When Candidates Oversell Their Skills · Technician Find Community

When Candidates Oversell Their Skills

This topic keeps coming up recently so I want to address it from another angle.

Just got this note from a shop owner:

"It seems as long as I can get them to show up to the interview I can get them to accept the position. But seems the candidates are not truthful with what they are able to do."

My Response:

Yep. This is one of the most expensive problems in our industry—and almost nobody talks about it.

Here's the reality: Some candidates have gotten really good at interviewing. They can answer the questions. They sound like they know what they're doing. They've got the lingo down.

Then they get in your shop and fumble around on an oil change like they've never seen a drain plug before.

I have a buddy in Texas that calls it "all hat, no cattle."

And the damage isn't just the bad hire. It's the three grand you spent fixing their mistakes. It's the customer who now questions your shop's quality. It's your A-tech who has to clean up the mess and starts wondering if this is the kind of shop he wants to work at.

The fix?

Working interviews.

The best shops I know handle it like this:

The 3-Day Gold Standard:

Day 1: They're getting their bearings. Finding tools. Figuring out the flow.
Day 2: You start seeing how they actually work. Do the wrenches fit their hands? Can they diagnose efficiently? How do they interact with your team?
Day 3: They're in it now. You see their real work style. Do they show up on time? Come back from lunch when they said they would? Need to leave early every day?

I know three days sounds like a lot. If you can't swing it, even a morning is better than nothing.

The Lunch Test:

Have your other techs take the candidate out to lunch—on you. You'd be amazed what you learn when someone's outside the shop environment. Culture fit issues reveal themselves fast when there's no filter.

Pay them. Treat it like a consulting gig. Have them take a personal day from their current shop if they're employed.

Lay out a few specific projects.

If his hands don't fit the wrenches, or he's going to torpedo your culture—you find out in a day instead of finding out when he's got his tools in your bay.

A quick word on background checks...

do them...

every single time.

The shops that do this consistently?

They almost never make bad hires.

What's worked for you?

Have you tried working interviews?

Drop your experience below.👇

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