Remarkable Results Radio Podcast Sep 12, 2025

Recruiter's Playbook: Overcoming Ghosting and Hiring Roadblocks [THA 450]

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It's Karm Capriato, another Town Hall Academy with the remarkable results of radio program,

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Hey, welcome back.

Let's get started.

Look, I have been so curious about ghosting, so curious about doing good interviews.

I got a great team here from Promotive.

Let me introduce them to you, Danny Extrand, the Promotive Recruiter Team Lead.

Wow.

I love that.

Hey, Danny.

Good to have you here.

Thanks for having us.

Appreciate it.

Oh, my pleasure.

Stacy Black, Promotive Account Manager.

Hello, Stacy.

Hello.

Thank you for having us.

Oh, good to have you here.

And Shonda Hozier, Promotive Recruiter.

Hello, Shonda.

Hey, Karm.

Thanks for having us today.

Look, one of the toughest parts of hiring is ghosting, it seems.

You mentioned the word ghosting to anybody in the industry and they, oh, it's almost

like, I'm sorry, I depressed your day.

It happens on both sides.

And acknowledging that employees also fail to respond to candidates and some owners

like it just kind of perpetuates and it just makes it get ugly like a bad looking

mushroom in the backyard.

It just keeps growing.

Multiple offers seem to be offered to certain candidates.

They feel overwhelmed.

So I'm just going to go with this or forget the other ones.

And so I want to talk about ghosting today, but I also want to talk a little bit about

interviewing hacks and giving good notice and career goals and continuing education

and all the things that I know that you care about when you're doing great interviews.

I don't know if we're going to get to all of this in an allocated timeframe.

There's so, so much to talk about, but poor communication and delays.

I almost see the stress that a recruiter like you, Danny, can have.

Yeah.

Both sides of the aisle really with as far as delays go or even just communication,

right?

Whether it could be shops taken too long to respond to us candidates that start the process

and then, you know, that we're on topic for ghosting as far as the communication and

they're either going to respond or be into it or really not.

And sometimes there's no rhyme or reason behind it as far as their communication

or lack thereof at times.

Do you work with technician job candidates on their resume and groom them?

I mean, I know you're the one who's giving them the interview.

But ultimately, if you find a great candidate who's going to go up against the shop owner

that you're working for, what kind of tips do you give them?

The main one that I've been using as of late is be honest with yourself of what kind

of technician you are, right?

Go into those interviews and don't sell yourself as some, you know, God's gift

to the automotive field.

Tell them what you're good at.

Tell them what you're bad at.

Because a lot of these shops that we work with being in the independent space,

they appreciate that almost more than you saying you can do bumper to bumper

and everything and they want to be able to teach you.

Yeah.

Can you imagine the disappointment that they get when the hair of the guy

jumps in the bay and within the third day, you're saying,

geez, I thought he knew how to do that.

You know, the interview seemed to go so well.

Maybe I as the owner didn't ask the right questions.

Or again, if this person is lacking in a certain area,

don't be surprised, Mr. owner.

Get the education ready for them.

Yeah.

No, absolutely.

And that's something that I think we try to talk to.

I know Stacy does of, you know, are you comfortable training?

Are you comfortable teaching?

Are you comfortable, you know, investing in these texts as much as right?

These texts are investing in you with their 40, 50 hour, you know,

or even more if we're counting flagged and turned hours, you know,

a weeks to be able to get to where these owners want them to be at.

Stacy or Shonda, either one of you, when you look at what's going

on in the industry and you look at ads that shop owners are writing,

does it seem almost sometimes too good to be true?

You guys are the experts.

You know what you're writing.

You know what you're recruiting for.

But when you look at other ads, and I guess my whole point is,

I think there's a reason to hire a recruiter because you're really

looking to narrow down to get really good to try to tighten your timeline

for this individual, this company, Promotive is an example,

gopromotive.com.

I'm blown away by seeing some ads saying they look just too good

to be true.

How about, Stacy, what's your opinion of that?

I write a lot of the ads for my shops and the thing that I've learned

over the last year is getting more detail focus.

You need to let them know you have to be on time.

I know that sounds silly, but that's a big factor in this world.

They need to be on time.

They need to be at their workstation.

They need to be ready to learn and grow in the position.

They're not there just to turn hours.

They're there to make the industry better.

Those are the shops we're looking for to partner with is they want

them to have the training, have the ability to go from an A to

a master tech or whatever it may be.

I try to get this detail focused and Danny and Shonda can attest.

It's like, okay, they need at least five years experience in

this.

We want three years experience in that because we're really

trying to weed out the candidates that aren't qualified.

The last thing I want to do is waste any shop owner's time.

If you're on time, you're late.

