Interviewing 101: Tips and questions to land the best candidates in Rent to Own

You've made the call to replace. Now comes the harder part — finding the right person to fill that seat. In this episode, Pete Shau and Danny pull back the curtain on how two veteran RTO district managers actually conduct interviews, and why most hiring managers are asking the wrong questions.

With nearly 30 years of combined experience conducting interviews, attending job fairs, and building teams across multiple locations, Pete and Danny lay out 10 interview questions designed to cut through the rehearsed answers and get to who's really sitting across from you. These aren't surface-level questions — they're conversation starters engineered to reveal core values, work style, stress tolerance, and long-term fit.

The episode goes beyond just the questions themselves. Pete and Danny dig into the how — how to make a nervous candidate comfortable enough to be honest, how to push past the politically correct answers, when to role-play on the spot, and what a candidate isn't saying that might matter just as much as what they are.

Danny also introduces what he calls the Triangle of Success — one of the most revealing and disarming questions he asks every candidate, regardless of the position. It's simple, philosophical, and tells you more about how to motivate and retain someone than almost anything else in the interview.

The episode closes with three bonus tips that Pete and Danny swear by — including one simple test they use at the end of every interview that instantly reveals whether the person sitting in front of you has the integrity to be trusted with your store.

Whether you're a store manager hiring your first account manager or a district manager building out a bench, this episode is the hiring playbook the RTO industry doesn't talk about enough.

Transcript

Danny Lastra 1:21

And welcome to the RPO show with Danny and Pete. I'm your host, Danny,

Pete Shau 1:25

and I'm your host, Pete. And today we're going to talk about some interview questions that you need to ask to get the best candidate for your company. But first off, we're going to go into our sponsor, Unlimited Marketing Solutions. Unlimited Marketing Solutions is a social media marketing company that can market directly to your specific customer base and provide solid and trackable results. Unlimited Marketing Solutions also do extremely flexible payment options to meet your unique needs and budget and are currently running a promotion for a 10% discount off of your first six months of marketing when you mention the code RTO Show. That's RTO S H O W. When you call them at 352-553-3245. That's 352-553-3245. You can also email them at unlimited marketing solutions LLC at gmail.com. Now Danny, we were talking about how to get the great people on. That's a big thing going on right now. People need to be hired. We got to bring on the right talent. After we had our show about retain or replace, let's say that we went with the replace. Now we got to replace them with somebody that we need. So we're out there, we're getting these interviews done. What are some of the best questions that we can come up with to kind of help qualify these new hires? And I think we've come up with some really good questions that might be something that we want to put forward to find out to get to know these people better to see if they're the right kind of candidates for the job.

Danny Lastra 2:43

Absolutely. And we've been doing this for a long time. Pete, we interview a lot, we go to job fairs, we are on Indeed, we're on Yelp, we're on everything you can think of to recruit. Always recruiting, passing out business cards. And of course, the objective is to at least get them interested to call, phone interviews, and then actually show up to the interviews. But then yeah, we need to be prepared and we need to know more than do you have a pulse or a job license. Guys, real quick, before we get into these, we got 10 great questions for you. We're gonna go over them all with you, give you some tips. But before if you haven't already, please subscribe to our channel. You can go on Spotify, Apple Music, click that plus button link to follow us so you don't miss an episode moving forward. We do post every Monday, our full episode. But getting into the interview questions, Pete, I mean, I try to start off very casual. I want my applicant to feel nervous. Anyone that comes to an interview, even me included, everybody, you get a little nervous. I want to say the right thing, I want to look like I know what I'm talking about. Good impression, right? You want to make the best impression, but you're nervous, everyone gets nervous. So what I like to do is always try to eliminate that nervousness and make them feel super comfortable with me. And I just my very first question is simple. Tell me about yourself. Tell me something that's not on your resume. Because nine out of ten times, if when you ask that question, they'll immediately go, Oh, well, I've done this, I've done this. And well, that's great. We're gonna get to that, but just tell me about you. Who's Pete? You know, who are you? Tell me about yourself. Oh, I'm a lovable guy. You know, what do you like to do? I think you are, you know, what do you like to do for fun? What's your ambition? What's your goals? You know, I want to know the person because the person, if I hire, is who's gonna be coming working for me. Don't you agree?

Pete Shau 4:17

I think that when you're having those things and you set them up for, hey, you know, tell me about yourself. The one thing that you can do as an interviewer is make sure that you smile. Make sure that you take the tense feeling out of the room and give them a chance to relax just a little bit. Now, of course, you always have to keep the professionalism because you want them to know that yes, you are gonna be working for me or somebody in my company. I want you to always respect that. But at the same time, and we're all human, you know, don't go in there and sometimes we've interviewed people. I think you and I have done that, and sometimes we forget who we are, and we're just like normal people. We're just sitting there and they get all nervous. Oh my God, I'm sitting in front of the two DMs that I'm gonna work for. And it's like, first off, breathe, relax. It's all good. Hey, at the end of this, what's the worst that can happen? We don't bring you on. That's it's not the end of the world. What I want to do is get to know you because I don't want to get to know the person that you're bringing to the interview room, and then I think that's who I'm getting, and then I find out that you're a whole different person because you you came with that one foot forward, but I don't know who you really are.

