"HVAC technician" covers someone who has spent a decade installing domestic splits and someone who fault-finds VRF systems and chillers in commercial buildings. Both write "10 years in HVAC" on the CV. Your interview has to find out which one is sitting in front of you.
Start with the licences, not the stories
Check these before you spend an hour on anything else:
- Which ARCtick licence class do they hold? Not "are you ARCtick licensed". The class decides what refrigerant work they can legally do. Our post on ARCtick licence types explains each class.
- Do they hold a restricted electrical licence? In Queensland, a refrigeration and air conditioning REWL lets a tech disconnect, reconnect and fault-find at the equipment. Without it, every electrical fault means a second person. See what a restricted licence covers.
- Verify both. A licence card photo is not verification.
Questions that separate service techs from installers
- "Talk me through the last fault you couldn't find in the first hour." A service tech has a method: what they checked, in what order, and what finally gave it away. An installer tends to describe the job, not the diagnosis.
- "What systems have you serviced most in the last two years?" Domestic splits, ducted, VRF, chillers, cool rooms? Ask for brands. A tech who's worked on a system will name its quirks.
- "A customer says the unit runs but doesn't cool. What do you check, and in what order?" No single right answer. You're listening for a sequence rather than a guess.
- "How do you handle a job where the customer wants something you don't think is compliant?"
- "Have you worked with BMS or controls?" Increasingly the difference between a good commercial tech and a great one.
Questions about how they work
- "How much of your current week is on your own?" Service work is largely solo. Someone used to working under a leading hand may struggle.
- "What does your on-call roster look like now, and what would you want it to look like?" If your roster is heavier than theirs, find out now. That gap is one of the top causes of people leaving in the first 90 days.
- "What would make you stay where you are?" If the answer is money, expect a counter-offer.
What the answers should tell you
By the end you should know three things: what they're licensed to do, what they've actually done recently, and whether your roster and territory match what they want. If you can't answer all three, the interview isn't finished.
A practical test beats a clever question
If you can, put them in front of a unit for 20 minutes with a fault you've set up. It tells you more than any question will.
HJ Recruitment places HVAC technicians and refrigeration mechanics with Queensland employers. We check licence classes before we send a CV. See our HVAC and refrigeration recruitment, or talk to us.
Sources- Australian Refrigeration Council - Licence types- WorkSafe Queensland - Restricted electrical work licence scope (refrigeration and air conditioning)