Someone told me once.

Yes.

No.

I learned that lesson a lot in my early days.

It just seems like there's a laxative attitude for some people

that says, I'll get there when I get there.

If not, it's too bad.

I'm good.

They want me.

They'll have to wait.

Well, that just doesn't work in the real world of business,

especially at top tier shops.

Top tier shops are there for a particular reason.

Those are the ones that hire you.

Oh, stop and think you're listening to this and you're a tech

looking for a job.

You're listening to top recruiters for top tier shops.

And if you want to get those, if that's a career goal,

that's what you want.

You got to listen to every word we're talking about here.

That's a great point.

So strong first impressions, right, Shonda?

You got to have that.

If you get done with an interview with a client,

a prospective technician is looking for an opportunity.

Will you then, after this particular interview,

then critique it and say, listen,

you're going to go up against the owner.

I think you're really great, but you're rough over here

on a couple of edges.

Do you do that at all?

We do.

We actually spend a lot of time prepping our candidates

for their in-person interviews with the shop owners

or general managers, whoever that might be.

We have the head technician show up in flip-flops

and take the interview a little more casual

than they probably should have.

And so we really do our best to cover all the basics with them.

Clean up before you leave work.

Throw on a clean shirt.

Be on time.

If you're not, communicate that to somebody.

Make sure you really just put your best foot forward

because you might have a ton of years of experience.

But if you're not showing up and representing that,

they're not going to believe it.

Here's the big question for you all.

Is all this work that you're putting in,

all this energy that you're giving to the client,

help prevent some ghosting?

It does help prevent some of them.

We do our best to catch as many as we can.

I had one today, for example,

that decided he just wasn't going to make it to the interview

and wasn't going to let anybody know that

until I had reached out to prep him

to meet with the shop owner this morning.

And at that time he let me know

that he wasn't going to make it,

which is always nice to know beforehand.

So that was one that we prevented.

But was there a reason?

He decided that the commute was too far.

Okay.

And that happens a lot, doesn't it?

It happens occasionally where they have, you know,

long enough to really reconsider

and, you know, come up with any excuses

as why it was so great yesterday as an opportunity

and not so great today.

So what happened is you found out

that the person wasn't going to make the interview, right?

If you had not contacted that person and found out

and then contacted the shop owner,

then that would have been a pure absolute ghosting situation.

I guess the story and the why I want to do this episode

is where's the class that it takes?

I always think about reputation.

I think about if I'm ever going to go for an interview

and I don't do it right, I'm stupid enough to ghost,

that's a legacy that's going to hang on me for a bit.

And then when these top tier shop owners get together

and says, yeah, I just interviewed a guy from Blankety Blank

and he just, he ghosted me.

Don't you think that this is not a reputation

that you want to have, that you want to be as professional

as you can if you're joining in a professional organization?

Communicate the C-word?

Right, that's the big thing.

That's what we all need.

That's what we all want.

I wouldn't even say it's industry-based, right?

I mean, with my background, going back,

I've been in recruiting total for about six years

from light industrial to education

and it happens across the board.

But it's something like right,

Shonda, Stacy, myself, and all the other recruiters

that we try, right?

I tell these guys, the best thing you can do with me

is communicate, let me know if they don't show up

or if something does come up

and I try to build that friendship,

that relationship with them.

Hopefully, they feel comfortable coming to me,

but it's going to happen, unfortunately.

For me, an example of a true ghost was,

I'm based out of Minnesota.

I was at the Minnesota State Fair over the weekend.

Saturday and Sunday, I went and I had a guy

that was going to go in Monday, Labor Day,

for an interview and I was sitting there texting him

as I was walking around the State Fair

and confirmed it all.

I was messaging another account manager of ours, Brian.

He was all set, ready to go Sunday.

I got a message from Brian Monday afternoon,

so-and-so didn't show up to the interview

and I'm like, how?

Even at just 24 hours, it can flip

and I haven't been able to get a hold of the gentleman since

and I've reached out the last couple of days

texting and calling to get a hold of him,

but unfortunately, I'm not sure what it is.

Is it generational?

I wouldn't put a pin in it like that either

because at least with being here,

it could be a guy that's fresh out of tech school

to a guy that's been in the industry 30 years.

Doesn't matter how old and how sophisticated,

how educated it just happens.

Is it I don't care?

Is it laziness?

Is it lack of respect?

This is too important of an episode

not to try to narrow down

what needs to be done

from at least the candidate side.

Danny and I had a super candidate

for a shop that Danny was talking to him

on the way to the interview.

This shop is progressive.

We've been trying to find them quality texts.

They're a little more role area instead of a big city.

He and I are both excited about this interview

going to happen.

Half an hour later, I get a call from the shop.