Danny Lastra 5:10

Right. And you want to make sure that the important thing of this question of telling about yourself is you want to try to determine if this individual's core values matches your core values and the company's core values, because that goes a long way in the culture of your business. All right, so what what do you have for question number two, Pete? Because I I got them comfortable now, you know.

Pete Shau 5:29

The second question is are you an independent worker or do you perform better in a team setting? And the reason I want to know that is depending on the position that you're gonna take on, you could do a lot of different things. And you want somebody who is a forward thinker and can handle being on their feet, but salespeople sometimes have a tendency of being out there on their own, right? They do their own things, they're they're making sales calls, they're talking to people individually, they're handling people on the sales floor, but it's mostly like a single effort. Now, when you're talking about accounts, that's a whole different story. You've got to work with the drivers, you've got to work with your boss as far as the GM, you've got to make sure that these people, you're not only reaching out to different people, but you're working with the people in your location to help them out. And I'm not saying that salespeople aren't integrated in what we do. What I'm saying it's a little bit more of a team effort, especially in a driver situation where you can have to do team lifting, going out to customers' homes, and you might be bouncing off of each other as far as how to get something done or get it, you know, a team setting like I'll take this upstairs if you want to break down these boxes, or I'll set this up if you want to do this. There's a little bit more team associated with that. Or if you have an MIT, how do they, you know, how do they handle it? And you want to kind of let them specify themselves so that you can kind of see where their focus is and where they're going. Now, of course, it doesn't mean they're not qualified. You just want to know what type of person you're dealing with and what makes them tick. What do they feel like they do best in?

Danny Lastra 6:47

I agree. And what you what you want to be careful about too is the politically correct answer response of oh, either or I can work by myself or I can work with a team.

Pete Shau 6:55

Break it down. Don't don't go with that answer.

Danny Lastra 6:58

Make them break it down. Yes, force them to even subconsciously choose. You know, that's great. But if you have a preference, what would you rather do? Do you want to work by yourself or do you want to work with the team every day? You're gonna do a little bit of both.

Pete Shau 7:10

You want to know if you're 51% the one way, I want to know which would that that 1%, which way does it go? And it again, it doesn't disqualify your interviewer or your interviewee from anything. It just lets you know what type of person they are and how to focus and train them differently than you might somebody else.

Danny Lastra 7:28

And placement. You know, it doesn't necessarily like you said, doesn't necessarily mean you're not gonna bring them into the company, but now maybe you were interviewing them for a specific position, and this question or this whole interview makes you go, man, this person would actually be great for this position.

Pete Shau 7:41

Or this location or this division, or you know, you might be hiring for, let's say, a driver in one position. You find out they're just account manager material. It's really not gonna work on it in that position as far as a driver. So let me find another place in the company to put them because it's somebody you don't want to let go of.

Danny Lastra 7:56

Absolutely. So, okay, so you you ask number two or independent worker or better in team, they answer that question. What's what do you immediately follow up with?

Pete Shau 8:03

Number three is what skills have you acquired that make you a great candidate for this position? And what is a skill? What do you mean by skill? Skill is something that I'm good at. So uh, you know, if I have a skill, I might be skilled at building, I might have a building skill, I might be have a better affinity for driving. And when I say that, I I just have a better way of, yeah, I know the streets better, I know how to get to point A, point B, and point C easier, faster. I know how to deal with computers a little bit better. Maybe I have a little bit of a computer background in fixing or repairing. Maybe I know how to network things together. So maybe if the printer is out and it needs to be connected, I know a little bit about wiring, I know a little bit about, you know, the switches, I know a little about the internet and how the Wi-Fi works. Those skills are something that doesn't necessarily mean that I have a doctorate's in it, but it does mean that I've acquired these along the way that would make me a little bit more useful in in the position that you're looking to put me in.

Danny Lastra 8:56

And I think in the RTO, what we are looking for, everybody should be looking for is individual applicants with people skills. I think that's a must. People skills. I think the intelligence of being mechanically inclined is a plus because of course we have services, and you know, a lot of us are looking for that guy or girl that just knows how to tinker, knows how to build stuff, or you know, because we have driver positions, we have service positions. But I think majority we want to make sure everybody has those people skills because no matter what, everyone's gonna be dealing with a customer at one point.

Pete Shau 9:27

People skills is actually a great thing to say, and I'm glad you said that because you know, sometimes we take the position that they were in for granted, or sometimes we take it as a not important. And I'm not saying that it happens in every situation. Sometimes we take entry-level positions and don't give it the importance that it deserves. Like, let's say that we have a young person and they're coming in from a fast food or they're coming in from a remedial job. But sometimes those jobs are physically more demanding and it's a lot more in your face when it comes to the customer base. And when you have somebody who's used to dealing with a hundred different people a day, that might be a better situation than somebody who's not really good face-to-face with people. Maybe I'm I'm in drive-thru, and my my core thing is to say, you know, I'm gonna give everybody the best customer interaction that I can with them in the 30 seconds or 45 seconds or two minutes that they're there. And you got to take that into account when you're talking about people skills. That is a great skill to have. If you're gonna have people that can go out there and talk to people that they don't know, when somebody comes in and you don't know who they are, to be able to go up and say hi confidently, to be able to talk about yourself and the company that you have or you're in confidently, that is a great skill to have. So people skills is I'm glad you said that. It's a great skill.

