Not only is a job interview a time for the shop to get to know the technician and assess their skillset, but it’s also an opportunity for the technicians to determine if the shop is a good place to work.
Asking your interviewer questions is incredibly important. Not only does it show you’re interested in the shop and you did your research, but it will help you make an informed decision that you (hopefully) won’t regret later.
We asked technicians on LinkedIn what questions they wish they would have asked in an interview, but don’t always address. Check out what they had to say below.
Pro Tip: The best shops will answer these questions before you even get to an interview, whether it’s in their job posting, on their website, or on their WrenchWay Top Shop page.
Questions to consider asking during a job interview
Work Environment
- Are your special tools organized so the tech can quickly get what is needed, and how do you distribute them?
- How many lifts would I have to work from?
- How many hours do your A-techs average per pay period?
- What is the ratio of CP to warranty to internal work?
- What scan tools and other equipment do you own?
- Which stall(s) will I be working out of?
- What are your times for Mount & Balance, Rotate & Balance, CAF, and other maintenance items?
- Are PDIs and UVIs dispatched throughout the shop, or do you have a specific person to handle them?
- How many GR8s, TPMS tools, MDIs and laptops, TECH 2s, etc do you have? Do you have enough terminals to go around, or may techs use personal laptops on company Wi-Fi?
- How good is your warranty clerk?
- What is the wait time average from ASR submitted to approval?
- How many one-line repair orders are written per “x”?
Shop Performance
- What is your average monthly service department income?
- Are you a Mark of Excellence dealer?
- What are some of the current shop inefficiencies, and what’s being done to address them?
- What is your current measurement for success? Do you measure success by gross? How do you weigh CSI?
- What are your service advisors’ average closing rate percentages?
Shop Policies & Procedures
- How do you dispatch work?
- What is the company policy in the event of a minor accident?
- What is the company policy on the repair of personal vehicles? What about working after hours?
- What is your policy if a tech starts on a job and discovers it is more complicated than at first expected?
- Do you follow book time for brakes, alignment, and other services, or does the company set the times you pay for these?
- When does the tech get paid for flagged hours?
- What is my schedule?
Benefits
- Does the company pick up any of the cost for health insurance, other offered insurance, or uniforms?
- Does the company offer tool insurance coverage for the techs should something happen to the building?
- Does the company offer a 401K with any company match?
- Is there a holiday bonus? Are there production bonuses?
- Are you willing to cover relocation expenses?
- What percentage has your pay increased in the last five years?
- When does pay end, and when is payday?
Other
- Introduce me to your staff, without introducing me to them.
- Why should I come to work for you?
- May I take one of your long-term techs to lunch?
- What’s your employee turnover rate?
- How long has the longest tech been here?
- How much training do you provide technicians and with what companies?
- What metrics will be applied to my performance?
- What does onboarding look like?
- I see you have an aggressive hiring bonus, what are you doing to keep your current technicians here?
Information provided by WrenchWay