He no showed as he was driving to the interview.

What do you say to that to a shop owner?

It's like, no, he should be there

and we've had that happen more than once

and I don't understand it.

I'm wondering.

Most of the time they say that they got sick

or they had to go to the hospital

or there was a family emergency.

Okay, let's reschedule.

We usually can't get ahold of them.

Wow.

You got the toughest job on the planet, you guys.

The most rewarding.

Ah, oh, I love that.

Think about what,

that is such a powerful, powerful message.

When you get it done, it's the most rewarding.

We change people's lives.

We get them in a good quality shop

that's going to train them,

that's going to give them a wonderful wage

that can put food on the table,

let them go on wonderful vacations.

This isn't just a minimum wage job.

This is an amazing adventure for these guys

that can make a difference out in this community

and their community.

Think about it.

If they're not working, vehicles don't run.

What happens then?

It's really powerful.

I love the word adventure.

It is adventure because you never know

what you're going to be working on next.

I mean, think about it.

What an opportunity.

Hardly a boring day.

No, there's not with us.

That's for sure.

Wow.

So, I'm so concerned

every industry is having this problem.

Is it a laxadaisical attitude

on the candidate's side

of being serious about the new career opportunity?

I would think so.

I mean, I know,

at least with people that I talk to

or candidates that I talk to,

if I can't get ahold of them after they ghost, right?

It could be one of those reasons,

a family emergency or what have you,

but a lot of it too is these guys,

especially in the industry,

they're hot commodities

and they know they're hot commodities

as a technician,

especially if they're a decent technician.

So, they'll sometimes just take that first job offer

that comes through the door,

whether they're unemployed

or just making a move from shop to shop,

and they'll be like,

okay, first one that offer me is they get my services,

even though, right,

it may not be the best culture within that shop,

but it's the quickest for them.

And I hear that a lot too of,

at least as far as if they do communicate with us

of that interview that we have to now cancel,

is they just got another one.

I have a candidate right now

that I'm working with

that he got a pretty lucrative offer,

but he's still fielding interviews

because he's seeing if he can get more

or maybe pit one against the other

or get a counter offer or what have you,

even though the shop was very quick

and we've worked with them

to turn in their timeline

or make it move faster

so that we can try to get these texts

before they get that next interview

or that next offer.

Do you find that the pitting one against another

or holding out for better offer a lot?

It does happen probably more

when the candidates are already at a shop,

right, that they haven't been let go

or something's changed where they're unemployed.

I think it does happen quite a bit of,

hey, if I leave, I can get this much more an hour

or I can get hourly instead of flat rate

depending on what the technician's looking for.

But I would say that happens quite a bit,

at least enough to be like, gosh darn it.

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You know, most shop owners feel trapped

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It's frustrating.

It's exhausting.

And it's not your fault.

The industry average is 54%, one and done.

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On the web at pitcrewloyalty.com,

out of all the technicians that you have

that are looking for opportunity,

how many are still working and how many are not?

What percentage?

I would say 95% of them at least are still working.

The ones that are not working

have typically just relocated

because technicians find employment

within a matter of hours at most.

Hours.

So if I contacted gopromotive.com

and I said, hey, listen, I'm moving to Houston

and I need an opportunity,

would that be a smart mover?

Do I just go there,

put up a shingle or look at some indeed ads

and go find myself a job?

How does it work?

It's easy for them to just walk into

the closest neighborhood shop

and let them know that you're a technician

that's on the market

and generally they can walk out with an offer.

But you could get a really bad interview.

Just because it's a block away

doesn't mean it's a great place to work.

But part of what you do is you qualify candidates

or you qualify shops that you work for,

you're not finding the neighborhood hobbyist

that's willing to be part of Promotive, are you?

We're generally trying to match them

with what's going to be a perfect fit for them.

Commute, pay structure, culture, hours.

There's a lot of it that goes into play benefits,

so we really try to pair that with, you know,

the best opportunity to match

what they're looking for specifically.

He's making a great first strong impression

in the live interview with the owner,

critical top of your list in grooming the candidate.

Yeah, definitely.

It's something that we pride ourselves on, right?

We're working with these candidates

throughout the whole process to that first phone call

with just us through them getting the offer

and even six months later.

So even though everything that we're doing

is direct hire, right?

We're still talking to them weeks, months,

sometimes years after their first interview,

just because, you know, as much as we love this industry,

we're trying to make sure that those people

that we work with and build those relationships are good,

but we certainly have a checklist

that we go through with each candidate

of, you know, the big ticket items of,

hey, this might be a good question

to ask the owners when you go in there,

hey, make sure you don't show up in flip-flops

or your interview starts from the time

you drive into the parking lot

and tell you the time you drive out of it.