Danny Lastra 10:36

So we learned a little bit about them. We know whether they're independent worker or a team member. You found out some skills that they possess. What what else do you think we need to ask?

Pete Shau 10:45

Now we gotta find out the qualifications they have. Boom. Have you gone out and you've really you I can say I have in, let's say, a Microsoft certification, I have an Adobe certification, I have something that says I'm qualified to do this by standards set by somebody else. So the skills say, Yeah, I can tinker, yeah, I can drive, yeah, I can paint, I can do this, but this qualification says I'm guaranteed to give you the best result because I'm tested and qualified to do it.

Danny Lastra 11:13

So I'm gonna throw you a little curveball question. How can an applicant produce qualifications for people skills?

Pete Shau 11:19

Now, people skills is gonna be a very different type of situation. So you're gonna want a qualification and maybe public speaking. Um, do have they taken classes in public speaking through a community college? Have they done it in the previous workplace that they've had? So maybe as a reference, you know, you can call the previous employer and say, hey, they said that they would trainer for, you know, the new people that came in. How many people would they train? Oh, well, you know, every two weeks there would be a class of maybe 20 people, and they would sit down with these people that they don't know and say, hey, this is what you do, this is what you do, this is what you do. That's a people skill that you can use, but then the qualification is somebody saying, yes, they've done this, yes, they've done it well, or yes, they haven't done it well. But the idea is to check on those qualifications, and especially if you have like, let's say, a Microsoft certification, or let's say that you have a mechanic. It's crazy enough to say, but I've had mechanics as drivers, and either they got burnt out or they don't want to do it. Well, you can get certified for that as well. You can take vocational school for that. Sometimes you have those people that network, they can do networking. Networking is something that can be qualified through a local school or let's say a community college or anything, especially when you're talking about people skills, you want to know what they've done and somebody to verify it. And those qualifications are like hands-down gold.

Danny Lastra 13:20

Exactly. And that and I'm glad you hit that topic of references because for me, I know when I'm interviewing, that's their qualification. You're telling me you're a great leader, you're a great manager, you're great at time management, you're a salesman, you know, you're telling me all this great stuff that I want to hear. And sometimes that's hard to get a qualification. I mean, not everybody's taking a speech class or a management class, but what reference? Who's gonna back you up? Who's gonna and someone of a respectable position as well? Not your buddy that you worked with, you know, side by side. What about a supervisor? What about a major, but a regional or even an owner directly? Someone to validate and say, Oh, yeah, that guy Pete, I would hire him in a second. I actually try to get him to come back, blah, blah, blah. Like you want that reference is the qualification of what they are saying, their skills they have.

Pete Shau 14:06

Absolutely. So after you're going through number four, what qualifications do they have? Then sometimes you want to go into, yeah, you do this great. I know you do it great. I can verify you do it great. But then you go into number five. What is your biggest area of opportunity?

Danny Lastra 14:21

Yeah, I know that's a question. It's a hard question to answer because no applicant wants to reveal a burden or a weakness. Everybody's coming in again with the mindset that I'm gonna give you the best impression. I'm the best, I'm the best, I'm the best candidate, I'm gonna be a rock star. You don't have to worry about me being late. You know, I'm always on time, I never call out, I'm a gung-ho teamwork person, etc. etc. You know, you already know the great stuff they're gonna say, but everybody has an area of opportunity that I like to call it. I don't really like call it a weakness, I like to call it an area of opportunity because you can always improve on that area of opportunity. So I always do like to ask that question. I like to see what they have to say. I even to make them feel again, trying to make them more comfortable, I give them my own personal reference and I tell them, listen, you can ask my supervisors, my co-workers, I could tell you what my area of opportunity is is organization. I am the most unorganized individual you will ever meet. And as a as a district manager, say it ain't so, Danny. Say it ain't so as a store manager. I mean, that is one thing, you know. Get Larry Pivot on the phone, he'll tell you that. You know, don't look at my desk.

Pete Shau 15:28

You know, don't look at my desk.

Danny Lastra 15:30

You know, it's a clutter, it's clutter everywhere. I got now, I know where everything is at, but don't touch myself. You see my office, Pete, like I got papers on the floor, like I have it like a little circle, you know, like my own little choo-choo train going on, like, hey, hey, hey, those are my reports. So it's the most organized, unorganized desk you've ever seen. But all right, that's an area of opportunity that I I continuously daily need to work on to be better at in my position. I'm still in my position. I think I'm successful in my position, but that's a flaw, that's a weakness. And I try to use that as an example. So when I'm interviewing applicants, they they feel more comfortable and willing to be like, well, I guess if I had to narrow down, I probably need to work on this or I need to work on that. And you know, a lot of the questions, a lot of the answers I've gotten, and again, I feel like it's a politically correct answer, but I've heard all these kinds of answers. Well, I feel like I'm too hard on myself, so that's something I need to work on. Okay. But I'm looking for the nitty-gritty. I'm looking for the P's and Q's.

