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jimd118
May 5, 2010, 1:23 PM
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Hi everyone, I manage a climbing gym for a university and I will be needing to hire a few new people. Most of the applicants are in the same boat with 6-12 months of climbing experience. We will train them on the specifics they need to know when they are hired so thats not a big deal however being that they are all close in experience I want to interview them and not give generic questions. I am open to any interview question ideas you guys feel would be important and would set the people that will be hard workers and most importantly use safe habits. Our gym has a 60 foot wall with 4 top ropes, 3 leading lines, and a overhung bouldering area. These new hires will be responsible for belaying, teaching clinics as they gain experience, route setting, and safety inspections. Appreciate any help.
Jim
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granite_grrl
May 5, 2010, 1:53 PM
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It might be a good idea to have them climb and belay each other so you can watch what their attention of safety is. Give them a few scenarios of unsafe practices that might be seen in the gym and see how they handle them.
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tehbillzor
May 5, 2010, 2:40 PM
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If i were running the interview i would play the role of some one who doesn't know anything about climbing. Tell them you want them to belay you and give you advice up the wall. start by not double backing you harness, next you might want to tie into the wrong rope that you need for your intended climb. when the applicant gives you suggestions on how to fix things agree with him, but don't follow his instructions. I feel like these are some of the common scenarios that i have seen in climbing gyms.
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darkgift06
May 5, 2010, 2:50 PM
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set up a rescue scenario in a group situation & see what kind of comments come out.
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ClimbClimb
May 5, 2010, 3:18 PM
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Besides the other good suggestion, try to assess how safety-conscious they are by asking them:
(1) about any situations they've experienced first-hand where there was disagreement about whether something was safe or not -- no need for this to be climbing related! -- and listen to how they think and feel about it... are they on the cautious side? the hopelessly confused? the "nothing bad can happen here" world view?
(2) about any friends or acquitenances of theirs that have gotten hurt or killed... be polite, obviously -- but again, is death & bodily harm theoretical to them? if not, are they permenanetly paniced as a result or healthily sobered?
finally
(3) evaluate whether their image and dress habits match the kind of gym image you want to have, Abercrombie, Starbucks, Victoria Secret, etc. :-)
[ok, that last one was for comic relief, but the firs ttwo, I'm serious about]
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jager824
May 5, 2010, 3:19 PM
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I really like where he's going with this. You should be as gooberish as you've seen first time climbers behave. And see how your applicants handle themselves. I work in a gym doing oversight and instruction and it'd be good to know how people handle these same goobers.
more suggestions:
tie in THROUGH your belay device and caribiner (seen it);
tie into the belay loop (happens all the time);
put your harness on backwards (seen it);
hook up your belay device but don't clip the rope/wire (seen it);
start suggesting improper/unsafe belay techniques to someone also belaying unsafely (seen it);
let go of the brake hand to focus on the climber side of the belay device (seen it, smacked my forehead and had to teach how to belay AGAIN);
anyone have any more?
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majid_sabet
May 5, 2010, 4:56 PM
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jimd118 wrote: Hi everyone, I manage a climbing gym for a university and I will be needing to hire a few new people. Most of the applicants are in the same boat with 6-12 months of climbing experience. We will train them on the specifics they need to know when they are hired so thats not a big deal however being that they are all close in experience I want to interview them and not give generic questions. I am open to any interview question ideas you guys feel would be important and would set the people that will be hard workers and most importantly use safe habits. Our gym has a 60 foot wall with 4 top ropes, 3 leading lines, and a overhung bouldering area. These new hires will be responsible for belaying, teaching clinics as they gain experience, route setting, and safety inspections. Appreciate any help. Jim
tell them to read at least 100 post from I&A and then ask them if they could remember anything.
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lobstertronic
May 5, 2010, 5:28 PM
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See how they react when you ring their cell phone while they're belaying...
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tehbillzor
May 5, 2010, 5:51 PM
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lobstertronic wrote: See how they react when you ring their cell phone while they're belaying...
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jbro_135
May 5, 2010, 6:09 PM
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Well what I wouldn't do is give them some kind of climbing safety test instead of an interview as some people have suggested. Will they even know that you are acting like a n00b? They might assume you have some kind of retarded system (it is a college gym...) and be too afraid of questioning the boss to correct you. That would be stupid.
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Gmburns2000
May 5, 2010, 7:20 PM
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Whatever you do, don't ask this.
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onarunning
May 5, 2010, 7:47 PM
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The real question is: are they going to be assistant climbing manager, or assistant to the climbing manager?