You know, we all have our own stories

that we can get to of different and unique

and downright funny situations

with some of these candidates,

but it also helps us remember to be like,

okay, we have to cover this

because we just dealt with this a week or two ago.

Danny, you said you were doing this

for about five years now or more, maybe six.

Is ghosting more prevalent now

than it was, say, five or six years ago?

I wouldn't say so.

It's probably about the same.

So it's been around.

It's been around a long time

where we just don't give a crap

about telling someone,

I am not going to be here.

I'm not interested in your offer.

I can't make the interview.

It's just, I disappear off the face of the earth.

Yeah, and I think it's, I mean,

the type of people that we try to work with,

are high integrity, high communicative people.

And I know at least our team,

we're all very much like that, you know, right?

We work Monday through Friday, roughly, you know,

but like I said,

I was working over the holiday weekend last weekend

because I was trying to help a candidate

get an interview at a good shop.

And like I said, it's been around.

I think it'll always be around,

but you know,

it's something that we try to stress

and build those relationships is on communication.

It's amazing.

You just never turn it off, right ladies?

You never turn it off.

It's amazing.

Promotives should be so happy to have you all.

Is there anything we can say about prevention

of ghosting or trying to minimize it?

Are there any pointers that we can give

to help ease some of the pain of ghosting

to maybe even help prevent it?

I think that something shops can do on their side

because, you know,

we look at ghosting as it's primarily the candidate's fault,

there's things that the shops can do on their side

to help prevent some of that too.

Did the technician drive past their shop

and there wasn't enough cars in the parking lot?

Was there trash land in the parking lot?

Does their building look run down?

Is it too small where their technician's out front smoking

or having a poor conversation

or something in front of customers?

What is the reputation of their shop?

How do they look online?

What are their Google reviews?

Like, what have they heard through the grapevine

of other technicians that have worked there previously?

So that is everything to do with their opinion

and as they form their opinion and they say,

no, check the box off,

even though you may have sent a resume

even though you may have had a high level conversation

with someone in the shop,

you're ghosting them because your attitude for the website

is not good for your cup of tea

and so there's no reason to go back

to explain to anyone why you're not there

if you didn't have a decent start at a relationship, right?

It's just like, this ghosting thing reminds me of,

life is so crazy, it's coming at us at 900 miles an hour.

Okay, these little 30 second sound bites of life

and who has time for stuff that isn't relevant to me?

Ghost information.

We ghost TV commercials.

We ghost everything going around us

that we have no interest in.

So let's make ourselves as a shop owner interesting.

Let's make us as a candidate for a job interesting

and maybe if we've done everything on our part

not to be ghosted, yeah, you could get very, very upset

if you believe you're a top notch six-figure candidate

and the shop never got back to you in any way feasible.

It says, hey, listen, thank you so much for coming in.

We really appreciate it, but it's not going to work at this time.

Sometimes that's all you need to say,

even if it's texting, right?

The other issue that we've had in coaching the shops,

if they get a high level technician

and they have a great first interview,

they really need to make a verbal offer.

Don't say, while we're going to do another interview,

we'll call you in for a second interview.

Nine times out of 10, we lose them.

Nine times out of 10.

Would you guys say that was about the right number?

How many times we lose them?

Yeah, I would say so.

That's huge.

So it's like one and done.

Yeah, we do the pre-screen,

which is the initial conversation with them.

So technically there's two.

Okay, first of all, I get that.

They've hired you to, if you will, filter.

The reason I hired you is I don't have to do all this stuff.

So they're getting their second interview with the shop owner

to the point why they hired you

is if you really like this person,

and I really think you're gonna, right?

So are you whispering in their ear?

You know, here's the envelope.

Open it up, let's talk about that, right?

So that if you will, the envelope's already on the table ready

because you're telling them,

I think you're going to love this candidate.

I think you're going to love this person.

So be prepared.

The stat of nine out of 10 is

if you're sitting there dreaming

about how this person fits into your company

and you want to do what Grappa did,

and that is come back for the second and third

or have dinner with the spouse

and all that stuff, you're going to lose them.

It moves quick, right?

I think you and I, we all talked about that a little bit earlier,

but these guys are fielding multiple offers,

multiple interviews on a regular basis,

and that change can be 24 hours.

It could be two hours, right?

It's crazy how fast it moves

and these guys are getting offers.

Tough to find candidates.

Shonda, define to have shops interview.

We work with shops in all different demographics,

and so it can vary quite widely about, you know,

how many candidates we might have in a particular area.

I actually just filled a position earlier today

that we've had the job for about nine months

because there's just nobody in town,

nobody moving into town.

They're the one shop in town.

