Any tips on finding good trainees

[jb-eye]

We placed an add for trainee electronic security engineer (17-19) last week, the response has been overwhelming thirty-two replies so far. The intention is to interview in one day at a local business centre. The problem is I don’t know how to choose the right type of person, im rubbish at this type of thing. What should I be looking for? I have gone through the CV’s and No they don’t help. At the end of the day the vast majority of these guys are going to feel sh1t and I wont feel much better.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Jef

[Adi]

Cant help you there, i know we were all young one day but it seems to me that young uns nower days dont give 2 tits about anything but i might be wrong.Good luck.

[Service Engineer]

Start by telling them what the job entails and what you would be expecting from them, crawling around in lofts, ladderwork etc etc. You dont want to employ someone affraid of heights or the dark..

Do a test paper for them to fill in with some questions that you have already told them about above, if they get them wrong they werent paying attention.

Add a few Simple electronics questions to weed out those that have some basic electronics knowledge.

Add a few simple mathermatics questions to weed out those that cant add-up.

Leave sections for them to fill in asking the obvious things like, why they want this job..? and what do they hope to be doing in 10 years.

[norman]

And don't forget the colour blindness test!

[amateurandy]

You can't interview 32 people fairly in one day. Full stop. End. No argument.

You need to create a shortlist of maybe 5 or 6 and give at least an hour to each.

Suggestion: Think of 3 qualities that they MUST have and 3 that they must not, assuming that the qualifications, education, etc. are all comparable. Think of a suitable question for each quality, ask them all the same questions and score the answers. Set a pass mark, or select the top scorers. You might be able to do this as a 15-minute written exercise on a single sheet of paper?

At the end of the day you have to be able to justify your selection to yourself and to them, even if they don't ask.

It's not nice though, you're right on that point.

[Brian c]

Some very good points there.

Not too sure about your first test Dave, maybe leave that one 'till they're not so nervous and have settled in a bit.

Jef, I think you should trust your own judgement of character and general demeanour aswell the above points. They don't have to be 'clever' but common sense is a must. Lateral thinking is good too, there's loads of ready made tests for that kind of thing.

[Smart Electrics]

Its not easy Ive been through it three times in the last two years, and none of them have lasted.

Our first trainee lasted 18 months, but decided he wanted to go back to college to be a gym teacher (Im not suprised all those young girls in gym slips are a bit tempting)

The other two kept turning up late or phoning in sick.

We want another trainee but I am not sure that the kind of chap leaving school at the moment  are any good.

And after interviewing so many it all becomes a blur after a while.

All the above tips a good and narrowing them down is not so hard, most are looking for any job (not nec a bad thing if they are willing) but you will get a few that want to get into an electrical type trade.

Pete

41125[/snapback]

whats the package like for a trainee at your place then pete !!

[antinode]

Hi,

If you're willing to interview another person, would you mind giving me a go at it? I'm really keen and a career in alarms/fire/cctv has been my goal for a good few years now. I don't live too far away from Manchester (I'm in Wigan) and I have a very good knowledge of alarms compared to most people just starting out. I can send you a copy of my CV if you like but I don't have any qualifications relating to alarms.

,

Scott.

[Adi]

There you go position filled.

[morph]