2. F E A T U R E S
30 6 Steps to Pressure
Washer Success
By Daniel Leiss
32 Elevated Decision-Making
Choosing the right tools for
reaching heights can increase
safety and productivity.
By Justin Kissinger
35 7 Techniques for
Hiring the Best
Employees
By Art Snarzyk
37 What’s the Paint
Forecast?
Preparing to paint during extreme weather conditions.
By Jeff Stein
MARCH 2015 ■ Vol. 92, No. 2
C O L U M N S
6 From the Editor:
Gearing Up for the Busy Season
By Emily Howard
8 Online Contents
See what’s new on www.paintmag.com.
10 Speaking With PDCA:
It’s All About Relationships
12 From the Field:
Choosing the Right Deck Finish
A few things you need to know before you hit the
decks this season.
By Scott Burt
18 Sound Business Management:
Avoiding the ‘Salesman Disease’ for a
Successful Business
Salespeople should avoid these common pitfalls
for a successful business.
By Monroe Porter
24 Techniques for Craftsmen:
Window Sash and Casing Preparation
26 Decorative Touch: Faux Is Not Dead
Tips for Applying Popular Faux Finishes.
By Victor DeMasi
4 March 2015 • APC
On the Cover:
Cover photos courtesy of Victor DeMasi.
D E P A R T M E N T S
Contractor’s Tool Bag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42
Advertiser Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
3. AMERICAN PAINTING CONTRACTOR • March 2015 35
You’ll likely run an ad, get a few
interested applicants and try to
determine whether they will work for
your company. Some will give you a
resume while others will call and just ask
when they start, because, after all, you
only need a brush and a ladder to call
yourself a painter. The voice on the
other end says, “I’m the best. I’ve been
doing this for 20 years. I have my own
tools; try me out. I’ll paint circles around
your other guys. I’ll start Monday!”
Then the honeymoon begins. You
get hitched and spend the next couple
of weeks or months figuring out who
we just married. I failed to mention
how I like the toilet seat and where I’ll
leave my dirty clothes. He didn’t tell
me he was a bad cook. Sometimes we
look back and realize we knew it was
coming. Other times, it all seemed
great and we are left wondering,
“What happened? This isn’t the person
I interviewed!”
Know What You Want
Many suggest that to make this
process easier, you should “hire fast and
fire faster.” Here’s the catch — you have
to know what you’re looking for first.
Instead of hiring quickly, plan how
you’re going to hire. What a good
employee looks like should be so clear
that it is glaringly obvious whether a
given candidate is the one or not. Spend
time defining what excellent employees
for your company would be like instead
7Techniques
for Hiring the Best Employees
By Art Snarzyk
Spring is coming and it’s time to think about
adding employees to handle the uptick in business
that will naturally occur.
4. 36 March 2015 • APC
of agonizing over resumes or applica-
tions you’ve collected. The clearer you
are about the job, the better you’ll be
able to recognize the people who are
right for it.
Interview for Skills, Not Just
Likability
Have you ever hit it off with someone
and later found out he or she was a ter-
rible worker? How many excellent
employees have you missed because
they “didn’t interview well?” Without a
good game plan, most people hire peo-
ple they like. Someone may be likable
during the interview but a horrible choice
for the position. Conversely, quiet, intro-
verted people may not stand out during
the interview, but may be exactly what
your company needs. Of course, sales-
people should be highly skilled at mak-
ing a fast and great first impression, but
technicians? Basing the success of an
interview on how much the candidate
inspired you or the connection you felt or
how enthusiastic the candidate is, may
make you miss those ideal, routine, reli-
able technicians. Know what type of per-
son is naturally suited for the position.
You don’t have to walk out of the inter-
view as best friends. That will come later
when your new hire is doing a great job.
Don’t Make Decisions During
the Interview
Interviews are a naturally high-stress
environment for candidates and
employees alike. Most companies use
this time to get a feel for whether the
candidate will be a good fit. Although
you should usually trust your intuition,
you won’t be successful by leaving it
to your gut to make hiring decisions.
The candidates need work. They are
trying to put their best face forward to
land the job. That usually leads to
them highlighting their best achieve-
ments, downplaying their weaknesses,
embellishing and sometimes lying. As
employers, we need someone to get
to work. During interviews we can
overlook the telltale signs of an
employee who might not be good for
our company. We can “sell” the posi-
tion to the candidate and can often be
looking through rose-colored glasses.
You need to have a clear plan so
emotion doesn’t have a chance to
play in. This is a business decision.
Ask Questions That Matter
You may have heard some of the odd
questions some companies ask candi-
dates, such as “why are manholes
round?” or “which fruit best describes
you?” The questions are pointless if they
don’t tell you something about the can-
didate’s technical abilities, soft skills or
company fit. Unless you need very cre-
ative or rapid-fire problem solvers on
your team, trick questions like these are
just for your entertainment. Instead, ask
questions that uncover how well some-
one will do the job and how he or she
will fit in your company.
Ask Open-Ended Questions
These questions require a more
detailed response that allows you to
make better hiring decisions. If a ques-
tion can be answered with a short
answer like yes or no or a choice
between two things, consider reframing
the question to get a more thorough
answer. The following are examples of
introductions to a few good open-ended
questions.
• Describe a situation when you…
• Tell me about a time when…
• Give me an example of how you…
If managing others is important, con-
sider changing your question from “have
you ever managed others?” to “can you
tell me about the last time you had to
manage others?” This will give you more
insight into how they will likely behave in
your company. You can learn much
more about someone by setting up ques-
tions that require them to elaborate.
Don’t Rely Too Much on
Experience
Just because someone has done a
similar job for five years doesn’t mean
he or she is good at doing the job
you’re hiring for. When looking at expe-
rience, what you are really trying to dis-
cover is “did this person learn what I
think he should have learned by work-
ing in that environment for that long?”
Unfortunately, many people hold a job
and just get by for a long time. Remem-
ber, it’s possible that a grocery store
bagger with one year of experience has
learned more about working in a quick,
organized, consistent and helpful team
environment than has a production
painter of five years. What skills has he
picked up that he will bring to your
company?
Compare Apples to Apples
Too often, interviews are conducted
without a plan. They resemble a speed-
dating, get-to-know-you conversation
that varies from candidate to candidate.
Also, changing the order of questions
changes the dynamics of the interviews,
which confuses your decision and allows
bias to creep in. After interviewing a
number of candidates, you can be left
confused about the best decision. Make
a list of questions you will ask all appli-
cants in the same order so you can eas-
ily compare them.
Prepare, ask the right questions and
remove as much bias from interviews as
possible. Knowing what you’re looking for
makes it obvious when the right person
walks in for an interview. It will also be
obvious when the candidate you’re inter-
viewing doesn’t stand a chance. APC
Art Snarzyk helps large and small
companies hire high-potential employ-
ees. As a former painting contractor, he
loves helping fellow tradesmen build
excellent teams so their businesses run
with less effort from the owners. Contact
Art if you need guidance developing
interview questions that will work for you.
7Techniques
for Hiring the Best Employees