Pete Shau 16:22

You know, cut through the fluff. If somebody's giving you the fluff answer, cut through the fluff. Again, you always want to use a personal approach. And when I say personal, I don't mean get personal. I mean when you, like you said, you give them an opportunity to see who you are to say, hey man, I am I'm not I'm not perfect either. I'm flawed too. I'm not gonna sit here in front of you as somebody who's trying to interview, going, you have to be as perfect as I am. No, we're all humans. And you cut through that, you know, hey, yeah, I understand. It's one of those politically correct answers that you're gonna give your interviewer when you say that. Give me the truth. And you have to know when they're giving you that fluff answer and when you really want to get to the truth. Oh, you know, I'm too hard on my Really? Why is that?

Danny Lastra 16:57

Right.

Pete Shau 16:57

Why why do you feel like you're too hard on yourself? It's because you know you have deadlines to meet and you can't meet them, or what is it? You know, cut cut straight through that. Yes. You want to you don't want them to really sit there and go, oh, you know, because because what? I mean, I really want to get to know who you are. This interview isn't just about filling a position, it's filling a position with the right candidate that's gonna make you successful and make me successful. It's a two-way street. It can't be just good for you and then for us it's not good, or it can't be just us, you know, good for us, and then you come on in six months, you want to go somewhere else. Right. So you really want to cut through the fluff and get to those those little answers like I work too hard.

Danny Lastra 17:34

I like to immediately do a 180. Question number six that I immediately follow up with is well, what's your greatest strength? What what is the your biggest accomplishment or what's something that you just feel super confident about? And of course, I like you know, this one always has tends to be a little bit of an easy question for advocans, and they always I I can see it that they feel like they know what the right answer is, and a lot of the times the right answer isn't even the answer I'm looking for. What I'm really looking for as an interviewer is your confidence. I want to know, are you actually confident in yourself to produce the results? Or are you interviewing and hoping you're trying to say the right answer?

Pete Shau 18:13

Well, you open up that door with number five, right? When you're talking about your biggest area of opportunity, they look they're looking at you like, man, I really don't want to say something that's gonna disqualify me from this position, right? So when you break them down, get down to the nitty-gritty, they're like, oh man, God, I don't want another one of those questions. And then when you immediately follow up with what's your greatest attribute of strength, oh man, then the lights come on. Oh no, I do this well, I do that well. You know, this is what happened back in 2005, whenever it is that these people would, you know, had to start their working thing and it's like, hey man, I've done this, I've done this, I can do this well. So you kind of you kind of get that door kind of wedged open, and then with your, you know, with your number six, you open it up. What's your greatest attribute? Okay, yeah, let me let me tell you what I can do. And it really kind of gets them involved. And it, like you said, if you can sit back and let them tell that story, they're they're gonna open up to you and it'll give you a lot more insight into who you have sitting in front of you.

Danny Lastra 19:03

Yeah, because especially if you're interviewing for a sales position, you need a confident person in that position. You need somebody that, you know, hey, let me learn the system, but don't worry. You need that confident individual to be like, oh, I'll sell to anybody. You know, I'll sell Ice Sun Eskimo. Just put me out there, coach. Give me the ball. In that position specifically, you kind of want a little bit of that confident, a little bit arrogant, maybe, but then it can maybe humble them and say, all right, well, we're gonna put you to the test. You know, make sure you back up what you're saying.

Pete Shau 19:28

So well, here's the thing, too, is in between these questions, don't feel afraid. This might be a great time if they say something that's very outgoing and it sounds very good. Do a role play. Listen to see how they how are they on the fly? Yeah. Because the truth is you're sitting behind a desk, somebody calls and you answer it, whether before we open or you know it's quiet, or it could be with a lot of people there, and somebody's gonna call you and have a question that you're just not prepared for. That's okay because that's life. You know, you're in the middle of making credit calls and somebody calls you and says, that one's clearance item that I saw, you know, what color is it? How isn't she? You got to get up and you gotta run over there and you gotta come make a little bit of small talk. That's okay. So when you put them on the fly, this is a good time to see how do you handle some pressure? And not in a way that, you know, I'm not trying to disqualify you. What I'm trying to say is when you're here and I'm here and you just gave me all your greatest attributes and you're all your greatest strengths, let's test one out and see how really confident you are in that situation. But then again, we have to understand that as we've been doing this for years and years, it might be a little bit easier for us. So as you're doing that and you're putting somebody on that role, make sure that you take that into account that they're probably a little bit nervous and they have a lot going on and they're kind of worried about how they're gonna act in front of you. You know, take that in consideration when you're when you're looking to fill that position.

Danny Lastra 20:36

So, what's another qualified question you could ask them going into number seven? What's a qual another qualified question you could ask them, Pete?

