You are overwhelmed with the workload at your repair shop. You are trying to manage inventory on your repair store software while you take on all the extra repairs coming in without extra help. But you have hit a point where more repair jobs are coming in than you can handle. To succeed, you will need more helping hands on your tight ship.
However, hiring a new employee can be quite stressful and daunting. Every step is challenging but it’s not impossible.
When it is time to grow, and you have a budding shop, hiring has to be done to grow further. But, before bringing anyone aboard, you need to know what you are getting yourself into. Hiring that extra manpower requires a new string of liabilities, obligations, paperwork, and of course, expenses. Past the red tape, wrong hires can result in absenteeism, high turnover, healthcare costs, theft, etc. Substantially, such hires can harm your repair store’s reputation.
To help you systematically conduct employee hiring, we have laid down the steps you should go through every time you hire someone. So, you can make an informed decision without crossing over any legal or ethical boundaries.
Step 1 – Identify the Hiring Need
Before you begin to hire, you need to identify which resources you need.
Do you want to hire a technician, sales representative, store manager, assistant manager, or admin staff?
The need can vary from filling a vacant position, managing the workload, or expanding the team to reach organizational goals. ‘Position’ in simpler words, can be newly formed or pre-existing. If you give employees titles, according to their skills, it will be easier to manage them on your repair store software.
This step is essential to prevent redundancy of positions in your cell phone repair store. So, conduct the hiring process with the mindset of filling needs rather than desks.
Step 2 – Create Appealing Job Descriptions
Having vague job descriptions will not attract anyone to apply for the position. So, you need to have a well-defined yet brief job description for external use only. Being descriptive helps because an applicant will have a better idea of what to expect.
It should include the following things:
- About Us – The job description should begin with a brief background of your company and your vision. It should also include your repair store’s work culture.
- Responsibilities – This section should include all the things the candidate is expected to do in your repair store. Such as, a technician will be expected to know how to diagnose and repair a device.
- Qualifications – It should include the expected qualifications—for example, a high school diploma or GED. You can also elaborate on all the repair skills your technician needs to know while mentioning some that can also be taught. And if it’s a store-front manager, the use of a repair store software can be discussed.
- Salary – This section should include details of the work environment, salary package, and benefits.
A good job description is essential for the following reasons:
- To clarify your expectations for the position and the type of candidate you are looking for.
- To clearly define the position of the repair shop.
- It provides the candidates a sense of whether they need to apply for the job or not. Thus, saving your time from interviewing candidates that are not fit for the position.
- It increases the chances of hiring the best candidate for the job.
Remember, people follow specific job roles. So, make sure that your job description is targeted at the person you are looking for. Consequently, keep it precise, concise, and easy to read.
Step 3 – Set Internal Expectations for the Role
Most repair shops don’t think through the requirements of each job position internally. But, not establishing the essential duties can be suicidal.
Having a set and detailed document of expectations for each employee can help you assess the candidate better. And this document can be presented when the candidate comes for an interview. It will clarify what you expect of him.
For instance, it should have the following:
| Job Title | The nature of the job should be well-defined. It should give a sense of identity to the candidate. |
| Job Summary | It should include details of all the job responsibilities, nature of the job, along with a crisp and short purpose. This will allow the candidate to examine whether they are a good fit for the job or not. |
| Competencies | This section should define the skills, knowledge, and capabilities needed for the job position. It should be detailed for the candidate to analyze if they have everything to qualify for the job. In addition to this, there are certain general qualities you should look for in an employee. These qualities can include motivation, interest, dedication, reliability, patience, teamwork, ability to work alone, interpersonal/communication skills, integrity etc. Whereas there are some specifics as well such as understanding the mechanics of repair, etc. |
| Work Environment | You need to provide the candidate an essential contextual reference to make a final decision. Appealingly explain the work culture, including work schedule, responsibility level, equipment, the extent of interaction with the team and management, hardware/software tools. If you use repair store software, you can mention that they will get training on how to use it. |
| Performance Expectations | This section should have details of the expectations benchmarked to departmental and organizational standards. |
| Salary and Benefits | Clearly define the salary that the candidate will be getting. You also need to mention whether they are going to get any benefits or bonuses. Be clear on the criteria they need to meet for the benefits and bonuses. |
Step 4 – Advertise the Position
Finding highly qualified candidates for a job should begin internally. Notify your employees about the job positions you are looking to hire for. Having referral bonuses can set the right tone. And it will generate enthusiasm among the employees to find the right fit for the job.
