If you’re hiring someone to move heavy freight where it needs to go with a forklift, you’ll want to look for specific characteristics and job capabilities that, in a good candidate, will help to support your busy warehouse each day. Here are some things to consider when you’re interviewing job candidates for a forklift operator position.
Certifications and Experience
Experience is critical with forklift operation. Any actual certifications are a gold standard when it comes to hiring people who can drive forklifts professionally. These kinds of qualifications show that a person can handle the challenge of navigating a three-dimensional space with forklift prongs, driving without running into things, and generally treating your valuable products with care, while also looking out for employee safety in a warehouse environment.
Punctuality
It’s also important for these individuals to show up to work when they’re needed. It’s amazing how much a warehouse operation depends on having the right staff to move the right pieces to the right locations, every single hour of every single shift. Much like an assembly line that’s missing a key person, a warehouse operation without a forklift operator is sure to end up in disarray. So make sure you get reliable people to be at their posts to handle incoming or outgoing freight.
Physical Capability
Forklift operator jobs can be demanding. Operators may have to jump into and out of their vehicles many times a day. They might have to clear a pathway or otherwise manage difficult physical jobs.
You can’t discriminate on the basis of people’s physical fitness — but you can put all of these physical job tasks in the job description. And there’s no reason why you can’t bring up these challenges at an interview — in many companies, all of the physical job requirements are listed in the job description, but nobody ever talks about them prior to hiring, which means they might not get the level of attention that they need.
Careful and Conscientious
This is one of the most important characteristics of a forklift operator.
Someone who has this position of responsibility has to stay aware and be careful in a warehouse environment. If they don’t, products are going to get damaged, and people are going to get hurt.
From the moment that a forklift picks up a load, there are real and significant dangers and liabilities in play. Even when products are tightly shrink-wrapped and stacked on a pallet, any improper use of the forklift can cause shifting or tipping. It’s also not easy to avoid running into floor-standing stacks of products, people, or warehouse infrastructure.
With that in mind, one of the most important jobs of a forklift operator is to always move carefully and make deliberate, thoughtful movements with forklift controls so that everything goes well instead of turning into a mess. Talk to job applicants carefully about how they will proceed with handling products and moving them across warehouse floors.
About Full Steam Staffing
Full Steam Staffing is a full-service staffing agency focused on providing clerical and light industrial staffing solutions to manufacturers, distribution centers and other organizations that need qualified, reliable workers. If you are currently looking to hire and grow your workforce, contact our team of skilled recruiters today!