Pest Control Technician Interview Questions: What to Ask Before You Hand Over a Route
The short answer: put the candidate on a route and ask what they would do first. "What pests are you familiar with?" gets you the license exam read back to you. "It's 7:45, the gate code on the ticket doesn't work, there's a dog in the backyard and the customer isn't answering. What do you do?" gets you the way they run a day. Below are 12 of those questions, each with what a strong answer and a weak answer sound like, grouped around the three places a route technician breaks, plus how to use the ride-along to check the rest.
Why route technicians interview well and still lose accounts
The state license covers pests, products, label law and safety. Verify it, or plan the trainee path. It still tells you nothing about the moments that decide whether a recurring account stays.
Here is what those moments are worth. Say a route technician loses two quarterly accounts a month to rushed visits, missed areas and problems that keep coming back. At $140 a service, each account is worth $560 a year. Twenty-four lost accounts is $13,440 a year in recurring revenue from one route, before you count what it cost to sell them. Put your own numbers in.
The seat breaks in three places:
- The route. Whether they own the day: the locked gate, the missed garage, the customer who is about to cancel.
- The cause. Whether they look for what keeps bringing pests back, or treat the same spot every visit.
- The label and the lines. Whether they hold firm on product and weather, and hand termite, billing and side requests to the people who own them.
Our guide to hiring a pest control route technician covers the two instincts behind the seat and two questions to start with. The 12 below go further and do not repeat them.
How to run the interview
Ask every candidate the same questions in the same order. Read the scenario, stop talking, and write down the first thing they say they would do. That first move is the answer. Whatever they add after you nod is them reading you.
Score each answer 1 for a weak first move, 2 for mixed and 3 for strong, and score before you talk about the candidate with anyone. Some of the best route technicians say little in an office, so score the move and ignore the polish. Our guide to interview questions for trades hires explains why this format works.
Questions about the route
1. "It's 7:45, your first stop. The gate code on the ticket doesn't work, there's a dog in the backyard, and the customer isn't answering the phone. What do you do?"
Strong: services what can be reached safely from the front, texts the customer, notes the ticket, leaves a door hanger, and tells the office the backyard needs a return visit or a new code.
Weak: skips the stop with no note, or goes over the fence with the dog out.
2. "At stop nine, the customer meets you in the driveway and says this is their last service because their neighbor pays less with another company. What do you say?"
Strong: asks what they have been seeing and what matters most to them, explains plainly what their service covers, does today's service well, and passes the cancellation to the office the same day so someone can call them.
Weak: offers them a discount on the spot, or says "okay" and moves on.
3. "You're at stop eleven when you realize you skipped the garage at stop four, because the homeowner was pulling out as you got there. What do you do?"
Strong: calls the office or the customer right away, goes back today if the route allows, and books it if it does not. Notes it on the ticket either way.
Weak: lets it go and marks the stop complete.
4. "It's the first service on a new account. Walking the house, you can see the roach problem is bigger than the quarterly plan the customer was sold. What do you do?"
Strong: does what today's service covers, tells the customer honestly what they are seeing, and sends it to the office or the sales manager to adjust the plan. Keeps the salesperson out of it in front of the customer.
Weak: tells the customer the salesperson sold them the wrong thing, or treats as sold and says nothing.
Questions about the cause
5. "It's a restaurant, monthly service. German roaches are back under the dish station again. The manager says, 'Just spray more.' What do you do?"
Strong: looks for why they are coming back (harborage, a slow leak, food and grease buildup, gaps behind equipment), shows the manager the specific spots, writes them into the service report, and treats within the label.
Weak: sprays more because the manager asked.
6. "You've baited this attic twice. There are fresh droppings again, and the homeowner asks why they're still getting in. What do you say, and what do you look at?"
Strong: goes looking for entry points (roof returns, vents, gaps at the garage door seal, utility lines), takes photos, explains them, and recommends exclusion through the right person.
Weak: adds more bait stations and tells the homeowner it takes time.
7. "A customer says the mosquito service isn't working. In the yard you see a kiddie pool full of water, clogged gutters and a tarp holding rainwater. What do you say?"
Strong: shows the customer the standing water with photos, explains plainly what it does to the treatment, and treats. Makes the customer part of the fix without lecturing.
