. You see, we'll stop doing lessons within 4-8 weeks, but that family will be around that dog or the next 10-15 years! So if we can train them, they can teach their dog for a lifetime. Does that make sense?
Now what's crazy is that we are the odd ones. Every city will have a few trainers doing in-home training, but most of them hate it because if you bring your dog to them to stay at their house or their store for a week or two, they can make double or triple the money and can work with more dogs, and so the board & train model is THE de facto standard in the industry...but it can be very dangerous and confusing for the dog to just be dropped off while mom and dad just drive away. This is why we aim to take away so much business from them that they all change their business model. After just 2 years in Memphis, that is exactly what is happening as now almost every single trainer has been forced to add in-home training just to keep up with us!
This is what we mean when we say that we want to change the world for dogs and dog families, both for the ones we get to train and even the ones we don't get to train!
Does that sound like something that you feel like you could emotionally get behind?
That's great. One of the weird switch-a-roos of working here is that everyone must be hired with a job title, a comp plan and a job description, but really, since we are a small company still and we're all so serious about our mission, when anything needs to be done, we just get it done. Does that make sense?
So you might be hired as a dog trainer, but then you're also given our entire facebook account to post and manage all of the comments, or you might be asked to take all the pics and videos at the games. For instance, we get a booth at these Homeshows and local festivals a few times a year and they last all weekend. Well, its not like there's a marketing department somewhere to do those, so we all just show up to represent the company, even though some of them go through Sunday which is our off day. Do you see what I mean? There is no one else, so we just get it done.
What I am saying is that we aren't looking for employees who just want to clock-in and clock-out, but people who want to get behind this mission of ours of helping dogs and really push with us, ya know?
So is this something that you feel like you could really give yourself to?
In all of this, we are looking for a wildly enthusiastic response as well as them giving us their original thoughts on the mission and culture, maybe even telling us stories of them being on this mission already or working as a team like in other jobs they've had.
If you are a still a green light on them, then tell them about a Ride Day, ask when would be the soonest they could do one, and connect them with the Lead Trainer via a group text, remembering to tell the LT when they could do it (to save them the back and forth), as well as their shirt size (so they can bring them a shirt).
A Few Rookie Hiring Mistakes Worth Mentioning Here
Don’t over-play your hand if you love them to death. Just like dating, you must play the game a bit. Even if you love them to death, be a bit stand-off-ish. Use phrases like “If you were given the position…” and “If you were selected, how soon could you start?” This sounds stupid so why play games? Because people are weird and we love challenges and we often want to be wanted by the very folks who seem to be not so amazed by us. Hate the game, but play it anyways. It’s how we win some of our best A Players.
Don’t hire them just because you like them. The #1 hiring mistake that the pro’s will warn you about is that the rookie hiring managers make their decision within a whopping 30 SECONDS of meeting the person. Why? Because they like them. Ouch. This is vastly different than hiring because they actually meet the A Player standards. So please slow down and work the process!
Don’t be fooled by nice, smart, good-looking people who are low-energy, boring or otherwise, don’t make you feel more energizied by the end of the conversation. Ask yourself: what is the effect of this person on me? Am I more or less energized after this short talk? Yes, every team member should be energetic if not for our team meetings, then at least for our client interactions and running the Games.
Don’t think you can “mold them.” You can take an awesome person and train them, but its very difficult to take an average person and transform them.
Don’t listen to them when they say that this schedule won’t affect their home life if they are used to working days only. When we ask them to compare how this schedule will affect their home life, you’ll get all sorts of “Oh yeah! This will be awesome!”-type answers to interviewing questions, like “Oh no, my husband and kids won’t mind that I’m now gone until 7 PM each night.” I know that they THINK that, but we have to look out for them be we know what they won’t be cool with that.
To explain, if their significant other (SO) work has been working weekdays as she has been and the job you are now offering has her working nights and weekends, and she says it “doesn’t matter,” - then they are lying at worst, or short-sighted at best. There is just NO way that a couple will go from cuddling on the couch each night after dinner to scarfing some food really quick before crashing at 9 PM, and still survive as a couple…even if we look at the emotional taxation that this job takes from us alone!
If they are used to a schedule like this already, then it’ll be fine…or if they are mature, it’ll be fine, but usually it’ll spell trouble if it’s a new switch up so be careful and don’t listen to them! Make the decision that they are scared to make and cut them from the list…otherwise, they’ll be either quitting this job to save their relationships in 3 months or they will lose their SO.
Don’t lead them with your questions. “We are looking for awesome people. Are you awesome?” “We are looking for dog lovers. Are you a dog lover?” If you give away the answer that we are looking for, and someone is smart enough to listen, then they will feed you back EXACTLY what you are looking for. So, we design our questions in such a way that we find out what we want to know WITHOUT tipping them off to what we are looking for, like “What are you looking for in a job or career right now?” or “What do you do when you’re not working?” You see? These are open ended questions that they could take anywhere, which is great. We want to keep them talking to see what comes out.
Don’t just observe on the surface. Listen to what they are saying beneath what they are saying to find out what kind of person they are and what their values really are. As you get people talking and doing the ride day, they will reveal their hidden worldview and beliefs and values ACCIDENTALLY, if you’ll pay attention. This can save you SO SO SO much time later on if you can see things coming in micro-form now. So when someone keeps talking about their monthly vacations, ask yourself if they will for in here with our schedule. If someone is complaining about their current job, what do you think their posture is towards work and bosses? If they mess with their phones during the ride day, then what does that say about them?