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coastal_climber
May 5, 2010, 8:05 PM
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tehbillzor wrote: lobstertronic wrote: See how they react when you ring their cell phone while they're belaying... haha i love it!
What do you thin tying off the belay is for?
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guangzhou
May 5, 2010, 8:22 PM
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coastal_climber wrote: tehbillzor wrote: lobstertronic wrote: See how they react when you ring their cell phone while they're belaying... haha i love it! What do you thin tying off the belay is for?
Duh, a GriGri....
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spoon
May 5, 2010, 8:49 PM
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Whether or not your prospective employees know how to belay isn't especially important, as any idiot can be taught to belay safely with enough time and patience. It is much harder, however, to teach an employee to teach other people. I would ask questions to determine which employees have experience interacting with customers, and teaching complicated skills in one on one and group settings. That kind of knowledge is way more valuable in an employee than knowing how to hold a rope, and it takes far longer to teach. And if it lends any weight to my opinion, I've worked in a climbing gym for several years now.
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USnavy
May 6, 2010, 1:59 AM
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jimd118 wrote: Hi everyone, I manage a climbing gym for a university and I will be needing to hire a few new people. Most of the applicants are in the same boat with 6-12 months of climbing experience. We will train them on the specifics they need to know when they are hired so thats not a big deal however being that they are all close in experience I want to interview them and not give generic questions. I am open to any interview question ideas you guys feel would be important and would set the people that will be hard workers and most importantly use safe habits. Our gym has a 60 foot wall with 4 top ropes, 3 leading lines, and a overhung bouldering area. These new hires will be responsible for belaying, teaching clinics as they gain experience, route setting, and safety inspections. Appreciate any help. Jim
Well first scrap the six months of experience requirement that’s not anywhere NEAR enough experience to be an instructor. I would ask them what grade they climb and make them prove it. Now I know a bunch of people here will bitch and say what grade you climb is irrelevant but that’s not true. What grade you climb is often fairly proportional to your experience level. If you have been climbing sport for a long time you probably climb at least 5.11. Likewise if you only climb 5.10a sport you probably don’t have much experience sport climbing. Not to mention if they are teaching a class on lead climbing and they can barely get up the wall that will severely undermine their knowledge and experience from the view point of the customers.
Personally if I managed the gym would not hire anyone with less than three years climbing experience and I would require they are very well versed in leading and a damn good belayer and I would want to see them lead a hard line and watch them catch some big falls to see how they react.
However a lot of it will come down to what type of audience you tailor to. If I hire a guide or instructor for anything I would expect and require they are much more experienced then I am.
(This post was edited by USnavy on May 6, 2010, 2:07 AM)
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bill413
May 6, 2010, 11:24 AM
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I'd say the grade that they climb at is not terribly important. The safety & customer attitudes are much more important.
In addition to seeing how they handle a "noob" test - another thing you could look for is bringing in a shill who claims to know everything, but ties their knot wrong, or takes their brake hand off when belaying. How well do they handle that situation?
Can they belay with more than one device? (Denotes understanding of principles, not just rote memorization). Can they inspect different styles of harnesses?
Can they explain something in more than just one way? For example, some people learn tying a figure-8 one way, some another - neither wrong, but one style might be easier for them than another.
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clews
May 6, 2010, 11:36 AM
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onarunning wrote: The real question is: are they going to be assistant climbing manager, or assistant to the climbing manager?
haha love it!
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mr.tastycakes
May 6, 2010, 12:32 PM
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USnavy wrote: Personally if I managed the gym would not hire anyone with less than three years climbing experience and I would require they are very well versed in leading and a damn good belayer and I would want to see them lead a hard line and watch them catch some big falls to see how they react.
I don't think there is a gym staff in the entire country that meets those qualifications. And I work at a gym, BTW.
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patmay81
May 6, 2010, 1:13 PM
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USnavy wrote: I would ask them what grade they climb and make them prove it.
USnavy wrote: If I hire a guide or instructor for anything I would expect and require they are much more experienced then I am.