Pete Shau 20:42

What is the highest position you've ever professionally held in your career? With that, is the idea to get to describe their duties, describe their efficiency in the role, let them open up about it. Again, a lot of this is questions that aren't meant to be answered. We don't when you ask questions, you want to state it in a way that's not so closed. You want open-ended questions because you want them to be filled in. You don't want to ask a lot of yes and no questions, like, were you always on time? Yes, because then that's it. You're not gonna get an answer that you're looking for. You're not gonna get them to open up and tell you exactly what's going on. When you give them closed-ended questions, you're gonna get a close-ended interview. So you got to give them open-ended questions. So, what is your highest position that you've ever held professionally in your career? They're gonna give you an answer, but you wanna get them to describe their duties, describe what they did, describe the efficiency of it, or did they manage other people? Did they get a position where it wasn't managing other people? That's so you're getting you're using a closed-ended question to just find out exactly what they were. And then you want to open it up to, well, talk to me about that. What made you so proficient in that in that role? How did you get to that role? And what did you do?

Danny Lastra 21:43

So you get that information, you find out what the last role was, and how the duties and responsibilities, and how as you're talking and interviewing, you're mentally taking notes, oh, this person has the experience of management sales or collections, whatever the case may be. Then you can actually ask more direct questions related to that specific position because now you have something to back up on it and say, Oh, well, I know about that position too. Have you ever done this? This do you understand this lingo? Et cetera, et cetera. And then almost like make sure that they are being truthful and honest with their answer of the positions they've held. Again, that also goes back to the references to back them up that yeah, they've been in this position, etc. etc. After that question, what I like to do, what I like to ask them next is what has been your most positive and negative management experience? And I specifically want them to tell me one of each, a negative experience and a positive experience. And what I'm really trying to find out here with that question is what kind of manager or supervisor they prefer to work for. Because you might have an ideal candidate, and let's say they're a negative experience, hypothetically, let's just say, oh, negative experience is my previous supervisor used to micromanage me. You're interviewing them for a store, for a store manager who happens to micromanage. That might not be a good fit. Even though they're an ideal candidate, you might not want to put them with that manager because you know it's not gonna be, it's not gonna mess with us, it's not gonna be a good relationship. And I think if you are the direct supervisor and you're interviewing, this also will give you an insight. Well, how do I need to manage this individual? How am I gonna motivate them and incentivize them and coach them if I bring them on board? This is one of the great questions I do love asking and seeing what they have to say. Do you agree?

Pete Shau 23:21

No, absolutely. And then, you know, on the other side of that is one of your most positive. Then one of the most negative is also an important thing. Did it come from a did it come from an employee that you used to have where maybe you're really good at solving problems and that employee just had an issue with it and you really you really kind of had to break it down? Is it, you know, when you're talking about a negative managing experience, there's so much that can go with that. You know, you can find out what kind of candidates you really have. Are you are you set to working 40 hours? Do you know that this might be a salary position? Or are you so used to working 60 hours or you work used to working overtime? This is only a 40 hour position. You know, it you kind of bring it into a lot of different circumstances, and it an employee interaction can be one of them. How do they face adversity? You know, I was supposed to have a delivery that came in at seven that was going to supply everything for that day. It didn't come in at seven in the morning. It kind of came in at 10. It reset the entire day. It was very difficult. I ended up quitting. The idea is you want to know how they handle it. You want to know how they're looking at the situation. You want to know their ability to overcome the situations or not overcome it. Because like you said, you're looking for the greatness, but you're looking for the shortcomings to pair them in a position or with a manager or with a location that's going to suit them best for that success. And you have to know the good and the bad. And it's a great question. So your most positive and most negative management experience can really kind of determine what kind of person you have there. And it could be, you know, it doesn't have to be a management experience if they've never been a manager. It could be as an employee. What was your most positive experience and what was your most negative experience as a cashier, as a bagger? Or it could be you used to run a store or a location or multiple stores and locations. What was your and you felt one of the most difficult situations? Because sometimes we leave and then we're like, oh man, I should have said this other one because that was probably Hey, you're on the spot. I get it. What do you feel is one of your most best situations? Eh, not so best, so we can talk about it. Don't be afraid to talk about it. That leads us directly into number nine, why did you leave your current position or why are you going to leave your current position? I mean, what do you think? What do you think they're gonna say?

Danny Lastra 25:24

Most common answers is one, more money. Two, I'm having a difficulty getting along with my direct supervisor. Three, travel, four, time.

Pete Shau 25:36

Definitely good reasons as to why to leave your position, but it also gives you as an interviewer kind of a what somebody will accept and not accept. And we're not talking about, you know, they will accept being badgered or anything like that. No, you always want to treat your employees with respect, but they they have limitations. And sometimes those limitations are based on time away from their family. Sometimes their limitations are based on how much they can, how much time that they can put out for the money that they're making, right? I don't mind putting it out 40 hours or 50 hours, but I have to make this much for a living wage because I have these responsibilities. Or it's too far, I can't go that far. And sometimes they'll inadvertently answer questions that you might have about what position they can go into, the distance, what a good child job title for them would be, considering that they will not do this or they will not do that, or they're really good with stress environments, but they're not good with maybe direct contact with customers because that's just something that they they're not really good at. It kind of gives you a quick snapshot of their limitations and what they will and will not do. It also gives you an opportunity to take that answer and go back to a previous employer and say, hey, now, full disclosure, some employers will tell you, some employers will not. Of course, you have to follow this the state laws as to what they can tell you as opposed to our HR department. You know, how long were they there? What you know, were they on time all the time, were they responsible employees and the fact that you know they didn't crash a car through a window or something like that. And sometimes that's all they'll tell you. Sometimes they'll tell you a little bit more, but this just gives you that that feedback, that knowledge.

