As someone that has the power of giving people a job, you know just how important it is that you do your job right. You don’t want to be giving the job to the wrong person, because you’ll just have to let them go within a few months! But one of the most complicated and difficult job to hire for is that of tower climbers. Chances are, you never actually see what it is that tower climbers even do, so how can you decide whether a person that is sitting in front of you is right for the job?
Here are our five top tips for hiring tower climbers:
1. Find out what they actually do.
Tower climbers are people that, for a living, climb up incredibly tall towers to make sure that they are structurally sound, and that the electronic equipment that they are carrying is all working properly. They are the people that go up to mend anything when something goes wrong. It is a very dangerous job, and one that involves a high level of thinking at great heights. When you truly understand what the job entails, you will be much better prepared to start looking at job applications, and doing interviews.
2. Check qualifications carefully.
It is the law that anyone who climbs a tower on behalf of a company has the relevant qualifications, otherwise it is illegal, and you and your company could be due a huge fine. These rules are there to protect everyone: the company, and the climber. Make sure that you double check all of the qualifications that an applicant says that they have, and perhaps use some questions within the interview to make sure that their qualifications are recent and in date.
3. Consider bringing in a tower climber.
If you are really worried about not getting your head around the interview process for hiring a new tower climber for your company, then one brilliant idea would be to bring in a proficient tower climber that already works for your business. As well as being able to give you a really good idea whether someone is able to do the job well, an experienced tower climber will also be able to know whether that new person will fit into the team well. There is a huge amount of trust involved in tower climbing, and no one wants to have someone in the group that they can’t rely on.
4. Ensure they understand what the job entails.
You will need to ask very deep and searching questions at this point. A large part of being a tower climber is travel ñ one tower climber, Lauren James, stated that she spent thirty days straight on the road climbing towers, and then one full week at home. That doesn’t give you much time for a social life, let alone seeing friends and family. It is vital that you make it clear to the person that you are interviewing that that is the way that most tower climbing jobs are, and if they are not happy with that, then they are not right for the job.
5. Go with your gut.
Sometimes, there is not great formula for deciding who should get a job or not. Instead, it will come down to your instincts, and going with the person that you just think is right for the job. This is especially important when you are trying to decide between two people that are both very good for the job. Unless there are two positions, then only one person can join your company, so go with your gut.