Talent & Training

McCloud Academy

Within your first month at McCloud Services, you’ll spend a week at the home office completing the first phase of initial training: McCloud Academy. You’ll be with other new team members, typically an average of four team members per session. Unless you live in South Elgin or Elgin, you’ll stay at a hotel with the other new team members, coming into the home office daily for training on various topics.

McCloud Academy is a combination of classroom and field training. Field work allows for hands on learning and a chance to really understand what a service specialist does. Even if your position is not field-related, it’s important that all McCloud team members see what goes on in the field in order to best serve those who are protecting our clients from pests. You’ll learn a lot from Academy, and the experience may even be overwhelming. Most team members tend to enjoy the experience. It gives them a good taste of the company they’ve joined and the career they’re embarking on.

You will learn the following while attending Academy:

• Pest Management Industry: You’ll learn about the industry and how to successfully navigate it, from customer service to documentation
• Facilities: We’ll visit several of our clients during the week, providing exposure to different environments and the safety and pest risks that accompany them
• Pests: Get foundational knowledge on how to identify and control our biggest pests
• McCloud’s Market and Mission: Hear why McCloud is the leader in pest management, understand the importance of our industry and your essential contributions to it
• Meet the home office staff: Know who you’ll be working with, on the phone with, and emailing during your career at McCloud
• HR and Benefits: Learn about McCloud’s benefits and policies
• IT: Get your new phone and learn about our phone and email guidelines
• Hand-Held: Our service specialist’s use a hand held for most elements of service. Learn the basic functions of it and spend some time practicing with it
• Equipment: If your position requires you to be in the field, you’ll receive a work bag filled with essential service tools and safety gear. You’ll be asked to sign off that you’ve received them and are responsible for them

Initial Training Program

• McCloud Academy: A one-week introduction to McCloud Services and the pest management industry at the home office
• OSHA 10 Hour General: An online workplace safety course recognized by OSHA
• EOS Safe Driver Training: An online driving safety course
• Pesticide Label Training: Online pesticide modules
• McCloud University: Online courses with content ranging from pesticide use to protocols
• On-The-Job Training (OJTs): Hands-on training on specific skills required for service
• Signature Care Certification: Online food safety and pest management training for Copesan accounts
• State Applicators License
• NPMA Food Plant Certification: Food plant pest management certification
• NPMA GreenPro Certification: Organic pest management certification
• NPMA QualityPro Certification: QualityPro Pest management certification
• ServSafe® Manager Certification: Nationally-recognized food safety Training by the National Restaurant Association

Continued Training Program

• Monthly training meetings: At the service center, these monthly classroom sessions focus on new technical skills and safety needs
• McCloud University: Online courses with content ranging from pesticide use to protocols
• Industry schools, seminars, and events: Continued education credits are required in our industry to ensure that we keep up with changes in research that dictate how we control and monitor for pests effectively.
• Purdue Correspondence Courses: Those employees that want to further develop their skills are enrolled in Purdue correspondence courses in pest management. From basic Integrated Pest Management courses to advanced food plant courses, there is always the potential to develop your skills.
• Associate Certified Entomologist (ACE): After five years in the pest management industry, those employees that want to have the respected ACE certification from the Entomological Society of America may study and complete the exam.

A Day in the Life of a Service Professional

Service is the key component in every single thing we do at McCloud Services, and how “service” manifests itself may vary day to day. Some days providing an excellent quality service means a low-key day of inspecting our clients’ facilities without finding any pests. But other days, it means wrestling with new or on-going pest problems. It may mean strategizing to figure out the best way to control a tricky pest situation or exploring chemical and non-chemical options for control. Giving excellent service may mean sometimes starting your day extra early to ensure that service is completed before our client starts their day. It may mean coming back late in the evening to hunt cockroaches when they’re active and the client is not. Service may mean identifying holes in their pest management program and selling them additional services to ensure they’re well-protected from pests. It may mean being available to our clients through a phone call or in person, to ease their concerns. The nature of “service” can vary day to day, but the goal is the same: going above and beyond to ensure that our clients’ feel McCloud Services owns their pest management program and will protect them from pest threats.

McCloud Services has a wide variety of clients, from hospitals, apartments and schools to food plants, convenience stores, fast food restaurants and hotels… the list is long. Each of these facilities come with their own pest management challenges and safety risks. You’ll find that your training and gear will focus on minimizing the safety risk at each of these accounts. Sometimes we may crawl under equipment, other times we may find ourselves on top of roofs. We will approach a million square foot food plant differently from a small corner coffee shop. The pests are the same, but how we go about controlling them under the unique restraints of that facility will vary considerably. Exploring these facilities and understanding their pest management needs takes time, attention-to-detail, and dedication. You’ll be armed with training, equipment, and safety gear designed to handle the situations that you encounter, regardless of the type of facility.

For most of our service specialists, the autonomy of the position, having control over your day and route in order to best meet the clients’ needs, is part of the fun. You’re seen as an expert, a hero to some that comes and ensures they remain pest-free or tackles any pest problems they do have. Most of your day is spent by yourself, inspecting facilities, servicing pest control devices, or solving pest problems with the resources we’ve provided you. But that doesn’t mean you’re actually alone. McCloud has a network of managers and technical experts that are available to support you via phone, email, and in person.

As with any position in the service industry, you’ll meet your share of easy and difficult personalities. Learning how to effectively communicate with all of your clients will dictate your success in the industry. It’s our job to communicate and document everything pest-related to our customers as they need to know what we’re doing to help them because their perception of our work may differ from what is actually being done. Our most effective Service Specialists are passionate about the pest management industry, they enjoy protecting our clients and sharing their expertise. Our clients can tell when we have a passion for pest management and that passion translates to fantastic service – doing whatever we need to do to ensure that our customers have a positive experience with McCloud Services.