The Hiring Post That Started a Conversation Worth Sharing

You can't get 5-star reviews with no one to send.

# The Hiring Post That Started a Conversation Worth Sharing

You can't get 5-star reviews with no one to send.

# The Hiring Post That Started a Conversation Worth Sharing

A member of our community, Thomas, posted something in the group last week that I know a lot of you have felt.

He said he was close to being done. Business slowed down, money going out and not enough coming in, hiring sites eating his budget with almost nothing to show for it. "If we're not making money by the summer," he wrote, "I'm done."

I've been there. My sister, Jen and I have been there. And I think this conversation is worth sharing with everyone who wasn't in the thread.

If you haven't even launched yet and you're already worried about hiring your first cleaner, that's completely normal. Most people are. Just know that everything below applies to you too, and you'll be ready for it sooner than you think.

## The first thing I told him

Stop making people fill out an application.

I know that sounds backwards. But the application step, before anyone's even spoken to you, is where most of the good candidates drop off. They're cleaners, not job seekers. They're already working. They don't have time or energy to jump through hoops just to find out if you're worth their time . And honestly? You're wondering the same thing about them.

Get them on the phone as fast as possible. That's where the good ones get sorted.

## The full sequence

I handle all the hiring at Oak Bay Clean, and I shared the actual sequence I use in the thread. It's worth putting here in full. (If you're more of a watch-it-in-action person, I've also put together a full hiring playlist on YouTube: watch it here .)

Step 1: Post your ad on a Monday. (I use Indeed, but whatever works for you.)

Step 2: Screen all applicants within 4 hours. Out of 20 applications, maybe 1–2 will have actual residential cleaning experience. That's what you're looking for first.

Step 3: Text the cleaner this, exactly:

Hi [first name], This is [your name] from [company]. Do you have time today or tomorrow for a quick 5–10 minute call to discuss your application to clean with us? We're adding new team members this week. Thanks!

I've tested a lot of variations. This one works best.

Step 4: When they reply, text back:

Perfect. In the meantime, please see [your website] and our Google reviews so you can get a sense of our company and culture. I'll call at [agreed time/day]. Thanks!

Step 5: Call them exactly at that time. This matters. You're showing them you're professional and that you honour your commitments. That's rare, and they notice.

Step 6: Open with this: "Before we get started, what is it that you're looking for in working with a cleaning company like ours?"

Give them time to think and answer. You'll get some version of "I just want a job" (not ideal) or "I'd love to clean a few days a week around my other commitments" (great). Either way, you're learning what they actually want, and that matters for everything that comes next.

Then ask about their experience. I reference something from their resume, usually their last cleaning job: "Can you tell me a bit more about what you liked about that job, and maybe what you didn't like?" That second part is where you learn their pain points, and that's where you can speak to what makes working with you different.

If they say the pay wasn't enough, explain the 60% model. You pay by the job, not by the hour, so you're not penalizing them for being efficient. Most of our cleaners make $150–$300/day with this model. Use real examples from your own team if you have them. It lands better than theory.

Close with "How does that all sound?" and pause. Give them room to ask questions. Then move to next steps: 2–3 pro references, police check dated within the last 12 months, and a paid test clean. If they get 5 stars, you move to onboarding. If not, offer a second test clean. It tells you more than the first one did, because now you're watching how they take feedback.

The insurance comes last. Don't mention it in the first five minutes. Once you've built some rapport, I ask it like a genuine question: "You don't happen to have general liability insurance already, do you? For if you ever break or damage something in a client's house? It protects you in those instances."

They almost always say some version of "I've never damaged anything." And I get it. Neither have I. So I explain it like driving a car. It's not about whether they'll damage something, it's about protecting them if a client ever says they did. Our clients have high-end homes and occasionally claim things. The insurance is what protects the cleaner when that happens. Framed that way, you're not asking them to jump through a hoop. You're looking out for them.

## On the question of standards

Thomas asked a reasonable question: "Should we dumb down the requirements? Emphasize personality and take a chance?"

His instinct makes sense when you're desperate to fill a spot. Don't do it.

The background check is part of your pitch to clients. When someone calls to book, you tell them your cleaners are background checked and insured. That's often the reason they choose you over the person they found on Facebook. It's one of the most credible things you can say. Don't trade that away because hiring feels hard.

The insurance is the same story. One member of the community shared this week that a colleague just paid $30,000 out of pocket for a shower repair because the cleaner used the wrong product on custom tile and had no insurance. Jen and I paid $2,000 once for a stove repair because a cleaner let her insurance lapse. She wanted to save $35 a month.

You are setting a high bar. That's exactly why it works.

## Where the good ones are hiding

Another member in the thread made a practical point: stop waiting for inbound applicants. Go on Nextdoor and Facebook, find cleaners who are already posting their services, and reach out directly. They're established, often already licensed, and just looking to fill their schedule. A second member found her two most recent cleaners exactly that way.

It's the same move Jen and I made to get clients. Stop waiting to be found and go find them yourself.

## The thing that's worth saying plainly

Hiring in this industry is genuinely hard, and I want you to find some comfort in that. If it's hard for you, it's hard for most people. That's okay. It's a new skill, like any other part of running this business, and it doesn't need to happen every single day.

Before I started Oak Bay Clean, I was a school teacher. Then I spent over ten years recruiting teachers, thousands of interviews and hiring decisions. Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hours thing? Recruiting is genuinely where I have mine. And even with all of that, hiring cleaners required a completely different sequence than anything I'd done before. I had to figure it out, test what worked, and rebuild it from scratch.

The sequence I shared in this thread is what I arrived at. If you follow it, you can realistically post on a Monday, screen the same day, get someone on a call within 24 hours, and have them through references, police check, and a paid test clean by Friday of the same week. We hire 1–2 cleaners a month at Oak Bay Clean. We're on track for $760K this year. It's completely doable.

One more thing worth saying: right now is actually the best time of year to hire. Everyone slows down in February, so cleaners start looking for other companies to work with. Spring is the worst time. It's when everyone gets slammed and starts looking to hire at the same time, which is too late into the busy season. Always painful come spring.

If you're struggling to hire right now, call first, screen hard on experience, get references and a police check before anything else, and hold the line on insurance. You are setting a high bar, and that's exactly why it works.

P.S.)Thomas's post reminded me that the stuff that feels personal, "Am I in the only city where this is hard?", is almost always universal. I'm curious: what's the hardest part of hiring been for you? Is it finding applicants, getting them to follow through, or something that happens after the hire? Hit reply and tell me. I read every single one.