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majid_sabet
May 6, 2010, 1:22 PM
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USnavy wrote: jimd118 wrote: Hi everyone, I manage a climbing gym for a university and I will be needing to hire a few new people. Most of the applicants are in the same boat with 6-12 months of climbing experience. We will train them on the specifics they need to know when they are hired so thats not a big deal however being that they are all close in experience I want to interview them and not give generic questions. I am open to any interview question ideas you guys feel would be important and would set the people that will be hard workers and most importantly use safe habits. Our gym has a 60 foot wall with 4 top ropes, 3 leading lines, and a overhung bouldering area. These new hires will be responsible for belaying, teaching clinics as they gain experience, route setting, and safety inspections. Appreciate any help. Jim Well first scrap the six months of experience requirement that’s not anywhere NEAR enough experience to be an instructor. I would ask them what grade they climb and make them prove it. Now I know a bunch of people here will bitch and say what grade you climb is irrelevant but that’s not true. What grade you climb is often fairly proportional to your experience level. If you have been climbing sport for a long time you probably climb at least 5.11. Likewise if you only climb 5.10a sport you probably don’t have much experience sport climbing. Not to mention if they are teaching a class on lead climbing and they can barely get up the wall that will severely undermine their knowledge and experience from the view point of the customers. Personally if I managed the gym would not hire anyone with less than three years climbing experience and I would require they are very well versed in leading and a damn good belayer and I would want to see them lead a hard line and watch them catch some big falls to see how they react. However a lot of it will come down to what type of audience you tailor to. If I hire a guide or instructor for anything I would expect and require they are much more experienced then I am.
so finally you admit that you are a n00b
(This post was edited by majid_sabet on May 6, 2010, 1:22 PM)
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bill413
May 6, 2010, 5:40 PM
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Just looking through an edition of Rock & Ice - saw a picture of a 5.13 climber "belaying" a lead climber with a figure 8 in rappel mode, with both hands on the climber side (no brake hand).
So, clearly 5.13 is not a grade hard enough to ensure a competent belay.
Also, I don't demand that a guide be more experienced than I am. I want them to be experienced enough for safety, guiding, knowledge of the area, etc....I want to enjoy the climbing, not get into a d**king contest.
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USnavy
May 6, 2010, 8:48 PM
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mr.tastycakes wrote: USnavy wrote: Personally if I managed the gym would not hire anyone with less than three years climbing experience and I would require they are very well versed in leading and a damn good belayer and I would want to see them lead a hard line and watch them catch some big falls to see how they react. I don't think there is a gym staff in the entire country that meets those qualifications. And I work at a gym, BTW.
1. Has been climbing for at least three years.
2. Is comfortable leading at their absolute limit and taking a fall anytime it’s safe.
3. Knows how to provide static, running, and dynamic belays and has caught at least 250 lead falls.
4. Has caught at least one 30 footer.
Well damn then. That’s kind of standard criteria for your everyday bread of a 5.12 outdoors sport climber. Most of the people I have climbed with that can onsight 5.11 or harder meet that criteria and I am not exactly climbing with world class sport climbers here.
majid_sabet wrote: USnavy wrote: jimd118 wrote: Hi everyone, I manage a climbing gym for a university and I will be needing to hire a few new people. Most of the applicants are in the same boat with 6-12 months of climbing experience. We will train them on the specifics they need to know when they are hired so thats not a big deal however being that they are all close in experience I want to interview them and not give generic questions. I am open to any interview question ideas you guys feel would be important and would set the people that will be hard workers and most importantly use safe habits. Our gym has a 60 foot wall with 4 top ropes, 3 leading lines, and a overhung bouldering area. These new hires will be responsible for belaying, teaching clinics as they gain experience, route setting, and safety inspections. Appreciate any help. Jim Well first scrap the six months of experience requirement that’s not anywhere NEAR enough experience to be an instructor. I would ask them what grade they climb and make them prove it. Now I know a bunch of people here will bitch and say what grade you climb is irrelevant but that’s not true. What grade you climb is often fairly proportional to your experience level. If you have been climbing sport for a long time you probably climb at least 5.11. Likewise if you only climb 5.10a sport you probably don’t have much experience sport climbing. Not to mention if they are teaching a class on lead climbing and they can barely get up the wall that will severely undermine their knowledge and experience from the view point of the customers. Personally if I managed the gym would not hire anyone with less than three years climbing experience and I would require they are very well versed in leading and a damn good belayer and I would want to see them lead a hard line and watch them catch some big falls to see how they react. However a lot of it will come down to what type of audience you tailor to. If I hire a guide or instructor for anything I would expect and require they are much more experienced then I am. so finally you admit that you are a n00b
Because I expect my guide to be more experienced then I am? Solid logic... 
(This post was edited by USnavy on May 6, 2010, 8:53 PM)
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guangzhou
May 6, 2010, 9:36 PM
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