Would you call that lucky?

Absolutely.

We will celebrate today.

Good for you.

Is it going to be wine?

Is it going to be champagne, coffee?

What's it going to be?

I haven't decided that yet.

Well, good for you.

I mean, I can't imagine how,

what the joy of a recruiter is

to find themselves a candidate, connect them,

find a great shop to work with,

and then, oh my God, be a marriage counselor.

Well, and just the reward from the impact

that we know that that technician will make

for the shop and being able to increase their capacity

and bring more to the shop

and put more food on everybody's table,

that's where we get our reward.

That's so great.

Let's do a little bit about interviewing hacks

when you're helping to coach a candidate

and even a shop owner on doing a good interview.

Listen, there's a lot of shop owners

doing interviews like having a root canal

with no novocaine.

You're all laughing because you know it to be true.

Give us some background on both sides

of this particular challenge

of getting a really good interview done by a technician

and having a great interview from a shop owner.

Let's talk about that a little bit.

The things to ask seriously,

to look over the resume, you know,

don't write on it.

I don't think you legally want to write on anyone's resume,

but keep a yellow pad on the side

and say, wow, there looks like a date gap here.

Tell me about this kind of training you got.

You want to hear this individual speak to you

because if you've got a high culture place

and they can't describe and explain,

let's talk about the work

on each side of the interview here.

Let's start with you, Stacy.

You know, it's interesting because I've worked

with such a wide range of shops

and I have some that are very meticulous

on their interview strategy.

They want to do a phone interview first.

Then they want to do a personality profile.

Then they will maybe move into an in-person interview

and I'm really trying to get them over that hump of,

here's the situation.

You can send us the profile if you want.

We can fill that out or have them fill that out for you.

You get all the results and decide if you want to do it

because, again, it's ours for us for this technician.

I'll have shops that will say,

well, I interviewed Joe today.

I really, really liked him. Fantastic.

Did you make an offer?

They're like, he's everything I want

and he's going to go for two other interviews

and get back to me.

Can't you just sit there in front of him

and say, no, you're not going for any more interviews.

This is your final interview.

Can you say that in confidence to a candidate?

Well, so this is after the interview

and the funny thing about it is,

so I'll turn around and tell the recruiters,

okay, this is what they decided

and of course they have a similar reaction

and until they, I don't want to say get burned a couple of times,

it takes that instance to where they understand

that it's speed to lead.

We have shops now that have implemented

that they want to have them hired within 24 hours.

They want that professional offer letter out

and they want to get them going.

And they also, the other side of it,

candidates will give two weeks notice

and if they can start sooner, they want them to start

because they're worried are they going to

want to stay in their old position

and not want to move their toolbox.

But we're trying to change the culture

out there with the shops.

I come from old school where you did several interviews,

especially for a six-figure position.

Those days are gone for the technicians.

They can go to six shops in a busy location

in one street and get offers.

So we're trying to change that mindset with the shops.

But in some cases it's a little slower,

but there's others that we know,

we find them a good qualified candidate,

they like them, we're going to have an offer on the table

and they're going to be hired that day.

Tell me about the two weeks notice

how often are you losing the candidate

because the two weeks notice goes in

and they get a counter.

I lost two to the same shop a few weeks ago.

Both of them got countered offered by the owners of those shops.

So one shop owner hired two people, same day.

We found some great candidates that fit the culture

and the shop.

Both shops found out that they put in notice

and they counter offered hire.

But a lot of shops, they don't keep them typically

the full two weeks.

They're worried about comebacks, returns,

that sort of thing.

So if you're really not happy, please,

I want you to leave, I want you to go,

you know, go ahead, take the toolbox,

get it in the morning, get it tonight.

And it's been great working with you.

Hopefully one day maybe you'll come back.

You know, maybe some of the needs that we haven't met with you

will work on them.

I mean, I think there's a,

but to keep an individual just because it's a pair of hands

and the individual wanting to stay

because it's all about culture and it's all about team.

No, it's really all about money

because that's what I got over here.

And maybe that's part of the interview process.

Danny, you're shaking your head

to be able to dive into the reality of a real offer.

Yeah, to go off what you're saying.

I mean, it's unique because right,

we have those conversations.

Our initial prescreen is very in-depth

from what type of things they're working on

to what type of things they're not getting

at their current shop or location that they're looking for.

I mean, I had a guy that I was just chatting with yesterday

and we had an interview scheduled for him yesterday evening.

Right, that was the thing.

He didn't like the management

or he wanted a new culture

and wanted to get more into heavy line

or what have you right at whatever it was.

And he had even texted me yesterday,

I'm not going to make the interview.

You know, at least he did communicate.

And I was like, oh, why what's going on?

