Some questions you need answered before hiring your roofing crew:
What is the candidate’s experience?
This may be an obvious question, but is still important when forming your overall evaluation of the candidate. Just having a person say “I roofed for the last five years” isn’t enough. What type of roofing did you do? What size crew were you on, or did you work alone? What were your responsibilities?
What are the candidate’s skills?
Be careful of the candidate that says he is an expert in everything. That is tell-tale sign of over-confidence. A cocky roofer is often a careless roofer. Ask probing questions about the particular type of roofing you do to see if the “expert” really knows what he is talking about, or is just blowing smoke.
What is the candidate’s health and safety record?
You need to find out if the candidate has had on-the-job injuries, or other “accidents”. Also, an overall assessment of health. Some of this information may not be given willingly. References from previous employers should help with this.
Is the candidate teachable?
This is important. The job needs to be done the way you want it done, not how the employee thinks it should be done. If a candidate has been trained in a certain method, it may be hard to break that habit. Try to determine if the candidate is set in his ways, or is willing to try new techniques. An employee that follows direction is a must. An arrogant roofer could cost you time, money and reputation over mistakes.
Is the candidate reliable?
An analysis of the candidate’s job history along with checking references should help answer this question. Honesty goes hand-in-hand with reliability. You need a roofer who is on time, and that will do what he says he will do.
What is the candidate’s employment history?
You will need this information to answer some of the above questions.
Will the candidate pass background and drug tests?
Only one way to know for sure. Have the tests done.