Job interviews are always a bit nerve-wracking. Will they like you? Will you like them? What kinds of questions will they ask?
We can help you out with that last one.
Tina Czysz, director of human resources at Greenscape, Inc., shares some of the questions you can expect for five popular landscaping jobs.
She’s responsible for recruiting and hiring qualified job candidates, and is known for being a thorough interviewer.
What kind of questions can you expect? Let’s find out.
First, Be Prepared
If you apply for a job at Greenscape, you’ll likely interview with one of the company managers first to talk about your technical skills. Then, you’ll spend some time talking with Czysz, who asks questions to determine if you’re a good fit from the culture side.
“I’m gauging the person’s character, their integrity, their ability to be cohesive in a team,” she says.
“The managers all laugh and say, ‘Well, you made it through me. Now you have to make it through Tina,’” she says.
You won’t get out of this with yes or no answers.
“I ask open-ended questions,” Czysz says. “I’m very detail oriented. If you tell me you came up with a plan, I’ll ask you what that plan looked like.
“What have you done? If you say you led your team to increase sales from one million to two million, I’ll ask you how? What did that plan look like? Tell me how and why. I’m not looking for any fluff.”
Bottom line? Be prepared to share details.
Sizing Up Technical Skills — And More
“You have to earn the respect of the people you will lead,” Czysz says. “So technical skills are important.”
She might take a job candidate out to a job site and ask them to size up the property. How would they attack the job? What enhancements would they add?
But she’s as interested in HOW you do things as WHAT you can do.
“People often write a resume full of big fancy words about all the things they’ve done,” Czysz says. “I want to know how did they actually lead and engage? If you were short two men, how would you compensate for that? How do they handle difficult employees? How do they handle confrontation?
“If they say right away, ‘I’m not confrontational at all,’ that tells me they’re thinking about themselves. If they say, ‘This is how I handle a situation like that,’ then tell me their plan, it tells me they’re thinking about the team.”
Why Will They Ask Me THAT?
Some of Czysz’s questions might surprise you.
“I’ll ask, ‘What were your favorite sports growing up? What about outside activities and clubs?’
“If they say ‘piano,’ there’s nothing wrong with that, but that’s an indoor activity,” she says. “People coming into this industry need a true passion for the outdoors.”
She’ll ask questions to find out if you’re aesthetically driven. Do you appreciate beauty?
“When you pull up to a job site, the grass is long and ugly,” she says. “When you leave, it needs to look beautiful.”
Different Questions For Different Landscaping Jobs
Interviewing for a client relations manager job? This is a key position, and requires certain characteristics, Czysz says.
“There’s a whole different line of questions for this position than there would be for a crew member job,” she says.
“They should be results driven,” she says. “They need to know how to problem solve. That’s their world.
“I’d probably ask, ‘What did you like least about your last job? What were your biggest challenges? How did you overcome them?’”
She’ll listen carefully to the answer.
“Do they blame their boss? Their girlfriend? Or do they say, ‘This is how I did it,’” she says.
Don’t assume that a few years of experience in a similar job will impress Czysz. It takes more than that.
“What have you done in that position?” she says. “Were you innovative in how to keep everything rolling? Did you develop a strategic plan in that job? What did you actually do in those five years?”
Now, The Nitty Gritty
Here are some of the questions Czysz asks during the “cultural” part of the interview, as she looks for a passion for outdoor work and the principles of integrity, honesty, accountability, respect and trust.
— What type of sports did you play – if any?
— What was your favorite outdoor activity as a child?
— What are some of the challenges you faced in previous positions, and how did you overcome them?
— What do you feel is the most important leadership quality in the person you report to?
— Define the perfect job for you – if you could pick any job, what would it look like? Why?
— How do you create value for your team and client?
Czysz is also looking for good communicators here, so she might ask:
— What do you feel is the best form of communication?
— How well do you feel you communicate?
— Tell me about a time you feel something wasn’t communicated well – and how did you fix it?
Questions For Foreman
Czysz is looking for leadership, accountability and strong job processing skills.
She’ll likely ask:
— What are your strategies to complete work within budgeted hours?
— What is your equipment skill level?
— How do you determine what the right piece of equipment is for the task/job you are doing?
— What is the best tactic for owning the properties you service?
Questions For Client Relations Manager
Czysz is looking for goal-oriented, self-driven, sales-focused people with strong relationship-building skills, as well as confidence in meeting sales goals and being able to “seal the deal.”
She’ll ask:
— What are your strategies to develop strong relationships?
— What tools do you use to present enhancement sales opportunities to your clients?
— Take me through a site walk. What are the steps?
— Identify the key factors in presenting opportunities for enhancement sales?
Questions For Project Manager
Czysz is looking for leadership qualities, and likes answers that show a commitment to the team.
She might ask:
— Walk me through processing a job from start to finish – what are the steps?
— How do you engage your team?
— When faced with challenges, what tools do you use to overcome them?
— How do you approach training? What methods do you use?
Questions For Technicians
Technicians typically work very autonomously, so they need good follow through and attention to detail. They should be self driven.
Expect these kinds of questions:
— What are your technical skills related to turf? Tell me about the different types, the care and seasonal needs?
— Share your irrigation knowledge. What do you know about 2 wire, start-ups, shut-downs, service calls and repair?
— What is your horticulture and floriculture expertise? Tell me about flower types, watering needs, installation, care and maintenance.
Questions For Crew
Czysz is looking for individuals who are trainable, have a good attitude, a strong work ethic and who are team players.
She’ll ask:
— What type of work have you done in the past?
— Have you worked on a team? If so, how many members were on the team?
— What is your definition of teamwork?
Do You Have What It Takes?
If you have the right skills and the right attitude for one of our landscaping jobs, we’d love to hear from you.
We’ve been meeting the full-service landscaping needs of commercial and residential customers in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Cary areas for more than 35 years. We couldn’t offer our award-winning services without top-notch employees.
Interested in joining our Green Team? We’d love to meet you.