What changed?

And he's like, they must have found out

I was looking and made a counter offer.

And I was like, okay, but what's going on?

Like that's, you didn't say it was money based.

You didn't want to work in this.

I think it was, if I recall,

it was in the marine industry or boating industry.

And I'm like, that didn't change.

Like you're still doing what you said you don't enjoy doing.

And I got you an interview at a place that you said

you would love because it's back in automotive.

You know, so it's unique.

We get every comment under the sun

of sometimes money talks, right?

That's why we have that saying,

but you know, it's,

they don't really stick to their guns sometimes

when it comes to what they're wanting culturally.

And they'll just take the higher paycheck too.

It's easy Sean to just not to have to leave.

It's easy to stay, even though it's not what you want.

There can be a lot of anxiety in making a change like that.

But you know, a lot of shops realize that

and they'll put an initial guarantee on the table

for technicians because it does take a little while

to get used to new processes, build your client base,

you know, be the new guy in the shop,

getting work distributed to you.

Because it takes the shop a while to figure out

what you're actually capable of first,

what they shouldn't be giving you also,

make sure that your quality is up to par.

So there's a lot of anxiety about, you know,

is the shop going to be busy enough

that I can make my hours if they're a flat rate technician?

Am I going to fit in?

Well, here is everybody going to uphold a positive culture

that I'm expecting to walk into.

I think your jobs are really tough today.

Tougher than we've ever imagined.

And in fact, I don't understand

why any shop owner would want to go at this alone.

Because of the stress it takes in the grind to find someone,

you're taking on a level of stress that the shop owner will have

trying to find a candidate,

but you're also as emotionally connected

to the stress of finding someone

and making an offer and losing that individual,

and everybody having to go back to square one

to find a new person.

I guess it shocks the hell out of me

that what the individual wants

and what they will be willing to accept by staying

is just mind blowing to me

that why would they be looking in the first place

if they're willing to stick around?

Is that a real important question in the beginning?

I'm hearing everything you're telling me that you want,

but if you got more money from, you know,

your current place, would you stay?

Is that one of the questions you ask?

You know, it's not a direct question necessarily,

but we do a lot of other questions

that try and figure out,

are they just looking for more money,

or are they really looking for a better work environment,

more work available to them, better benefits,

or are they just going to be job hopping

for every dollar or more that they can make in another shop?

Can you see that in a candidate, a job hopping attitude?

It's horrible.

Oh my God, Stacy.

I've never seen anything like that.

I have watching the six months, four months, three months.

I'm like, my goodness, you're moving the toolbox

how many times, but literally we see that all the day, all day.

If I see somebody in a location for five years,

I'm ecstatic.

It's like, okay, has he been keeping up on training?

You know, then I roll into the next level of,

okay, what level is he now?

What is he able to provide to the shop that I want to place him at?

But the job hopping, I don't come from that world.

I can't wrap my mind around the job hopping.

What's your thoughts, Danny, on the hopping thing?

Yeah.

I mean, it's something that we see quite a bit, you know,

and as you know, right within the automotive space,

it's not like they're a temp worker, right?

Where it is a six month contract or anything like that.

But like, you know, to Shonda's point and Stacey's point,

these guys are moving for that extra 50 cents or that extra

dollar or hey, this shop slowed down in the winter,

but this shop still busy.

Let me go over there for six months and then I'll move back

to a shop that's busy in the summer and it's nuts.

Well, wait a minute.

You're not even going to consider that candidate

at a high level shop.

Are you?

No, generally not.

You know, we do our vetting even before we make the

first phone call to see if it's, you know, realistic or not.

Now we look at the whole of a resume instead of just a piece

because I mean post COVID things have been are a little wonky.

So right, if you have a guy that was in a shop for 10 years

prior to 2020 to maybe a guy who was two years,

one year, six months, I'll probably call him,

have the conversation, see if I can figure out why he

was making those moves.

But if they show longevity at a point in their resume,

they usually can be, I guess,

coerced into showing that longevity again.

But if we're seeing guys, their whole resume is one year

or less, generally they're not getting a call from us.

Let's go back to the offer.

This came to my mind.

In the discussion, you've got a great candidate

sitting in front of me and you're saying, listen, Karm,

I really think this is great.

We've done the profile, the personality profile.

You've got all that in front of you.

But what I know about you in the culture shop,

this is the person.

Do you ask them to talk about the offer,

to talk about the benefits, to talk about the incentives,

to talk about the amount of money?

It's almost like, come here child, let me sit and tell you

about what your future is going to look like.

How involved do you want your shop owner to be involved

in the offer for the right person?

Knowing that you have a 90%, they're going to stray

if you don't offer and get.