Danny Lastra 27:01

Another thing recently that I've been hearing a lot, because I've been interviewing a lot of manager and trainees or store managers, and I'm being told that a lot of the reason why the managers are leaving other companies is because they were promised an incentive and it wasn't followed through. Of course, always three sides to a story. I say that all the time his, hers, and the truth. And so you might only get one side of that. But that is something I am hearing a lot lately. And what I do is for my personal references, then I make sure, okay, if I am gonna make an offer, put it on paper. Let's sign it. Therefore, there is no he say, she say. It's hey, this is what I'm offering you. And I know, I know Pete, you do a really good job of this. Anytime you make an offer, you make a nice little letterhead, very detailed, you know, you have 14 days to reply. This will be your salary, this is your incentive, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And you know, I do that too. Sometimes I do a more, you know, unorthodox. Sometimes I even write it on a piece of paper and just sign it, but boom, picture, picture, you know, but it's signed document. Like I want to make sure that my integrity is never questioned. You know, if you're gonna leave me, it's not gonna be because my integrity is gonna be for any other reason, you know what I'm saying?

Pete Shau 28:06

Well, I think we both bring it to the table. Listen, I want to hold you accountable as an employee. Hold me as accountable as an employer. If I tell you that I'm gonna do something, you absolutely have a right to say, hey man, I don't mind doing what you're asking me to do, but I also want to get back in return what you told me I was gonna get. And I think that's a fair swing on both ways. Something that I like to follow up that question with, and it's not an extra question, just kind of follow up with that question, is if you left for any other reason than, you know, listen, I moved to a different state or something like that. But if it's if you left, one of my biggest questions to them is did you have a conversation with that manager or with that employer or with that supervisor as to why you were unhappy before you left? Did you give them an opportunity to change what you thought was wrong?

Danny Lastra 28:47

That's a great question. And depending on their answer, would definitely give you an insight of who you might be potentially hiring. Because, like you just said, I want to be held accountable as an employer. We hold our employees accountable. I want to know if an employee is upset with me, if they're disgruntled for whatever reason. Let's talk about it. Let's have an open door conversation. Maybe it's something I can work on, something I can change, or maybe it is a take it or leave it situation. I mean, sometimes it happened, but at least there's closure and there's that authentic, genuine knowing, not the what is, like I wonder what happened, or shoulda, woulda, coulda. No, it's yeah, we it was just time to part ways because we couldn't come to an agreement.

Pete Shau 29:33

Well, sometimes we have to hold ourselves accountable to, you know, sometimes we hear things and we're just like, this is the way it is, this is the policies. Nope, that's not the way it is anymore. Nowadays you have to be in tune to the people that you have working for you, and you have to remember if you expect to get a lot out of them, they have to get a lot out of you. You have to be open with them and you want them to be open with you. And as long as there's a mutual respect in there, a professionalism, you have to be able to have that open door that says, Hey, I need to sit down with you. Okay, I'm gonna make, you know, even if you have to put it off, I'll make five minutes for this, just let me finish this up, or let's let's create a time frame, or let's set an appointment and then sit down and not be so quick to cut them off, not be so quick to say, well, this is how things are because these are the policies and this is what we need. But to really kind of sit down and genuinely listen to the problem that that person is having. That doesn't always mean that you have the answer to fix it because it might literally be you have to do this because of a health standard. You might have to do this because if you don't do it in this order, it's going to create a chaos later on down the road. Or it might be some legal term, or it might be some, you know, as a in a doctor's office, it might be something that you cannot pass up. Well, in rent to own, there are certain things that we can and certain things that we can't do. Um, there are certain policies that we have that we have to enforce and certain things that we can't. But if you sit down and genuinely listen to them and you give them that opportunity, you will have people that will do one or two things. They'll they'll stay a little bit longer, or a new term that came up, they won't be quietly quitting. And that's something that if you guys are if you guys are doing interviews and you have a lot coming up, quietly quitting is an important phrase that you want to look up and tell you right now, it's people who are doing just the bare minimum to get by. And to be successful in any type of business, you're gonna have to go above and beyond. That's usually how it goes, or do your job extremely well and be proficient at it. So, on top of giving them clear standards, you know, they have to have this set of rules and this set of guidelines that they need to do. And if you want somebody to just sit back and let the car coast, man, close your door. Don't be open to ideas, don't listen to them. And let me tell you, that's exactly what you're gonna get. You're gonna get into it, what you put into it. And I think the interviewer also needs to know that, hey, did you talk to them? Because if not, you can talk to me. You can say something to me as an employer. Or my GMs know that if something needs to be said, you can go to them and you can say, This is what's going on. Again, you can't always fix the problem, but you have to be open to fixing a problem.

