worst interview ever

[carbtech72]

I'm in need of a new tech. I interviewed one yesterday who was so rude and arrogant that I couldn't see strait. He couldn't have been more than 25 and said he had 5 years experience. He said he had all his ase certs but refused to show me any proof. Refused to answer any technical questions, said his work speaks for itself. When I asked him what he was looking to make he had the nerve to DEMAND 40/hr, no flat rate and 10% of my parts profit. That pretty much ended the interview right there. Anyone else ever have a disastrous interview?

[mspecperformance]

ARE YOU SERIOUS? Wow. Sad thing is this psycho is probably persistent enough to find a shop owner desperate enough!

[xrac]

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[Shopcat]

I have had some interviews I terminated early and thought I just saved myself a ton of grief. I have developed a pre-employment quiz that the applicant fills out along with the application. Then you can sift thru those and decide if there are any candidates worth your time to interview. You can craft it to fit your shop. I would be happy to send you one if you like.

[CarER]

I have a phone screening process that I do with anyone that's interested in becoming a tech for me. I then "grade" them based on the answers to those simple questions, and if they have a good enough score I schedule an interview with them.

[lmcca]

wow, thats pretty bad, i havent had one that bad. geez, what a tool.

[alfredauto]

I've had some bad ones but none ballsy enough to ask for $40 straight time plus lol

[Gonzo]

Way back when.... I was hiring in techs, I had fella who had a pretty impressive resume, had a lot of varied backgrounds in different aspects of automotive repair. In the interview he had only one request. He would only do engine overhauls and said he would only work on them if he was allowed to smoke in his area.

 

Funny thing is.... my shop is strictly electrical service. Hmm, isn't the name of the shop "Superior Auto Electric"??? for pete sake.... Ah, ... fella ... why did you apply? Did you think I was going to start engine overhauls just because you were supposed to be that good? I told him to take his smokes down the road... and that he was at the wrong shop for his skills. He wasn't happy about that and started going off. I stood up and marched him to the door.

 

go figure.....

[mspecperformance]

How about the guys who tell you how good they are and then when you ask if they have a resume they look at you sideways LOL

[AJFA]

So he needs a shop that charges for his time at $135.00 labor and he needs to guarantee 40 hours production a week! It can be done but I doubt a 5 year experience tech can do it, at least none I have worked with.

 

I had a guy who said he owned his shop and built race engines so I hired him and the first job I gave him was to replace a bent crankshaft in the shops 5 horsepower lawn mower, 2 days later for a 4 hour job, he had it running with the other guys in the shop helping him get the carb linkage installed so it worked. Needless to say he lasted about week. The thing that irritated me was even if he could put a Chevy engine together with his eyes closed, there always is a new challenge in this business that you cant go into with your eyes closed. If he needed to paint cam line up marks, draw linkage diagrams, photos of bolt placement etc he should've known that.

 

Certainly the repair business needs to pay higher wages if we are to attract talented people but they need to bring talent to the table not attitude.

Dave

[PAPShop]

Been there, not that extreme though. We have implemented a multi step interview process. Had to so we can weed out the imposters, the wanna-be's and the divas.

 

After interviewing with each of the owners individually, the final interview is a working interview on a Saturday while we are closed. One of the owners will be working on another job in the same room observing out of the corner of his eye. We have started this and it has given a feel for the person and their work habits.

 

We also check their previous employment, references, facebook and internet search to include their driving record; also check spouse/girlfriend/significant other. We've had "married to crazy" that effected work habits. Needless to say, we vet applicants thoroughly.

[Handson]

If anyone is willing to post interview tools/questions please do so. Also how does the saturday tech hands on test work out. Are the new hires ok with it any legal worries? Do they get paid for the day and if so how much..

[PAPShop]

If anyone is willing to post interview tools/questions please do so. Also how does the saturday tech hands on test work out. Are the new hires ok with it any legal worries? Do they get paid for the day and if so how much..

Saturday's have been the day that works for everyone. And of course the new hire is ok with it, if not, they are not hired. We pay them as if they were subcontracted labor and it is at a lower rate (about 75%) than what they will be paid when hired.

 

We have not had any issues with legal worries. Since we have gone to this system, we have weeded out most bad candidates before this point. Because of the nature of our shop, we have unusual jobs come thru and we try to save one for the interview. They do about 4 hours and we pay for lunch, which gives a chance to sit casually and bs with them.