Hiring Photographers

Future me: you only hire once in a while, so you will forget what worked. This is the playbook from the last round. Follow it in order and a new in-person photographer goes from interview to shooting alone in about three shoots, without guessing who is ready.

• Interview several candidates on the same day. Seeing them back to back makes the comparison honest, because the strongest person stands out right away instead of being measured against a fuzzy memory from last week.
• Choose a day with only one shoot on the calendar. Interviews need your full attention, and a packed day means rushed conversations and a late arrival at the client's listing.

• Send every candidate the photographer training videos a few days before the interview. Anyone who watched them walks in already knowing the basics, and whether they actually watched tells you how seriously they are taking the job.

• Spend about 20 minutes showing the basic camera settings and the shooting technique, then hand them the camera and stay over their shoulder while they shoot. Watching them work tells you more in ten minutes than any answer they give sitting down.

• Have them join you on 3 shoots before they ever go out on their own. Real homes, real agents and real time pressure show you things a practice room never will.
• Make at least 2 of those shoots unpaid ride-alongs, so you both find out if it is a fit before anyone commits.
• After 2 or 3 shoots, if they are ready, extend the contractor agreement to them. That is the moment they stop being a candidate and become part of the team.

• Once they sign, follow the contractor onboarding steps in Listing Light Legal: agreement signed, added in Mercury with a W-9, CA new hire report filed, then paid on Fridays.
• Send them the Welcome to Listing Light page on day one so the logistics are not all in your head.