Companion to "Finding the person" and "Vetting and the paid trial."
| 1. Referrals (best current contractor, supplier, accountant, best customer, the operator one step ahead; standing ask, bonus past ninety days) | ☐ Asked: |
| 2. Where the trade actually gathers (supply counter, trade school, the platform community) | ☐ |
| 3. Job boards (short window, one to two weeks, filter hard) | ☐ |
| 4. Platforms and agencies for contractor lanes | ☐ |
You run the Thursday and Friday route solo, four homes a day, to a checklist you'll help us make faster.
| The work, in plain words (your version) | |
| Pay range stated in the post (candidates who would decline never enter the pipeline) | $ to $ / hr |
| Hard parts told honestly ("It's physical, it's outdoors in July, and the last hour is the part that counts.") | |
| Application task instead of "send a resume" ("Walk me through how you'd handle a client who says the job wasn't done right.") |
Screen in two passes: two minutes per applicant (did they follow instructions, complete the task, show up on purpose; effort, not grammar), then a fifteen-minute call with three questions: why does this work fit you right now; what is the hardest version you have done; what are your pay and hours expectations.
Same questions, every candidate, written down before the first one walks in. Half scenarios from the actual job; half evidence questions with dates and numbers, not adjectives. Say the hard parts out loud once more and watch the face.
| Type | Question (as taught) | What you listen for |
|---|---|---|
| Scenario | "A client says at the walkthrough that the job isn't right. Walk me through exactly what you do." | Ownership, sequence, whose interest the instinct protects |
| Scenario | "Two jobs are booked back to back and the first runs long. What happens next?" | Sequence, communication |
| Scenario | "You're alone on a job and something breaks, something of the client's. What do you do in the next ten minutes?" | Ownership under pressure |
| Evidence | "How long does a standard clean of a two-bedroom take you, and what do you do in the last fifteen minutes?" | Dates and numbers, hard to fake smoothly |
| Evidence | "Tell me about the last job you left, and the one before that." | Reliability history |
One question matters more than all the others: would you hire this person again? Everything else can be dressed up; that pause before the answer cannot.
Ask one more: what job were they best at, and what job were they wrong for?
| Reference 1 (supervisor or client), called | on ☐ |
| Reference 2, called | on ☐ |
Pay for the trial. Always. An unpaid working interview selects for people who can afford to work free. One to two weeks, real work, real conditions, real pay, defined scope.
| Real work the trial does (the actual job, actual schedule) | |
| Length: one to two weeks | weeks |
| Decision date named on day one, promise kept ("On Friday the fifteenth I'll tell you yes or no, either way, directly.") | |
| Watch-for 1, pace: within a reasonable distance of the standard by day three, improving, not perfect | ☐ |
| Watch-for 2, questions: good ones early, or silence and guessing | ☐ |
| Watch-for 3, care at the end: the last hour, the last corner, where character shows | ☐ |
| One deliberate small correction, early; watch what follows: defensiveness, invisibility, or adjustment | ☐ Done, noted |
| Finish discipline: slow yes, fast no; if the evidence says no, no today, kindly, in a sentence | ☐ Held |