I think for that A-level tech, even a strong B,

they need to talk about the benefits

because some of the things that are really important to them

is how much time off do I get?

Do I get sick time?

They want to know that stuff, health benefits.

That's huge for shops.

Yes, because no matter what someone may throw money at them,

here's another dollar or an hour.

It's 40 bucks a week.

Come on, stop, will you?

I'm frustrated when it comes to somebody

not being able to do the math while they're sitting there.

Maybe a great idea is, so you go back,

listen, we're ready, we want you.

These are the 10 things that are in our benefits package

and in our salary package for you.

Now, if you're going to go back

and someone's going to throw you $2 an hour,

do you know how much money that really is

at the end of the year versus what we're going to pay you now?

And you can start soon.

The funny thing is, is when I do a job posting,

I try to list it by the hour.

So I may do say 30 to 35 based on experience flat rate,

but then I'll say earning potential up to,

and I try to list it what that rock star

and their current shop is making.

So it could be okay if you do the math,

$35 an hour or 40 hours, that's 72, 71,000,

but they could really make 80 to 85.

So we say earning potential up to,

so they know it's not just based on that.

So they already have an idea somewhat of what they could make

and the recruiters are really good about that.

With the shops, I try to tell the shops go with your gut.

Don't let them get out that door.

If you feel like they share your values,

a couple of things that I asked them to look at,

are they interacting with people in the shop?

Are they talking to the service advisor at the front?

There's just a number of things that you can see

if they're a team player, so to speak, and make the offer.

That's been a big hurdle for myself to get over

because before I'm like, no, let's talk about it, blah, blah, blah.

We just lose too many.

You know, you brought up such a great think point for me

and all the interviews that I've done in 10 years,

there's a lot of shop owners that say, yeah,

we ask them to come in and hang with us for a day.

We want them to work in the shop.

We want them to get a feel for what's going on.

We want them to meet our people.

We want them to see and feel and hear.

It sounds to me like that's not a good move,

especially if the 90% go.

You know, is there any value in that work a day?

I think it's really hard to determine

if someone's going to be a solid hire in just a day's time.

You might be able to tell if they're going to get along

with the rest of the team and be a good culture fit,

but being able to tell the quality of their work

is going to take a little bit longer.

Now, I understand that.

Will they fit into the culture?

Can the individual communicate?

What about that dinner with the spouse,

the significant other?

Is that important? Does it matter?

Or is it just wasting time?

I mean, I think it can kind of go either way.

We don't see that a lot unless it's like,

I would say a leadership position within the company.

I think Stacey and I, the year we've been working together,

we've only had one shop do it,

and I believe it was for their foreman

or one of their manager positions

where they actually did those sit-down lunches.

He seemed to like every single one of them,

but if you can expense a meal, I guess, right, go for it.

He was able to get to know those individuals really well,

but it's a different beast when you're looking

at a manager-style position

or an operation-style position

versus looking at a technician.

Generally, those guys for the foreman-manager operations,

they're taking their time.

They're interviewing these shops

as much as the shops are interviewing them,

whereas with the technicians, we're seeing that quick turn,

so we don't see those sit-down dinners nearly as much

if at all.

All right.

Look, again, I think we can go on for two hours

and talk about this,

but I really think we nailed some of the essence

of ghosting and interviewing hacks.

I'd love to go around the room and ask each of you

from all your great experience

and the focus that we're trying to have in this episode,

any ideas, thoughts for the industry,

both that you're talking to technicians

or you're talking to shop owners,

on how you can minimize ghosting

or do a great interview

and then hire a great candidate.

Let's do Stacy, Shonda, and then Danny.

Stacy, any final thoughts, ideas that will shake our world?

I don't know if it's going to shake your world,

but just staying on top of it, knowing,

okay, I've got an interview today at 2.

I follow up the shops.

Are you guys good to go? Any questions?

I'll have shops shoot me a text of,

hey, he's still coming in, right?

Yes.

I've heard from the recruiter we're good to go

and putting on that positive attitude

and be excited that these guys are coming in to see them.

Honestly, it takes a lot to get these texts

out of their comfort zone, out of the base

and getting them into the shops to visit with them

and to talk with them

and to make it a natural setting

instead of, I remember,

what do you want to do in five years?

Well, if I put you in this scenario,

what do you think?

Just make it a conversation.

Find out about them.

And keep in touch.

Absolutely.

Please make an offer.

That's huge.

Keep in touch.

Make an offer.

I love that.

Just make an offer.

Stacy Black,

Promotive Account Manager,

Shonda Hosher,

Promotive Recruiter,

your final wise words of wisdom for us.

If I had any advice,

I'd say treat it like a first date.

Go in and be yourself,

but also don't be afraid to sell yourself.

