Hiring the right people for your plumbing business is an important decision. You want team members with plumbing skills as well as people skills. It sounds simple, but anyone who has looked to fill job openings in the current market knows it can get complicated and competitive.

Luckily, you can leverage a tool you may not have thought of when it comes to hiring: plumbing software. In fact, plumbing software might be the perfect differentiator during your next hiring interviews.

The idea is to attract tech-savvy employees who can help you grow your business, both now and in the future. To illustrate how plumbing software can boost your company’s image and operations to attract job candidates, then help you narrow down the best prospective employees–here are four questions to ask in your next interview, in addition to questions related to plumbing tasks.

1. “Tell me about a time when you reached back to the home office or fellow team members in order to fix a problem.”

This is a great question to start out an interview. It may catch your interviewees off-guard since most plumbing businesses tend to focus on the task at hand–the job to be completed. If the person you’re interviewing needs to think for a minute, that’s okay. You may even want to tell them that you realize this is an unusual question, to begin with. But it’s also nice to see how a potential employee handles difficult questions on the fly.

What you’re looking for: Candidates who answer this question from a team-oriented and preferably a technology-based perspective.

If your candidate talks about driving back to the home office or calling for help on the phone, it’s not necessarily evidence of the wrong mindset, but it does show that this person isn’t thinking of all tools available. A competitive company that uses technology to compete and meet customer requests needs team members who already get how powerful a plumbing software app can be in the field. Which leads us to the next question . . .

2. “Describe the plumbing software or mobile apps you’ve used in the past.”

This is another question your applicants may not expect. It gets into more detail about what technology the candidate is used to and how they’ve used it.

What you’re looking for: Applicants who have used a mobile app in the field, while working with customers. Clients are likely to be comfortable with smartphone apps, so more and more, there is an expectation that plumbing professionals will be able to use these tools to get things taken care of–from communication to paperwork to scheduling. 

Depending on their job experience, interviewees may not have used a plumbing software app in the field. If this is the case, you can ask them to describe how comfortable they are with technology in general. Don’t worry if your interviewee doesn’t know the name of the programs they’ve used; if they can describe some of the basic functions, then you know this is a person who can use more who can use virtual tools as well as physical cleanup tools.

3. “Tell me about your time management skills and your favorite tools that help you manage your time.”

In this day and age, most people rely on software or technology to some degree when it comes to managing their calendar and productivity.

What you’re looking for: Future employees who can proactively structure their time and work, and who can do so in the context of your entire team–not to mention your customers. 

If a candidate is out of touch with scheduling and time management tools like shared calendars and workflows, you may have an uphill battle when it comes to asking them to use the company’s software.

4. “What questions do you have for me?”

This a simple but wonderfully open-ended way to both gather additional information from your job candidate.

What you’re looking for: When it comes to the answers to this question, expect anything, but pay attention to what people tell you about themselves! For example, if candidates are too worried about what’s in it for them at this stage, it’s not necessarily a bad sign, but it could be. It may be that you need to provide more information about salary, benefits, expected work hours, or other details in your job descriptions, or it may be a red flag. Ideally, since your questions have made it clear technology is an important competitive strategy at your company, a great candidate might ask you about the specific software tools you use, or other details about your operations. A smart job candidate wants to know about workflows, team dynamics, and other aspects of your business that will affect the day-to-day work you might be hiring them for.

When you come across a job candidate who doesn’t have any questions whatsoever, it’s not necessarily a deal breaker, but it is a little strange for an interviewee to not have any questions whatsoever. One way you can keep this question positive is to mention at the beginning of your interview that you’ll give them time to ask their questions at the end. This is a nice way to give great workers their best shot at impressing you.

Let Plumbing Software Support You in Every Area of Your Business

In summary, when you are looking to expand or improve your business by hiring new plumbing professionals for your team, keep the big picture in mind. A “good enough” employee in an early business stage may create problems down the line. It’s never too early to look at the people you’re interviewing with your future-focused glasses on. Yes, people can grow and change, but you need to at least see, hear, or feel inklings of leadership and proactive problem-solving before you hire someone. You also need to understand how they will adapt as the plumbing industry continues becoming more integrated with new technologies.

And of course, prepare for interviews by re-evaluating your communication solutions, workflows, goals, reporting, and other important business areas. If technology isn’t a strong point in your business yet, we can help! We’ve created a plumbing software tool that can elevate your business systems as a whole: JobNimbus, an affordable, full-featured project management and CRM plumbing software tool for desktop and mobile. Feel free to reach out to us or take it for a spin with our 14-day trial.