Interviewing Do's and Don'ts and Win Back Cancels

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📰2025 Garden Trends Report and new John Deere mowers embracing tech
🤝 Digging Deep: Employee Interviews Dos and Don’ts
🎥 Advise to live by
💁 Marketing Tip: Get customers back and build loyalty
🗺️ State-By-State License References - Landscaping or Natural 25(b) product Use
🌴 Man cuts off top of palm several stories high and goes for ride.

🕳️ DIGGING DEEP
Employee Interviews: Do’s and Don’ts

In our industry, Spring almost always means hiring more employees. This is the candidates chance at a new job or career and our chance to find that worker we have always wanted.

I don’t miss those days. I have conducted more phone and in person interviews than I care to remember. I was saying “No, we don’t pay in cash, no we don’t pay daily, no you can’t start at 10 each day”. They were saying “I don’t have a drivers license, I have never worked outside, I don’t work weekends, I have to be able to vape”, you know the stories. And that is after they failed to answer questions online truthfully that should have already filtered these people out.

Working with owners, I saw some pretty questionable hires that rarely worked out. If we follow some best practices and avoid some pitfalls, we can greatly increase our chances of getting a great new employee.

Do’s

I suggest using an online hiring app like Indeed that lets you ask preliminary questions and doesn’t allow them to proceed if they don’t meet requirements. If they answer truthfully, then that will save you time. I suggest you ask questions related to experience and ability to do the job. For example: Do you have a current drivers license? Do you have at least 1 year experience?

If you are interested, do a phone interview first. This will save you a lot of time and you can ask for details about work experience and get a feel for how well they will fit in your organization.

After the phone interviews we would set up in-person interviews about 20 min apart. About half of the people didn’t show up. The ones that came were given a form to fill out and then we would ask them questions based on their answers.

We made sure they understood the work hours and days we worked, the pay, the rules (no smoking while working), and other things they needed to know to decide on their side if they wanted to work for us.

Keep all paperwork that applicates fill out. If you are ever accused of descriminating against any groups of people, you will be abe to show you interviewed a variety of people.

For people that were going to be fertilization and weed control techs, we gave them a test that covered turf ID, weed ID, and product calculations to determine if they had the experience and training we were looking for.We found out at the point many times the person really didn’t have knowledge of lawn care despite claiming experience.

You may not want to do this, but we had the final candidates come back a second time to offer them a job. If they would come in twice, they were serious about getting the job.

If your state allows background checks after conditional job offers, I suggest you always do a basic check to verify their basic information. If the employee will be driving a company vehicle, it is important to check their driving record and determine how it will affect your insurance rate.

I know a business owner that hired a manager to run the operation then realized that their insurance had gone up several thousand dollars. The new manger had 4 DUI’s and skyrocketed their insurance.

Don’t

We have already covered some “don’ts” with the “do’s”. Here are some examples of questions you might innocently ask applicants just being friendly or trying to get to know the person better. But legally, you can’t ask certain questions. Before conducting interviews, be sure you or whoever you have doing interviews knows the rules.

Common Examples:

• Do: "What days and times are you available to work? Are there any shifts or days you absolutely cannot work?" "Do you have any commitments (childcare, other jobs) that might affect your availability?" This approach focuses on practical scheduling needs without delving into protected characteristics. Ask all candidates these questions consistently.

• Don't: "Are you available to work weekends?" (could imply religious discrimination), or "Do you have childcare responsibilities?" (could discriminate against parents).

• Prohibited: "Are you married?" or "Do you have children?" These are irrelevant to job performance and can lead to discrimination claims.

  • Alternative: Focus on availability and scheduling needs. Ask questions like: "What are your commitments outside of work that might affect your availability?" or "Are there any times or days you are unavailable to work?" Ensure all candidates are asked these questions consistently.

  • Do: "What is your current address? How long have you lived there?" "Do you have reliable transportation to reach various job sites?" (This is crucial for field positions).

  • Don't: "Do you own your home?" or "Who do you live with?" (irrelevant and potentially discriminatory).

  • Prohibited: "Have you ever been arrested or convicted of a felony?" (Unless the job involves high levels of security clearance or handling substantial amounts of cash. Even then, consult legal counsel.) This is highly sensitive and can lead to discrimination based on past criminal records. Many states have laws about this.

    • Alternative: If legally permissible and the job requires a high level of security clearance or handling significant sums of money, a background check may be conducted after a conditional job offer, but always ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. Never make hiring decisions solely on the basis of a criminal record.

    By avoiding these prohibited questions and utilizing the suggested alternatives, you can conduct legally sound and fair interviews for your lawn care business.

    Remember that consistency in your questioning methods is essential to prevent any perception of discrimination. For more prohibited questions and alternatives, check out the article at Lawncarecampus.com

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