Weak: treats and leaves without mentioning it, or tells the customer it is their own fault.
8. "You're behind on a general pest stop. Near the back door threshold, the wood sounds hollow when you tap it, and there are discarded wings on the windowsill. That isn't what you're there for. What do you do?"
Strong: takes photos, tells the homeowner calmly what they saw and why it is worth a look, and hands it to the termite inspector the same day. Leaves the diagnosis and the price to the inspector.
Weak: says nothing because they are behind, or tells the homeowner they have termites and quotes a treatment.
Questions about the label and the lines
9. "The customer asks you to spray their vegetable garden for aphids while you're here. Nothing on your truck is labeled for that. What do you say?"
Strong: tells them plainly the product on the truck is not for their garden, explains why, and offers what the company can do or refers them to someone who can.
Weak: sprays it lightly to be helpful.
10. "It's 1:30. The wind is gusting hard, you have six exterior treatments left, and at the next stop the neighbor's windows are open. What do you do?"
Strong: holds off on spraying in the wind, calls the office to rework the afternoon, and does interior work, bait or inspections where that makes sense.
Weak: sprays anyway to stay on schedule.
11. "A customer hands you $40 cash and asks you to treat their mother's house two doors down while you're on the street. What do you say?"
Strong: thanks them, gets the address, and calls the office to set up the account.
Weak: takes the cash and does the house.
12. "At 10 a.m. the fitting on your spray rig starts leaking. You have a full route. What do you do?"
Strong: stops, contains the leak, calls the supervisor, and waits for a fix or instructions before running product again.
Weak: wraps it with tape and keeps going.
Check the route skill separately
Product knowledge, label reading, equipment and identification are covered by the license and your training. The ride-along covers the rest. Put the candidate on a real route with a senior technician for a day and watch four things:
- What they look at on the walk before any product comes out.
- How long they spend with a customer who wants to talk, and how they close the conversation.
- What they write on the ticket and the service report.
- Whether anything outside the service plan gets passed to the office.
A candidate who writes thin notes and treats the same spots every stop will do it on your route. A candidate who finds causes and talks a little too long can be coached on the clock.
Questions to skip
"What pests are you familiar with?" The license exam already answered it. Ask about a specific account where the same problem kept coming back.
"Are you comfortable in crawlspaces and attics?" Everyone says yes. The ride-along answers it.
Anything about age, family plans, health, religion or national origin. Keep every question tied to the work of the seat, and ask every candidate the same ones. If you are unsure whether a question is allowed where you hire, check with an employment attorney.
Where these questions fit
Run them after the phone screen and before the ride-along. The phone screen covers license status or willingness to get licensed, driving record, schedule and pay. The interview covers the three places the seat breaks. Keep that order for every candidate for the opening. The same questions work for trainees, since none of them need pest knowledge to answer. For the rest of the seats in a pest company, see the pest control hiring page.
Frequently asked questions
What should I ask a pest control technician in an interview?
Ask about specific moments on a route: a locked gate with a dog in the yard, a customer about to cancel, a roach problem that keeps coming back at a restaurant, a request to spray something the label does not cover. Write down what the candidate would do first.
What questions should I ask a pest control trainee with no experience?
The same scenario questions. None of them need pest knowledge to answer, because they ask what the candidate would do first. A trainee who says they would call the office before spraying in the wind is showing you the right instinct.
How long should a pest control technician interview take?
About 45 minutes: 10 on license, schedule and pay, 30 on eight to twelve scenario questions, and 5 for their questions. Follow it with a ride-along on a real route.
What is a red flag in a pest control technician interview?
A candidate who reaches for more product as the answer to every problem. "Spray more," "add more bait" and "treat it again" are the first moves that keep bringing you back to the same house.
Can I use these questions for a termite technician?
Some of them. Questions 5, 6, 8 and 9 fit a termite and exclusion technician well. Add questions about finding the full extent of damage before quoting and about scope changes once the work is open.
How do I know if a technician will keep customers on their route?
Watch the ride-along and the first 90 days. Track cancellations and add-on work by route, and call a few customers on the new technician's route at 30 and 60 days.
First Move Assessment measures the first instinct a route technician brings to moments like these before you hire (it does not measure pest knowledge, so keep the license check and the ride-along): get the three sample reports.