Step 5a - The Ride Day
The Purpose of This Step
Let them get a feel for this to see if they really want to do this (because people still think that they will get to "play with dogs and puppies all day" instead of realizing that most of our work is with the families, not the dogs)
Give us time with them IN-PERSON to see what they are really like with their guards down (because people can fake a 5 minute phone call, but often will show their real colors over 3-4 hours).
You’ll explain what you did during the lessons to see how attentive they are and if they are eager to learn or distracted by their phones or not paying attention at all.
Are they good with people? With dogs? Are they sloppy, immature, weird somehow? Consider again their looks, smell, tattoos, smoking, posture, social skills, energy, eagerness, conversational skills? Are they complaining about their job or boss or relationships? Do you naturally like them and trust them and want to hang out with them more? Do you want them on the team and at the team parties?
Once again, we are looking for reasons to cut them from the list no matter how far we are into the process. Listen, we would rather cut them now and call it DOA right now, then hire them and realize one week or one month down the road that this isn't going to work. When you add in the wasted time and payroll, that bad hire would have cost us $1000's of dollars! So we'd rather just call it a wasted couple of hours of interview time and keep cutting people until we find The One!
Questions to Ask
"Tell me about yourself."
Curiosity questions
Ask whatever you want to ask them based on their answers so far, for instance...(all of these are 100% optional)
What kind of dogs do you have?
What is your job now? Why leave there?
So what's the big idea: What are you looking for in a career? What's the next move for you? (Looking for their criteria, core motives & how long they plan on staying with us.)
What are you looking for in a job? A company? Not looking for?
What have you found so far out there? Anything that matches what you are looking for?
What are your life goals?
How do you see this mission of helping dogs for into your life goals?
How do you see this job fitting into your personal life and schedule?
WARNING!!! You CANNOT legally ask about their age, religion, sexual orientation, race, disabilities, marital status, nationality, credit history, criminal record or militart discharge.
Explain what you did during the lessons to see how attentive they are and if they are alert, engaged, intelligent, responding back to you, eager to learn or distracted by their phones or not paying attention at all.
Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Make A Decision
Would our hours mess up their family life based on anything they freely told you? (We CANNOT legally ask about their family situation, but you can ask what they do “when they are not working” and then let them freely talk)
Do they have a reliable, good-looking car that you’d want pulling up to a million dollar home?
How do you feel after the call with them? Are you energized? Are you just, “eh, she’ll do I guess”? Are you bored? Are you repelled?
Are they smart, sharp, insightful and connecting the dots well?
Are they alert, awake, engaged and conversational?
Do they have the clean-cut, wholesome look and feel and dress that we are looking for?
Are they in any way prideful, arrogant, bitchy, complaining, being a jerk or show any signs of entitlement (like us vs them, employees vs managers, work sucks, bosses suck, etc)?
Are they good with people and seem comfortable with dogs, engaging with them both as the lessons?
Are they physically able to bend down to work with dogs?
Do you think that they would be a good culture fit?
Working with Millenials by Dave Ramsey
"Millenials are either suck or the best you’ll hire. They are that clear. Either they are passionate and looking for an adventure, or they suck and are lazy. We gotta get their Why early in the interview process to see if their mission is in line with yours so that we can work together for a while before they move on…then show them how we fit their mission/dreams, and then make it clear this beginning rung of the ladder, then the next one, and the next one - because they are looking for adventures and they will leave after a year unless you show them that there are different adventures all within this one mission of ours."
Step 5b - Make the Decision
If they are an A or B Player AND you like them, then move to the 2nd interview
If they are a B Player and this next hire MUST be an A Player, then just stall(!) to see if you can find an A Player in time.
If not, you don't have to do anything because oddly very, very rarely do they ever call back, and if they do, simply tell them that "we chose to to move forward with other candidates, but thank you for your time."
Step 6a - 2nd Interview
The Purpose of This Step
Covering all final bases and looking for a reason NOT to hire them before we do
Questions to Ask
What did you think about your Ride Day?
What did you see or notice?
What did you like or dislike?
How do you see our mission fitting into your life mission?
Again, folks with an employee mindset who just want to clock in & clock out don’t stay here very long as we are looking for people who are as serious about our mission as we are and want to help us. Do you still feel like you can emotionally commit to that?
Again, we are looking for a “OMG YES! I want to do something meaningful!"
How do you see our schedule fitting into your personal/family schedule?
Ask them how they will handle any concerns that WE have that the LTbrought up after the Ride Day - smelling like smoke, covering tattoos, school schedules, etc
Do you have any questions or concerns about starting with us?
If chosen, when could you start?
Are there any remaining reason why we might NOT want to hire them?
Step 6b - Make the Decision
If they are still a green light, then give them a start date and trigger the New Hire paperwork below.
If you are unsure or they are a no for any reason, then politely tell them that we are still considering other candidates and that if we get back to them by _____, then we'll hire them, otherwise, they will know that we moved on with someone else.
Here is our Quick Reference Field Checklist for these interviews
Step 7 - Trigger the New Hire Paperwork
1) Online Application
The Purpose of This Step
We are doing this a bit backwards, but we still need to get their standardized personnel info
2) Job Requisition
The Purpose of This Step
This is the official document that triggers all other things in our Personnel records that shows when they got started, their comp plan and title, etc
3) Other Personnel Stuff Set-Up By The Personnel Admin