When it comes to running a pest control business, one of the biggest pain points we often hear is the inability to attract, hire, and retain star pest control technicians. If you hire someone with good experience, a positive attitude, and the ability to pay attention to detail, you’ll not only provide quality service, but increase the number of lifetime customers.
Below we’ll cover tips for hiring pest control technicians, including:
- recruiting tactics
- the hiring process
- suggested technician interview questions
Recruiting Pest Control Technicians
Take a look at your job description and where you’re posting your open positions. If it sounds like every other pest control technician job description out there – make it stand out. If you’re the top pest control company in your area, flaunt it! Does your company provide amazing benefits or perks? Let them know! This will set you apart and help attract quality technicians.
Have you found great technicians in the past? Think back – where did they come from? While there are tons of free job boards, very few produce great candidates. Indeed.com and Ziprecruiter.com both are aggregate boards that attract a larger number of potential candidates and includes the ability to search for candidates who may not have seen or applied to your ad.
If you haven’t already, create an employee referral program. If you’re impressed with some of your existing technicians, ask them if they know of anyone else to add to your team. Talented people often hang out with other talented people – so use their network to expand your own!
Screening Pest Control Resumes
The top three things you should look at when screening technician resumes includes: relevant experience, stable job history, and communication skills. If you’ll only consider someone for a technician position that is already certified, make sure you can check that off your list. If you’re willing to train and certify an otherwise good candidate, take a look at field technicians in other industries, including: alarm companies, lawn care companies, or other customer-facing roles.
You should want someone that’s going to be loyal to you and your company. If you come across a candidate that has bounced around from job to job, year after year, this should be a red flag. Your technicians are the heartbeat and face of your business, so knowing they’re with you for the long-haul is important.
Before you even get on the phone with a potential candidate, you can get a good feel for their communication skills. If their resume is filled with typos or misspellings, they most likely lack attention to detail and may lack key communication skills.
Pest Control Technician Interview Questions
Once you have a handful of candidates you think would be a good fit for your pest control company, consider sending each of them a pre-interview questionnaire. This will help you assess the candidates you should meet with. Some questions might include:
- Are you authorized to work in the US for any employer?
- Do you have a valid driver’s license?
- Please briefly describe your pest control experience.
- Share your philosophy on customer service.
If they skip over or have grammatical errors in their answers, this should also be a red flag.
Now that you’ve narrowed down your candidates even further, you can go right to an in-person interview (if your schedule allows), or schedule an initial phone screen. Regardless if the interview is in-person or over the phone, take notes. This will help you remember your conversations with each candidate. Here are some important things to discuss during the interview:
- Let them know who you are and what to expect on the call – make them feel comfortable
- Review their job history – start with the most recent job and work backwards. Ask about responsibilities and what they like and didn’t like
- Ask situational questions – this will give you a glimpse into how the candidate thinks and would behave given job circumstances
- Make sure they will be able to work with your company processes and in-the-field software
How to Retain Your Best Pest Control Technicians
You’ve recruited and hired several rockstar pest control technicians who do high quality work and keep your customers satisfied, but your work isn’t over! You will want to ensure these techs stay with you and aren’t scooped up by your competition. Here are just a few ways to keep your employees satisfied for years to come.
Pay them fairly
While there’s a few different ways pest control companies handle paying their technicians (hourly, commission, hourly + commission, salary) – you have to make sure you’re paying your technicians fairly if you want them to stick around.
Provide competitive benefits
Your technicians work hard – give them a better quality of life by providing them with health & life insurance, as well as a retirement savings plan.
Listen to them & value their opinion
From the start, make sure you keep the lines of communication open between your technicians, yourself, and members of the management team. Encourage them to bring new ideas to the table, ask questions, and provide feedback.
Let them know they’re appreciated
Thank your employees for their hard work and dedication to your company. Gift cards, a free meal or a sponsored company event can go a long way. While hosting an event will cost more money – having a company picnic at the end of your busy season is a good way to bring everyone together, along with their families to show your appreciation.
Provide them with actionable feedback
If you’ve hired the right employees, they’ll want to get better at their jobs. A great way to help them with this is to provide detailed feedback on their performance, and guide them in areas where they need help. Getting this type of feedback from their interactions with customers is key, and can be done easily through a customer survey software like Surveys in PestPac.
Your employees are your most valuable assets, they are the face of your business and can make or break customer relationships. By doing your due-diligence throughout the hiring process and taking care of your team your pest control company will become a well-oiled machine.
