High-Quality Hires

Pest management companies value character over experience when seeking client service representatives. 

Robyn Rydzy

Ruva Pest Control has a motto for hiring: “Hire for the soul and train for the role.”

That intention—to prioritize character, attitude, and emotional intelligence over industry experience when hiring client service representatives (CSRs)—is mirrored across the pest control industry as finding CSRs with industry knowledge has become less important than finding CSRs with character traits that produce strong soft skills.

“The No. 1 thing is they actually care,” says Scott Sandberg, CEO of Ruva Pest Control in Connecticut. “That sounds simple, but it’s the difference between somebody who follows a script and somebody who genuinely wants to solve the customer’s problem.”

It’s a hiring preference that’s backed up by data, as Ruva tracks Net Promoter Scores for its technicians and its office team. Sandberg explains that the data shows that the people who score the highest aren’t necessarily the ones with the most pest control knowledge but the ones who care about the outcome for the client.

Qualities of Caring
So, what characteristics separate adequate CSRs from exceptional ones? Justin Rechter, people operations and culture director at Debug Pest Control in Rhode Island, introduced six “People Pillars” this year as qualities the company is seeking in current and future team members.

“The People Pillars are really more about behaviors than background skills,” Rechter says. “We want folks who can problem-solve. Folks who inherently bring others along. We want people who ask questions and are not complacent with the status quo. Folks who assume positive intent and limit knee-jerk reactions. People who show humility.” 

The six behavioral, character-based pillars all have “an undercurrent of empathy,” Rechter says. They were created after evaluating Debug’s strongest talent on staff and identifying what traits those star employees have in common.

Marci LaRouech, CEO of Seay HR, which helps pest control organizations with employer branding, hiring, and onboarding, says she has seen more companies using employees’ stories through videos and written testimonials in an attempt to attract candidates who value client service, teamwork, and professionalism as opposed to focusing solely on technical experience in the pest control field.

“When companies highlight team members whose backgrounds are not traditionally from the pest control industry, it sends a clear message that they value character, adaptability, and work ethic over a linear career path,” LaRouech says.

Interviewing for Empathy
When hiring for empathy is the goal, asking the right questions in the interviewing process is critical. To do this, LaRouech encourages her clients to avoid generalities.

“Specific examples will always reveal far more than hypothetical questions,” she says. “One of my favorite character‑revealing questions is, ‘Share an example of a time you had to rebuild trust with a client after a miscommunication or mistake. What did you do?’ This question acknowledges that mistakes will happen in any customer‑focused role. What matters is how a person responds, communicates, and repairs the relationship.”

The response to questions like this reveals maturity level, accountability, and emotional intelligence, LaRouech says, because the candidate must relay how they handled a real situation rather than offer a vague or more aspirational answer.

Rechter uses a similar question to assess a candidate’s ability—and willingness—to learn. “I’ll ask them to describe a time where [they] had to learn a new skill quickly in order to be successful,” she says. It doesn’t matter whether the answer pertains to a job skill or a situation faced at school or in day-to-day life.

Sandberg, too, prefers scenario-based interview questions for the way they reveal a candidate’s character. A favorite, he says, is, “Tell me about a time you saw something at work that wasn’t right—maybe how a coworker was treating a customer or cutting corners. What did you do about it?

“That question is gold because it reveals so much,” Sandberg says. “First, can they even identify what ‘not right’ looks like? That tells you about their standards. Second, did they actually do something about it, or did they just look the other way? And third, how do they talk about it? Are they throwing the other person under the bus, or are they being thoughtful about it?”

The answer given can demonstrate these characteristics, even if the anecdote includes a measure of regret. Sandberg recalled one interviewee who admitted they wished they’d handled a situation differently.

“I thought that was pretty honest and showed a lot of good reflection,” he says. “I think that for us, we’ll take somebody who can recognize that they’ve done something incorrectly and want to be able to make it right.”

Onboarding Insights
Using real-world questions and listening carefully to the answers—and how they’re given—can help find emotionally intelligent CSRs who lead with empathy and curiosity. But the process doesn’t end there. Providing a strong start at the company is a crucial step that reinforces to the newly hired that those same traits are found at the top and valued from day one. 

“After investing so much effort in finding the right person, you do not want them to arrive on day one and feel like an afterthought,” LaRouech says. 

For teams that are widely distributed or fully remote, a welcome video can make a meaningful difference. She recalls one company where short introductions from each team member were recorded and combined into a brief welcome video, then sent to the new hire before their first day.

“It created connection quickly and made the new employee feel part of the team right away,” she notes.

Rechter says he’s meticulous about sending a congratulations text message and welcome emails with tips on how the new hires can succeed at Debug. He also sends a swag box with branded welcome gifts a week before their start date.

