Topic: I need some advice! I have been interviewing people to replace me. Not many people have applied and none seem right for the job.

I need some advice!
I’m leaving my job next week and have been interviewing people to replace me. Not many people have applied and none of them seem exactly right for the job.
Right now it comes down to two people.

The first one has a great attitude, very friendly and has the kind of personality that I know will fit in well with the staff and will make a good impression on the residents. I spent an hour or so showing him around and it felt like I I talking to an old friend. Unfortunately he lacks a lot of the skills for the job. He was very upfront about that. He came from a place where contractors did most of the work and he was more of an organizer and face of the company kind of guy.

The other candidate has a much stronger background in the more technical and mechanical aspect of the job. He is very hands and obviously could handle the actual working part of the job with no problem. But he was more than a little rough around the edges and spent a lot of time expressing how much he hated his current job. I know he wouldn’t fit in well with the crew and the residents wouldn’t be to crazy about him either.

Under normal circumstances, where I would be here to train the person, either of them would be a great employee. As it stands now both of them are exactly half of what we need.

It’s a tough call, there are not many people ready willing and able to work and my company is having a hard time finding good employees across the board so no one from a different property would be available to spend time with him.

The place I’m at is a luxury mid rise and the residents are amazing. The staff is amazing. Everyone gets along amazing. It really feels like one big, 300 plus people family and that’s what makes it so special and work so well. Sadly, there doesn’t appear to be any way to make an easy transition to maintain the environment we have now.

I don’t have the final say on who is hired but my input is a big part of the decision and I’m at a loss. I feel like I’m putting my baby up for adoption and the only choices I have is grouchy uncle Bob who would raise him right or sweet aunt Sue who would give him lots of love but cant change his diaper.

What would you do?

I’d take the less experienced candidate all day if the drive to learn is there and he fits with the culture of the team. Why? Choosing “Uncle Bob” will result in staff turnover and we’re all struggling to find people to work right now. Someone will spend the time to train him on what he needs to succeed even if you’re not there (we can assume). And let’s face it, most of us were thrown in with a basic knowledge and learned as we went. Never go with a poor attitude from the start. It’s not just poor because of the current work environment, it’s poor because their personality is to see the glass half empty and you can’t change that.

Hire with the one who has the skill set to fix the problems on your property without having to call contractors. He can be told what the expectations are for appearance and interactions with staff, residents and vendors. Then hand the follow up issues off to the new management. The other guy is best for a home owners association or as a project manager elsewhere; where contracting things out is not going to harm the asset as a whole.

Hire the attitude, teach the technique.
Hire the natural people person and leader, not the one you think will not get along with staff or residents. You can teach tasks. You can’t teach leadership and people skills. One can learn and grow with everyone’s support. The other can complete projects by themself, but will create staff and resident turnover; their toxic comments should scream out to you that it’s only a matter of time until they start saying the same there. Sounds like a no brainer. Great question!

Keep looking. Neither candidate is a good fit. Whether you realize it or not, you already know that on some level or you wouldn't be asking the group. Also, remember candidates are on their best behavior during the interview process. If you have someone complaining about their current employer in the interview they're likely to be a complainer about much more.

You can ALWAYS train for technical skills. You cannot train a personality.

NEITHER. I do all of our hiring and they are not what you are looking for. The first one will aggravate everyone because he doesn’t know how to do the work and the second one will aggravate everyone because he’s not friendly. The current employees should fill in until the right fit is found. They won’t want to work with Bob or Sue either.

Give your honest feedback and let them choose the one they want.

Keep interviewing I rather be short staffed than hire the wrong person. However if you must choose one, choose the 1st one, you can teach technique but not attitude, if he’s a go getter, he will figure it out, you can also set him up with peers that he can contact in a case of need.

Like you said you have two options, but they aren’t the ones you’ve given. You either hire the first one or keep looking. Hiring the second one is a horrible option so you don’t even remotely consider it.
Or you hire both of them so B can train in A for you for 6 months or so knowing that you’ll let him go anyway but he can at least take the burden of changing diapers off you.

You can teach skill but not attitude, spirit or work ethic... and that 97.83% of the job.

To play devils advocate, I completely understand how the experienced guy feels. Maybe when he gets into an environment like you described he would not feel so abused, beaten and bitter. I agree that you can teach technique, but not attitude; however if he spoke about hot much he hated his job, it might be a blessing and a much needed change to be in such a positive environment. A beaten soul is hard to be positive, and an great environment can reach said soul.

Skill set is important as well as attitude! It does not sound like you have found the right person yet! You should feel at peace with your decision.

You can teach the skills missing, but can’t change someone’s personality. More importantly, the entire family will most likely leave uncle Bob and that would be a bigger mess. Both take work, but work for a successful path for all is worth it.

If you have any hesitation it is not the right person! Keep interviewing!

My suggestion is to hire the person with the right attitude and accept the fact that contractors may have to help the first six months with tricky work orders - but he would have to shadow the contractor and learn from him/her. Send him to every training offered by vendors, too, and maybe hook him up with a mentor from a sister property he can call in a pinch.

Definitely the guy with the great attitude would be my choice. The guy who hates his job lacks the ability to “read the room” which is an important skill in this business.

As long as there's somebody to teach the missing skills (because if not he'll be set up for failure) recommend the one with the right attitude!

Hire personality so long as they are easily trainable. You want someone that will stick long term and will mend well with the team because team work makes the dream work!!!! Good luck and congrats on your future endeavors - great of you to interview the person taking your place

I take you are head of maintenance? If so is there someone working under you that would like and deserve a promotion? Then they could do hiring training of new guy. Our company truly believes in promoting within first.

Hands down, I'd take the inexperienced person over the bad attitude all day, any day. The maintenance guy I have now didn't know much when he started, but had a great attitude and a thirst for learning. He researches, asks good questions, seeks guidance, and gets along great with everybody. He takes it personally when he can't do perfect work. It seems like every day he's telling me about something he learned from a YouTube video the night before. My biggest challenge is to limit his workload for his own good. I already know it's going to become a "when the student becomes the master" deal. my background: military, then 30 years construction and management.

Just food for thought when he gets in so
To the meat and potatoes of the real job will he have that great attitude as we all know sometimes that can be the dealbreaker.
The fantastic employees and residents that you’re talking about maybe uncle Bob will be a happier person and he will have experience.

We always hire for likability first. When you say he lacks the skills, do you mean he doesn’t possess the skill set, or the experience? If he doesn’t have the skill set, that could be harder. If he needs to be taught, and then consistently practice to obtain the experience he needs, go with the nice one. You can’t teach nice. I had a very wise teacher say once to me, “The interview is as good as it gets. They are trying hard to impress you...” If he was rough in the interview, it won’t get better than that.

It comes down to whether there's room to train for this position. This industry is not meant for toxic personalities. I would much rather hire someone with the right mindset for the position who is willing to learn. With that said, if your replacement needs to have the tools and the knowledge to competently fill the position, I would keep looking. Do not settle on a bad attitude as one bad apple can spoil the rest.

Go for character and attitude. Complaining about a past job shows deep insight into a person.