Why do hypothetical interview questions let candidates off the hook?
When you ask a plumber or electrician what their process is for a given problem, they can wheel off what they learned at trade school. It sounds right, but it tells you nothing about whether they have actually done the work. Swap every hypothetical to a 'tell me about a time' format and you close that gap immediately. They have to give you a specific job, a specific outcome, and if they cannot, that tells you something too.
The other advantage is follow-up. Once a candidate is describing a real job, you can push them. If the example sounds too easy, you can ask whether they have dealt with anything more complex. You cannot do that with a theoretical answer.
What questions should a short phone screen cover?
Keep the phone screen to ten minutes and tell the candidate that upfront. Greg uses four questions in this screen:
- What do you know about us as a company? A candidate who has been on your website and can speak to what you do is signalling genuine interest. One who does not know who is calling them is signalling they are spraying and praying.
- What are you looking for or hoping from this role? Their answer tells you whether their priorities, flexible hours, good team culture, specific types of work, actually line up with what you can offer.
- Tell me about some of the work you have done that relates to the specific trade and service type relevant to your business. This is a first check that their background is genuine.
- A follow-up technical question: tell me about a specific job, walk me through it start to finish. If they know their trade, they can do this. If they cannot, you have saved your lead tradesperson an hour.
Also ask the candidate if they have any questions for you. What they ask tells you what is important to them and whether they are aligned with what your business is.
At the end of the screen, explain the full process and timeline. Ask whether that timeline works for them. Their answer tells you whether they are in multiple application processes and how urgently they need to move.
How do you structure the questions in the face-to-face structured interview?
The structured interview with your lead tradesperson or working owner is the most critical step in the whole process. It carries the highest correlation with actual job performance. Hang most of your decision making off it.
Start with technical questions, but frame every one as a lived-experience question. Instead of asking what the mandatory tests are after installing a circuit, ask the candidate to tell you about a time they installed that circuit and what tests they carried out. You will know instantly whether they are recalling a real job or reciting a syllabus.
Do not give the answer away inside the question. If you ask what they would do when a tap is still dripping after changing the washer and list possible causes, you have just handed them the answer. Ask them to tell you about a time they went to fix a problem, did the initial checks, and it still was not resolved. What did they do next? Their response has to come from experience, not from your question.
Move from technical into communication and customer service using the same format. Instead of asking how they would explain to a client why replacement is better than repair, ask them to tell you about a time a customer wanted a repair but they believed it needed a full replacement. What did they say, how did they handle objections, and what was the result?
For mindset and how to manage them, Greg recommends asking: what is the best leader you have ever had, and why? The stories candidates tell about past managers reveal what they actually need from you.
Why does 'cultural alignment' matter more than 'cultural fit'?
Cultural fit tends to mean you look, speak, and act like the person interviewing you. Cultural alignment means you share the same values, even if you show up differently. Diversity in a trade team is genuinely useful. The phone screen question, what are you looking for in this role, does most of the cultural alignment work. If you would not have progressed them past screening, the alignment was not there. By the time they reach the structured interview, that question has already been answered, so use the interview time for their questions to you instead.
How should you handle reference checks and the offer?
Ref checks have low correlation with actual job performance because candidates choose their most favourable contact. Ask candidates upfront for two references and ask them to tell you the relationship and the role before you call. If neither reference is a manager, treat that as a red flag and ask for one.
When you call a reference, use the same lived-experience format. Ask them to tell you about the best work the candidate ever did. Ask them to tell you about the biggest challenge the candidate faced and how they handled it. Then ask: how do you get the best out of this person? Because the reference wants to help the candidate, they over-share, and in doing so they reveal the candidate's limitations.
Once you have interviewed your candidates, try to schedule them all on the same day so you can compare them while your memory is fresh. At the end of that day, call your preferred candidate with a verbal offer. Do not contact the others until the contract is signed, then let them know promptly, tell them why you went another way, and be specific. You may need them in the future and you want them speaking well of your business.
How long should the probation period be?
Greg recommends six months over three. In the first three months a new hire is learning your tools, your clients, your processes, and your expectations. Owners tend to give them the benefit of the doubt during that period. Around month five, it becomes clear whether the person can do the job or not. If they cannot do it at month five, they will not do it. Put a three-month review and a five-month review in the diary from day one so you are making the call deliberately rather than letting the clock run out.