“I really want them to feel connected to the company,” he says. “The attention to detail during onboarding makes such a difference.” 

On a CSR’s first day at Debug, they’re given an orientation schedule, and there’s a training plan in place and ready to go. In addition, a welcome card is signed by all the current employees, a small but important gesture that displays the company’s warmth and team spirit.

“If a new hire knows we’re invested in them, that makes a big difference,” Rechter says. “For the folks we want here, it means something to them.”

Helping a newcomer make connections and feel like part of the team can go a long way toward reinforcing the qualities a company values. LaRouech has encouraged clients to institute a buddy system, pairing a new hire with a tenured employee who is not their manager.

“This gives them a point of contact for questions, shadowing, and cultural support, and it helps them acclimate more naturally to how the organization operates,” she says.

Ruva makes sure new employees understand the “why” behind what they do. “It’s not just ‘Here’s how you book an appointment,’ ” Sandberg says. “It’s, ‘Here’s why we care about the customer experience, here’s why we ask for reviews, here’s why we treat people’s homes and their time with respect.’ ”

The company also has an award program that rewards top employees. “We want them to see that this is a place where great work gets recognized and celebrated, because that reinforces the behavior we want,” Sandberg says.

Investing in a new CSR’s success as an empathetic representative of the company takes time, even when the company has hired for the right traits. Allowing for adequate onboarding will save time in the end, as it increases retention when employees feel equipped to succeed and confident in their abilities.

At Ruva, new reps sit in and listen to calls with the company’s top closers before they begin taking calls themselves.

“We’ve tried a lot of different things over the years when it comes to finding the right people for the phones,” Sandberg says. “What we found is that until a new CSR actually hears what ‘great’ sounds like, a script doesn’t mean much. They need to hear the tone, the pacing, how a top closer handles a frustrated caller, how they build rapport and naturally guide someone toward booking. That’s where the real learning happens.”

Shifting Priorities
Industry executives say that trends regarding retention of new hires are not on their side, with many having experienced first-day no-shows. “It has become more difficult to find strong talent, and the competition for high‑character employees is significant,” LaRouech says.

To combat this, Ruva is leaning into hiring for the culture they want to cultivate rather than for previous industry experience or CSR skills.

“The technical stuff, we can teach that. We’ve proven it. But what we can’t teach is whether someone genuinely cares. That’s either in you or it’s not,” Sandberg says. “And our priority now, more than ever, is finding those people, the ones who are hungry, who care about doing great work, and who want to grow, and then building an environment where they can thrive.

“The companies that figure that out are the ones that are going to win long term.”

Recruiting Through PestControlJobs.com
Find your next great hire. 

When you’re hiring a client service representative (CSR), you need candidates who already understand—or genuinely want to understand—what a career in pest management looks like. That’s the fundamental difference between PestControlJobs.com and a generic job board.

Brought to you by NPMA, PestControlJobs.com connects job seekers with employers in the professional pest control industry, which means everyone browsing the platform has already self-selected into your talent pool. You’re not competing against warehouse jobs and retail openings for an applicant’s attention. The candidates who find your posting are there because pest management interests them.

NPMA member companies now receive unlimited job postings on pestcontroljobs.com. This allows members to maintain a constant presence on the platform rather than treating recruiting as a once-a-year event. Hiring is cyclical, and turnover is a reality; keeping a posting active ensures you’re building a pipeline, not scrambling to fill a vacancy.

EFFECTIVE JOB POSTINGS
A job board is only as effective as the posting itself. When hiring for character-driven roles like client services, avoid language that screens out exactly the people you want. Leading with certifications and industry experience sends the message that only insiders need apply, but your best CSR hire may be a career changer whose superpowers are patience and genuine warmth, not pesticide knowledge.

Instead, describe what the job actually feels like. Emphasize that you train for technical skills and hire for attitude. Spell out what a great day looks like: helping a worried homeowner feel heard, solving an unexpected scheduling problem with grace, building long-term trust with recurring clients. That language attracts candidates who care about service, which is exactly who you’re looking for.

PestControlJobs.com actively reaches military veterans returning to civilian life, career changers seeking a path with growth potential, and individuals looking for stable, meaningful work—all audiences that tend to have the values-driven character that makes for exceptional client-facing employees.

CONNECT TO BROADER WORKFORCE RESOURCES
PestControlJobs.com sits within NPMA’s larger Workforce Development Program, which includes recruitment templates, hiring guides, and connections to the Military Hiring Program and SkillBridge. Member companies can access all these resources at npmapestworld.org.

Post your open positions at careers.pestcontroljobs.com.