Roofer Pre-Employment Assessment for Every Seat in a Roofing Company

The short answer: a roofer pre-employment test usually checks safety knowledge, materials and basic math, and a tryout day on a real roof shows you whether the candidate can do the work. Neither shows what a crew lead does first when the tear-off uncovers rotten decking the estimate never priced, or what a project consultant says when the homeowner asks for help with the deductible. First Move Assessment reads that first move for roofing seats. It takes the candidate 10 to 20 minutes and starts at $149.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts about 166,900 roofer jobs and projects about 12,000 openings a year through 2035. That count leaves out the estimators, project consultants, canvassers, CSRs and production managers a roofing company hires alongside its crews.

What a roofing skills test covers

Most roofing hiring tests are knowledge checks: fall protection rules, shingle and underlayment basics, measuring and pitch math. Many roofing companies skip the written test and run a paid tryout day instead, which tells you more about the hands.

Knowledge and hands both matter. Neither tells you what the person reaches for first on the moments that cost a roofing company the most: the change order, the insurance conversation, the harness at 3 p.m. with rain coming in.

Four moments that decide a roofing hire

The leak. The stain is on the bedroom ceiling. The water came in eight feet uphill, at a pipe boot. A repair technician who checks first goes into the attic, traces the path and water tests the likely spots. One who jumps in patches the shingles above the stain and leaves. You find out which one you hired when the same customer calls after the next storm.

The rotten decking. Halfway through the tear-off, the crew lead finds soft decking across a full section the estimate did not price. One crew lead stops, photographs it, and gets the change order through the office before the new sheets go down. Another handles it on the spot and the job cost eats it, or covers it and moves on. The first one protects your margin and your warranty. The job cost report tells you which one you have, weeks too late.

The deductible. After a hail storm, the homeowner asks your project consultant to "take care of" the deductible. Waiving or absorbing a deductible is illegal in a number of states, and it is a risk to your company everywhere. The consultant who holds firm keeps you out of trouble. The one who makes an exception to close the deal will make it again when you are not in the room.

The harness. It is 3 p.m., the crew is behind, and rain is due at 5. Someone on the crew says the tie-off is slowing them down. Falls are the leading cause of death in construction. A crew lead who holds firm on fall protection when the crew pushes back is the one you want running that roof.

Each of those moments maps to one of the five questions First Move Assessment reads:

1. When something is new or unclear, does the candidate check it out first, or jump in and adjust?
2. When someone needs them and the work is already behind, do they stop for the person, or keep the work moving?
3. When a problem shows up, do they fix what keeps causing it, or the one in front of them?
4. When something lands on their plate, do they handle it themselves, or pass it to the right person?
5. When someone pushes back on a rule or a process, do they hold firm, or make an exception?

Every seat has its own written standard for those five. A repair technician needs to check first. A crew lead needs to hold firm on safety and route the change order. A canvasser after a storm needs to keep moving from door to door.

Roofing seats you can assess

Every situation the candidate reads is written in the words roofing contractors already use: tear-offs, decking, flashing, inspections, crews, dumpsters and material drops. A candidate for your crew lead seat never reads an HVAC scenario. Executive seats are written the same way at a chief's level, for a roofing company running several branches or divisions: the covenant, the surety, the lead source, the vendor contract, the pay band. The report reads a chief's instinct on the two questions that decide the seat, and the scope, the financial and technical depth, and the track record the job needs are still yours to check.

What you get back

The report is ready the moment the candidate finishes.

• A seat match from 0 to 100 against the written standard for that seat, with its margin of error printed beside it. 72 and up lines up with the seat, 40 to 71 is mixed and worth a closer look, and under 40 does not line up.
• Where the candidate sits on each of the five questions, next to where the seat needs them.
• Whether their answers, pace and consistency held up under load.
• Three things to do: how to build around them, what to ask in the interview and what to listen for, and what to watch in the first 90 days.
• The written standard for the seat, so you can see what the score was measured against.

Where it fits in a roofing hiring process

1. Phone screen: experience, driving record, travel for storm work, pay structure.
2. First Move Assessment for the exact seat. You pick the seat and enter a name and an email, about a minute of your day. After you pay, your account email arrives within a minute, and you can send the first link as soon as you set your password.
3. Interview built around the report's weak spots, using its questions.
4. Paid tryout day on a real roof for field seats, or a ride-along on inspections for sales seats.
5. References, then your decision.

Keep the same order for every candidate for the opening.

What First Move Assessment does not do

It is not a skills test, an aptitude test or a safety certification, and it does not check roofing knowledge. Pair it with the tryout day and your safety training. It does not tell you whom to hire. You make the decision.

Scoring is fixed arithmetic written by people. No AI model scores a candidate or writes the report. A candidate who needs the assessment untimed can sit it untimed at no cost. The full disclosures are in the legal and disclaimers section.

Pricing

One candidate is $149. A 5 Pack is $595, a 10 Pack is $995 ($99.50 a candidate) and a 25 Pack is $1,995 ($79.80 a candidate). Assessments never expire, so a pack bought before storm season still works in spring. On your first completed assessment, if the report tells you nothing you had not already worked out, email us within 30 days and we refund what you paid for that assessment. You keep the report either way. See every option.

Hiring guides for roofing contractors

• Are Pre-Employment Assessments Legal? What Contractors Need to Know
• Personality Tests, Skills Tests and Instinct Assessments: Which One Fits Trades Hiring?
• Contractor Interview Questions: 15 Scenario Questions and What to Listen For
• The Real Cost of a Bad Hire in a Home Service Company
• Should You Promote Your Best Technician to Service Manager?

Frequently asked questions

What should a pre-employment test for roofers include?

Three checks. Safety knowledge, which your training and a short quiz cover. Hands-on skill, which a paid tryout day covers. And instinct for the seat: how the candidate handles the hard moments of the job, like a change order or a crew pushing to skip the tie-off. Most roofing companies do the first two and guess at the third.

Can I assess roofing sales reps and canvassers?

Yes. The Retail Sales Rep / Project Consultant, Commercial Sales Representative and Canvasser / Door Knocker seats each have their own written standard. One honest caution on canvassers: a low score points to a poor match with the seat, but a high score says little about whether the person will stay, because turnover in that seat follows territory quality and pay design.

How long does the assessment take a roofing candidate?

About 10 to 20 minutes on a phone or a computer. The candidate needs no account. Every screen is timed, and every candidate gets the same clock. Your report is ready when they finish.

Can one pack of assessments cover roofing and other trades?

Yes. An assessment is not tied to a trade or a seat. You pick the trade and the seat each time you send a link, so a company that runs roofing alongside HVAC, plumbing, electrical, garage door, pest control, commercial mechanical, residential cleaning or commercial cleaning can use the same pack for every hire.

What does the AI do?

No AI is used when your candidate takes the assessment, when it is scored, or when the report is made. Answers are scored by a fixed formula written by people, and every written section of the report is a fixed template filled in from that formula's numbers. The same answers give the same result every time, and no candidate information is sent to any AI company. AI tools did help draft the seat standards and the moments before they were checked and approved (see How the seat standards are built). Some hiring laws apply to any scored assessment, AI or not, and the limits page lists what still applies to you.

Is it legal to use a pre-employment assessment for roofers?

In the United States, pre-employment assessments are generally lawful when they are job related and used the same way for every candidate. You remain responsible for federal and state employment law, accommodation requests and any local rules on automated hiring tools. Our guide to pre-employment assessment law for contractors covers the details. Treat this as general information and check the specifics for your state with an employment lawyer.