Sell the dream of your shop

and why you're better than every other shop in town

or why you're the best technician in town.

And then just make sure

that you're sending good communication

with the other party.

Reach them where they're at.

If they're texting, text them.

If they're a caller,

give them a phone call.

But don't be afraid

to keep that communication line open.

First date.

I love it.

That is a real great takeaway for me.

Act as if it was your first date.

I love it.

And Danny Extran,

Promotive Recruiter Team Lead.

Your wise words.

Top the first date thing.

I don't know.

Shannon might have me be with that one.

But I'll kind of finish it where I started it.

Be honest with yourself.

Be honest with the candidates,

whether you're a technician,

you're a shop.

Don't sell something that you can't back up.

And that probably leads to ghosting.

And I don't care.

And yeah,

I know you want me to communicate really well,

but I just don't care about this person,

this company, this...

And so we find the time not to respond.

Because we don't care anymore after that point.

Amazing stuff.

I think we nailed this.

I really think we accomplished what we wanted to.

We cast it an awful lot of doubt,

but I also, you know, in how the world works,

but I also think we helped people become better recruiters

or better candidates for jobs in our industry.

And, you know,

just behind the scenes,

information from a recruiting company

as big as Promotive, gopromotive.com.

You guys really have a handle

on what's going on in the industry

and why would anyone want to recruit on their own

when they can have you guys carry that load

and find us some really good people.

Because you said earlier,

I think Shonda,

in nine months, nine months,

I think you said the person was looking for somebody.

In the rural area,

I know how tough that is,

but to be without an individual,

the revenue, the customer service,

the stress that puts on the entire organization

to have candidate not for nine months.

Wow.

Well, hopefully we've learned a ton here.

Thank you so much.

Ghosting and interviewing hacks

here with the team from Promotive.

Thanks for being here, everyone.

Now, if you learned something,

go do something about it.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Thanks for being on board

to listen and learn

from the Premiere Automotive Aftermarket Podcast.

Until next time.

About this episode

Exploring the challenges of ghosting in the hiring process, this episode features insights from the Promotive recruitment team. They discuss the importance of communication, effective interviewing techniques, and the need for shop owners to present a compelling work culture. The conversation highlights the impact of poor communication on both candidates and employers, and offers practical advice for reducing ghosting incidents. Listeners will gain valuable tips on how to improve their hiring strategies and foster better relationships between technicians and shops.

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Thanks to our Partners, NAPA TRACS, Today's Class, KUKUI, and Pit Crew Loyalty Watch Full Video Episode

Ghosting, when candidates or employers suddenly stop communicating, is one of the biggest frustrations in the automotive hiring process. It impacts everyone, from fresh tech school grads to 30-year veterans, and makes filling roles even harder.

For Candidates

Be Honest: Shops value transparency about skills and areas for growth.
Make a Strong Impression: Be punctual, dress appropriately, and communicate delays.
Stay in Touch: Keep recruiters and shops updated, communication builds trust.

For Shop Owners

Move Fast: Top technicians field multiple offers. A quick verbal offer after a strong first interview can secure them.
Be Clear: Write detailed job ads that set expectations and filter unqualified applicants.
Mind Your Reputation: Shop appearance, online reviews, and culture shape candidate perceptions.
Show the Opportunity: Highlight training, career growth, wages, and benefits beyond just pay.
Prepare for Counter Offers: Be ready to show long-term value when candidates get tempted to stay put.

Recruiters like Promotive help both sides by prepping candidates for interviews and matching shops with the right cultural and financial fit.

The bottom line: honesty, communication, and speed are the antidotes to ghosting. Treat the hiring process like a first date, make it the start of a strong, lasting connection.

It’s time to hire a superstar for your business; what a grind you have in front of you. Introducing Promotive, a full-service staffing solution for your shop. Promotive has over 40 years of recruiting and automotive experience. If you need qualified technicians and service advisors and want to offload the heavy lifting, visit https://gopromotive.com/

Thanks to our Partner, NAPA TRACS NAPA TRACS will move your shop into the SMS fast lane with onsite training and six days a week of support and local representation. Find NAPA TRACS on the Web at http://napatracs.com/ Thanks to our Partner, Today's Class Optimize training with Today's Class: In just 5 minutes daily, boost knowledge retention and improve team performance. Find Today's Class on the web at https://www.todaysclass.com/ Thanks to our Partner, KUKUI Stop juggling multiple marketing tools. KUKUI’s integrated platform delivers 4x better website conversions, automated follow-up, and real-time ROI tracking. Get industry-leading customer support with KUKUI at

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Recruiter's Playbook: Overcoming Ghosting and Hiring Roadblocks [THA 450]

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