Advertising a job position does not stop there. You need to market the positions externally as well. External advertising includes using your repair shop’s website and social media platforms.
You can also use websites like Indeed and Glassdoor. These websites have a massive database and a broad reach because of their AI and machine learning tools. The correct way to go about it would be to set a budget aside from ads on these hiring websites. Since they are specially for hiring and people come to it to find jobs, you will find candidates quickly. Their targeted reach will show your ad to the relevant people only. Thus, giving your optimum results.
A few websites also offer talent assessment. These tests are of two types:
- Cognitive ability tests – includes communication, memory, logic, perception, ability to learn, mathematical skills, spatial relations etc.
- Personality tests – includes opinions, motivators, behavioral style etc.
You can pick 1 or more tabs you want the candidate to be assessed on. This process screens the candidates that match the job descriptions more closely. While showing whether they are serious or not. Thus, saving your time from calling and interviewing candidates that don’t fit the position.
For instance, if you are hiring a sales person, then a communication and a behavioral assessment will be useful. It will show their ability to sell.
In addition to this, you can even try out the traditional methods of advertising. Such as posting it outside your repair store or in malls etc.
So, figure out which platform works best for you and make your job ad LIVE!
Step 5 – Screen the Applications
Once the job ad is live, applications will start coming in through various channels. You need to have an effective screening process so that you don’t miss any applications.
A good way to go about it is to outsource the hiring entirely to human resource and employee management agencies that can do the review. They can review all the applications and discard the ones that don’t meet the criteria. If not then you or your hiring manager can also review the applications.
Once the person in charge has reviewed all the applications, they can pick the ones they want to call for an interview.
Step 6 – Conduct Interviews
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You can ask questions to evaluate the candidate carefully. And the interviews need to be set at the time of convenience for you and the candidate involved. But remember to keep the experience comfortable so that you can get to know the candidate better.
Before you start interviewing, pre-select some questions that will help you quickly evaluate whether the candidate is suitable for the job or not. It’s essential to have a foundation before you begin with the interview process.
The interview section consists of two steps, i.e., phone interviews and in-person interviews.
The first part – phone interview should be 15 minutes max. It is an excellent way to find out whether the candidate has accepted a job offer from another repair shop or not. You can thank them for applying and ask them some quick questions.
If the candidate’s vision aligns with your repair store’s, you can invite them for an in-person interview. It will save you time.
The second part – in-person interviews are more detailed. And you should ask all the questions to get to know the candidate better.
Here are a few questions you can ask in the interview:
- Icebreakers to put candidates at ease and build a rapport.
- Traditional questions to inquire about the candidate’s experience and skills.
- Technical skills to judge if he knows how to use a repair store software like RepairDesk.
- Situational questions to see how the candidate will react in certain conditions.
- Behavioral questions to see how the candidate has worked in the past experiences.
- Culture fit questions to see whether the candidate is a team player or not.
Here you can also present the detailed job description to the candidate mentioned in step 3. It will show them what they agree to if they get hired.
Don’t forget to take notes while interviewing to remember all the weaknesses and strengths of the candidates. It will help you make a final decision for the hiring.
Step 7 – Check the Background of the Candidates
If you reach this step, it means that you have zeroed in on a potential fit for the job. Before you send an offer, it is essential to conduct a background check.
A background check is a great way to get additional insights on the candidates. It will help you verify their skills and see whether the candidates are honest or not. It’s always good to request for references from the candidates.
Below are a few kinds of background checks that you should conduct.
- Verification of the previous job. For instance, salary, position, job performance, etc. You can also ask how quick of a learner they are. A good judge would be asking how long it took them to learn the repair store software in the previous job if there was one.
- Verification of personal references.
- Check for criminal records.
- Screening of social media platforms such as Facebook, etc.
It’s always good to inform the candidates in the job ad or during the interview that you will be conducting a background check.
Step 8 – Make a Decision and Send the Job Offer
After conducting the background check, you can make your final decision. It’s always wise to have a backup candidate in case the one you selected declines your offer.
After the candidate checks off all the requirements, you can then extend an initial offer. It’s always good to have a written offer letter. The offer letter should have the position title, salary, benefits, probation period, and starting date. It will allow you to revisit the final decision points when you want to extend the candidates tenure.
The candidate might want to negotiate. So, it’s best to determine beforehand which points can be negotiated. It will help you avoid any delays in the hiring process.
Once the candidate accepts it, then you can start the training and onboarding process. Stay tuned for a detailed article on onboarding and training processes and employee retention that will help you streamline your operations.
