5 Tips to Make Working Interviews Work for You

“Recruiting is like making sausage—it’s ugly,” says Jason De Franco, Owner, Team Solutions Dental Lab, Sanford, FL. DeFranco would know; he’s tried every hiring strategy in the book, from a single “gut check” interview to an exhaustive, five-session process. “Both were equally ineffective in helping us find solid, long-term employees,” he says. 

DeFranco now uses working interviews—where candidates work for a short, set period of time to demonstrate their skills before being officially hired—and says this approach offers benefits to both parties: your lab has a chance to evaluate the person’s skills, aptitude, attitude, communication style and teamwork and the applicant gets a clear sense of the job requirements, lab environment and expectations. 

Thomas Brainsky, Owner, Bonifate Dental, York, PA, is also a proponent of this hiring strategy. “The things I want in an employee—a team player who is efficient and does high-quality work—can’t be seen in a standard interview. A working interview is a much more transparent hiring process,” he says.

Here are five tips to make the working interview work for you:

1. Keep it legal. For the working interview to be legal, the candidate must fill out hiring paperwork like an I9 and W4 and you must pay them for the time worked. 

To make sure everyone is on the same page, Brainsky has the candidate sign a form that acknowledges it’s a temporary, trial period and not a guarantee of a full-time position. “It’s important to have everything documented so there’s no gray area,” Brainsky says. He also recommends being aware of your state’s labor laws to ensure you’re following proper protocol. 

2. Partner up.Rather than putting applicants on the lab’s payroll during the trial period, Karli Luksch, Senior Team Leader, O’Brien Dental Lab, Corvallis, OR, works with a temp agency. Here’s how it works: After a candidate completes the interview process at O’Brien, he’s hired through the temp agency for a four-week period. Luksch pays the temp agency a small percentage of the candidate’s hourly wage and the agency handles all the necessary paperwork as well as a background check and drug testing. At the end of the trial period, if it’s a good fit, the candidate transitions to the O’Brien payroll; if not, he simply parts ways.

3. Supervise and evaluate. During the working interview period, Luksch assigns the applicant the easier tasks that would fall under his job description; for example, a potential porcelain technician would sand, steam and clean units prior to glaze application. She has a more experienced technician oversee his work and report back to her. “We want to see that the person has a good attitude, is paying attention to detail and can handle correction properly,” she says.

DeFranco follows a similar protocol and has the department supervisor and two other team members help him make the final decision. “He’s got to be a part of the team, so I want to be sure everyone agrees he’s the right fit,” he says. 

4. Set expectations. During the trial period, DeFranco doesn’t mince words about what he expects from his permanent team members. “I want the candidate to really understand just how hard it is to work here. I tell them how critical we can be and how seriously we take our customers’ demands. That way, there are no surprises later,” he says. 

Luksch sets a similar standard up front: she sits down with the potential staff member before he starts and explains the lab’s core values. “I’m very protective of our team culture, so I’m direct on what I expect as far as attitude and teamwork,” she says. 

5. Don’t force it.Establish the amount of time you feel is best to gauge the person’s work but don’t feel compelled to stick it out. Brainsky’s standard working interview period is two weeks, but it doesn’t always last that long. “Usually I know right away if it’s a good fit and, if a couple days go by and it’s just not going to work out, I pull the plug,” Brainsky says. “Letting someone go early on is a short-term problem; in the end, it’s a lot easier than having a long-term issue with a permanent employee.”