Would this annoy you?

Pizza Shop Talk The Think Tank
1

The past 2 days, we have had a lady calling us, “comparing” us to the other pizza places in town for delivery driving.

She wants a job, but called during our busiest hours wondering how we paid, how our business was, yada yada.

Today, she calls for the THIRD time, wanting to know how we paid, etc…and right during my rush again…so I kindly told her…“yes, we still need drivers, and the hourly wage and delivery rates are the same as when you called yesterday” with a giggle and she said she COULD NOT REMEMBER what I told her!

I took 10 minutes yesterday explaining the differences between all of the places, because I’ve worked for all of them.

One pays .43 per mile, yet, they pay waitress hourly wage, etc etc etc.

She came in and applied today, but I told my manager that unless he considers a brick wall trainable…I’m not so sure…haha

He respects my opinion, and I don’t want her to miss out on a good opportunity (IMHO, our PJ is the best ran pizza joint in town…and I can speak from complete experience when I say that!)…so I just told him exactly what I had experienced with her…but to me, it’s just SO lazy to call and job hunt and then it’s even worse to call back because you didn’t have the “smarts” to take notes while you did speak to someone who was willing to take your call during lunch rush.

I’ll be curious to see if he called her in for an interview…we need drivers…but dayum. haha

2

Whats even worse than not having the smarts to take notes when you spoke to someone willing to talk to you during the rush period, is being spoken to in a demeaning fashion when you are the person looking to fill a needed position. By telling them

so I kindly told her…"yes, we still need drivers, and the hourly wage and delivery rates are the same as when you called yesterday
you were demaning to them despite the fact that you are not the hiring manager. Any of my shift managers know to tell that person “you’ll need to call at xyz time tommorow when the hiring manager will be here”. I would not stand to have any one of them refer to a call made yesterday in the same fashion you spoke to this potential employee.

3

I had a reaction less strong than paul7979, but did wonder about the tone taken when you made the decision to take the call during the rush. Don’t want to talk, then tell them to call back.

That being said, I also had a stronger reaction to the perspective employee calling repeatedly during rushes. It could have been a tactic to find out the style of management and reaction to that sort of behavior . . . or more likely it was a young person who genuinely did not understand the inconsideration. We’ve had some experiences with this sort of “impulse job hunting” here, and have found in interviews that those folks lack a certain sense of responsibility and maturity. I am sure it can be addressed with training and active supervision for a while . . . but it is for us an indicator of higher investment for return. Sometimes it pays off.

4

Yeah that woud anoy me. Anyone that can not get into their car and take a drive to get a job in my eyes is useless. If she calls again ask her name and phone # just so you know not to hire her. Also in my opinion hiring out of need has never been the way to go. I would rather run my store short staffed a little than have someone in their that is not pulling their own weight.

5

I find it very annoying. I am brief and tell them if they want they can come in and fill out an application. When asked about wages etc. I say well it depends on your experience…come in and fill out an application.

First impressions are everything and I think calling (especially during a rush) is a terrible impression.

I also get annoyed when they come in and ask for a pen. I mean really duhhhh you are filling out an application bring your own pen.

6

I think I side more with Paul on this one.

If you were my manager I’d have more of a problem with what you did than what the potential employee did.

#1 You never gave her direction. Ex: “Call back between 2-4pm and talk to _______.”

#2 You never set expectations. Ex: “Please do not call between 4-8pm as that’s our busy time.”

#3 I don’t care who my people are talking to. They MUST be respectful, helpful and informative at all times. What you said to her was uncalled for and rude.

If you had given her these instructions during the first phone call, you could have measured how well she takes instruction and understands expectations. Two very important things in the pizza business. Not to mention you’d be doing her a favor by providing her with the information she needs.

7

PapaJGirl,

Yes, I find these types of calls extremely annoying. And I would not waste ten minutes explaining to them the sales volumes, delivery reimbursements, fees, shifts available, hourly rate and so on and so forth if the person called ONE TIME. This woman called 3 TIMES?! Are you kidding me? I think some of the other responders are bending way over on this one. Tell the hiring manager exactly what happened. Hiring her is like strapping yourself to a bomb.

8

This is why I purposely do not include a phone number in any ads we place and state to apply in person. Those that are smart enough to look up our number, but are too lazy to come down are told to come in and fill an application. I would spend all of 10 sec not 10 minutes with this girl

9

Hi there,

Some areas are in need of good workers more than others but I would NOT hire that driver based on your feedback. It is quite obvious as evidenced by calling THREE times that she lacks consideration, customer service skills and common sense - critical in this industry.

Yes I would be annoyed.

PD

10

short and sweet, I never give info over the phone. If they are to busy to come in they are not the right person for me.
plus GOOD drivers know when the pizza rushs are.

11

When we place our hiring ads, we always include in bold a line that says: "APPLY IN PERSON. PLEASE DO NOT CALL”
If anybody calls it tells me right away that he/she does not pay attention and he does not follow directions. We simply say: “Thank you for inquiring but the position is already filled”

12

I place all of my adds online…

This allows me to screen all potential employees before I ever pass them off to a manager to interview…

This saves a huge amount of time… I also always ask for a resume, if there is none attached and or not all of my criteria is followed as stated in the original posting I do not respond back to the applicant…

I am very kind but very clear about what is needed to apply for a job at my shop… With this method I have very low turn over… and have only fired 3 people in 3 years… All regretfully.

13

As usual, I am very wordy, so I apparently left out crucial information that warranted all of the responses I got (because I didn’t want a huge initial post, I’m bad about that)…so allow me to expand and explain…using TD’s post as my guide.

Your #1, was addressed on her first and second call. I told her when the manager would be in, his name, and when would be the best time to call, even.

Your #2, was addressed on her first and second call. I told her that our lunch rush and our evening rushes are very busy, and that if she could call during the time given in #1, we would be much more able to assist her with her questions.

My response that you guys are calling “rude and uncalled for” had a much more levitive tone and was appropriate to the 3rd call because she and I had a kind of “familiar-ness” with each other by the time she called the next day…it’s one of those “looks bad on print, sounded much better had you over heard it” things.

It was not sarcastic…it was more of a “playful” thing…hard to explain, again, because it’s in print.

She knew my voice right away and I knew hers right away and when I had said that, it had led into re-explaining everything I had before…but I was still kind and professional with her, even though I was annoyed.

Basically, it was “yes, we’re still hiring, yes the same hours and pay as yesterday…haha…” and she laughed and said “well, I can’t remember exactly what you said” and then I told her again about how we compensate our drivers, let her know when our manager was coming in, and even suggested applying at X time when he would be in and we would not be busy to where maybe he could talk to her.

So, now that that’s all aside…does someone like her annoy you?

14

The applicant came in later that evening, because I told her that if she wanted to apply, our manager would be in (this is after the third call she made to us), and she came in and I met her.

She is in her early 50’s and had relocated back to our state after being estranged from her family for 20 years.

My boss is a good judge of character, though…maybe he’ll “invest” in hiring her and training her and she’ll work out, or the flip side will happen. You just never know…but to be her age and obviously not listen…that’s what worries me.

15

That makes more sense now that you expanded. I think we were surprised to read how you handled the applicant. Thank you filling us in with the extra details, and never worry about being too wordy. You’ll never be able to keep up with Nick. :lol:

In this business it far and few between where you’ll have a ‘perfect’ applicant apply to your store. I am one of those that feel there are ‘diamonds in the rough’. I feel confident that as long as someone will try, I can train them to be a part of the team and do a good job for me. When you polish the rough ones into diamonds and they turn out to be a star because you believed in them, it’s a great experience.

16

LOL!

PD