Danny Lastra 31:52

Um, the nail right on the head. So, what I like to wrap up with, especially right after that question, why are you leaving or why did you leave? This is something I like to ask every candidate. In fact, I just like to ask random people as well because there is no wrong answer what I'm about to ask, but it does give me an intuitive insight on who you are in your current state of life. I call this uh the triangle of success. I know Pete, you've heard this a lot of times. You've heard me say this to a lot of people. I've asked this question 20 times in the past week with every interviewer I've I've had. So the triangle of success, you have a point on each triangle, right? And you have money, you have time, and you have happiness. So that's the triangle of success. That's the dream. That's what every American is trying to capture. They want all three. That's the trifecta. But I can only guarantee you two.

Pete Shau 32:42

What two do you pick? That's a trick question. Can you move to the next one? That's not A, B, U, C. That's a D. Uh, goes through the all the above. Um, it's one of those things that will also give you an opportunity. Because that's a great question. And it doesn't mean right, wrong. It doesn't mean that you don't want to hire this person. What it does is it lets you see are they a younger person where they have more money and time to put into the position where they want to do a little bit extra, they want to do a little bit of extra work in the sense that I want to grow in this company, I want to grow in my position, or do you have somebody that's a little bit more tenured and they have a family at home and they're good at their job, but they're they don't want to put in the 60-hour work week because they have kids to raise. They have somebody to take to school, their wife's in or husband is in school at night and they're trying to help out with that, or they're just making ends meet, but they're working 60 hours is behind them. It gives you an opportunity to judge that just that person and where they might be as far as what you're looking for, and again, what they're looking for, because you always want to marry those two together.

Danny Lastra 33:41

Nine out of ten times, people always choose happiness as one of them, and then everything is split between money and time. You know, that's the most common answer. Very recently, I did have an applicant, very witty individual, try to convince me. So he chose money and time. And I go, okay, so you don't care about being happy. And his response was, Well, if I have money and time, I am happy. And I go, you know, you'd be surprised. I know, I know some people that have money and have time, but they're just not happy at home. I mean, they they don't they go to bed by themselves, empty house. That is a that is a seriously philosophical question, right there, buddy.

Pete Shau 34:15

Like you could probably talk about those three things, we could have a podcast on those three things alone.

Danny Lastra 34:19

It's true, but and again, the great thing is there is no wrong answer. It's what's right for you in this moment in your current life because that your answer can change as time goes by. You know, right now, your answer might be money and happiness, but then two years from now, it's like, mmm, I I I've stacked some bread, I got I got some savings. Money's not a priority. I'd rather have time and happiness right now. Or maybe right now, because you know, you're 36, married with three kids, it's a time for you. Like, I need that time and I want to be happy and doing what I do love and at home. And I know I could probably make more money if I worked 70 hours a week and was hustling all the time, but I just don't have the time for that. So that's something I could do later on in the future. You know, there's no right or wrong answer, but I do love asking that question. I love hearing the responses. You know, I love seeing it puzzles them. You know, wow, I gotta choose two. Like it's a tough question, you know, but it also as an employer, some an interviewer, someone that I'm about to hire, it does tell me a couple things. It also tells me what I'm gonna be able to negotiate with because I know what's a priority for you, I know what motivates you, I know how to incentivize you. So I think it's a great question as an interviewer, so that way you kind of get again get more insight on the individual you're speaking with.

Pete Shau 35:32

So that is our 10 questions for new interviewees that will get you to kind of get them to open up, it'll get you to understand and know them a little bit better, uh, kind of puts you them on the spot, kind of puts them on the spot, and it gives you some questions to really rely on as you're going through the process. And I think these will also help you down the road to know uh is this the right person for the position? How to, like you said, like how to motivate them. And I think it'll help you, because coming from a previous episode to retainer to replace, when you have had to make the decision to let's say replace, this is a good way to put somebody in there that will fill those shoes nicely. Now, of course, it'll never take away from experience and training and all that, but that's this is the best way that we've found are some great tips to get the right person in the right spot. Now, there are some additional things that I think that this provides. The first one for me is as you're looking at the situation, as you're asking the questions, as you're sitting there with somebody, it's not always what they're saying because sometimes it's what they're not saying. Uh, sometimes we put a light on some place to not shine it on another. And it doesn't always mean it's a negative situation, it doesn't mean it's always a negative thing, but you want to really listen for what they are saying and as equally what they're not saying. That's definitely gonna help you out in any situation.

Danny Lastra 36:50

You actually taught me that. I I've learned that doing dual interviews with you, which I've learned a lot, and it that's another that's another suggestion I would make is especially if you're just now learning to interview, or even if you are experiencing interview, it doesn't matter. When you do a dual interview with somebody else, you'll get another insight because one-on-one, you're doing one-on-one, so I'm just listening and I'm developing my own thoughts and opinions of what's going on. But then if there's somebody else in a room, after that interview, we leave, you can look to that other individual that was there with you. Hey, what did you think of this person? And you'll be surprised how they caught things that you didn't catch, and vice versa, or you they heard things that you didn't hear, or things they did not say that you didn't catch. And I mean, I think that that was that's a great tip. And again, it's not what you say, it's also what they're not saying.

Pete Shau 37:36

So never undermine a peer interview, never undermine somebody co-interviewing you with you because as you're intently listening to the person in front of you, you can have somebody who's not actually intently listening with all that, you know, with the intent to respond or the intent to bring them on, but they're looking for the other aspects of it, and you can go back and forth on that as well. And I think it's definitely helped us out in the past uh doing some interviews that we've talked to people together and we're like, I saw this. Yeah, I saw this. Oh, well, you know, it might be a great fit or it might not be a fit at all. And I think that leads into the second tip after the questions as you're being an interviewee. Go with your gut. Go with your gut when you've done it for a long time. It's a go with your gut. You get you've got to hone the interviewing skill. That is a skill. Now, I don't know if you could ever be qualified unless you get into HR and you actually have this ability, but interviewing properly is a skill. And doing it more often is very important because that's a skill that you always want to hone. You want to keep your blade sharp on that. Even if you don't need somebody, you always want to be interviewing for your fellow stores, for the company. And do you have a retain or a place situation like we talked about on previous podcasts? This is an opportunity to make that good foot forward. So always go with your gut. And my last thought process is if they don't give their current employer a two-week notice, they're not going to give you a two-week notice. To me, any time I don't care how hard I want to hire somebody, how much I want to get somebody in, no matter how good they are for the position, if they tell me, Pete, I I I want to be here, I want to do it, but I got to give two weeks notice, I'm gonna honor that all the way because that means that they're I'm not gonna take that away from them, I'm not gonna take that away from another employer, but it also gives them the respect, say, hey, if I'm going somewhere, I'm gonna give you a notice. And I respect that all day. How many times have we had no notice?

Danny Lastra 39:26

No, well, and you know, and that and that's another great thought process. And to add to that, you know, I'm sitting here and thinking, you know, here's a little side tip for that. I don't want to use the word or phrase trick question, but ask the applicant, can you start Monday? I need you Monday, can you start Monday? And see if they're willing to even break their own moral code to get the job, or are they going to stay with their integrity, say, no, Pete, I gotta give it to we notice. I want I I would love to, but now if they let me go, I'll come in, but I gotta give them the notice first. And if they have one, and then now you know you're dealing with an honest person that will give you that same respect.

Pete Shau 40:03

That what we're doing now is just kind of going over the things that we thought were the best questions to ask, not the only questions to ask. So you guys gotta remember that if there's anything you want to add to it, absolutely tweak it. If you want to let us know what it is your thoughts are or some questions that you have that we didn't cover that were great to add to maybe a follow podcast or something that we can put on the website, you know, please let us know. It's Pete at the RTO Showpodcast.com or Danny at the rtoshowpodcast.com. Email us, let us know what's going on. If you have any great questions or tips, add it to it. We'll go over them one more time. Number one, tell me about yourself. Tell me who you are and what's going on and a little bit more about you. Number two, are you an independent worker or do you perform better in a team setting? Number three, what skills do you have or have acquired that make you a good fit for this position? Number four, what qualifications do you have that you can bring to the table or that you are bringing to the table? You've got number five, what is your biggest area of opportunity to improve? Then quickly follow that up with number six, what is your greatest attribute or strength that you're bringing to the table? That's something that you always want to make sure that uh you get them to answer because it really gets them to open up. Number seven, what is the highest position you've ever held professionally in your career and describe the duties in that position? Then make sure you ask them, number eight, what has been your most positive or negative management or employee experience? Number nine, why did you leave or going to leave your current position? And what do you feel that could have been done better? Did you talk to your employer about what you thought was wrong? Then number 10, Danny's triangle of success, money time or happiness. That almost sounds like a rap song, but uh money time or happiness to get them to really understand at the end, and then during the process, always look at what they're not saying as much as you look at what they're saying. Go with your gut, and if they don't give a notice, they won't give you a notice.

Danny Lastra 41:56

We are taking orders on RTO shirts, so if you want to be part of the RTO family, please email us. Pete already provided the emails and let us know your shirt size, what color you would want. We will be having pricing when you email us on our website here shortly. Looking forward to the RTO family to grow and love the support. Please click the link, follow us, subscribe, make sure you don't miss an episode.

Pete Shau 42:17

And before we go, I just want to mention that APRO, the Association of Progressive Rental Organizations, are doing their part to help. Visit them at www.rtohq.org on your mobile device or on your computer. Here's a quick walkthrough how to get to their special funds page, which they're helping out with a lot of things that are going on right now. There are three lines on top. You click on them, you click on the foundation button, and then you can apply or donate to some of the funds that they have, which includes the RTO or the Relief to Hour Employees Disaster Relief Fund. This fund has distributed more than $430,000 to help those RTO families affected by natural disasters like those affected by the recent hurricanes that tore to the U.S. and its territories. If you can spare some none, please donate. If you are in need, let them know by applying for help. Remember, it's the RTO Employee Disaster Relief Fund through APRO at www.rtohq.org. This is the RTO show with Danny and Pete.