What to Expect During Your CarData Shadow Day
If you’ve been invited to a Shadow Day with CarData, congratulations — you’ve made it through several steps of our hiring process and we believe you may have the potential to be a good fit for our team.
The Shadow Day is one of the most important parts of our hiring process. It gives both you and CarData an opportunity to see what the job is actually like before making a final decision. We want you to understand exactly how the process works before you arrive.
What Is a Shadow Day?
A Shadow Day is a paid, hands-on step in our hiring process where you’ll spend time in the field with a CarData manager or experienced team member. Instead of deciding fit based only on an application or phone interview, we believe it’s better for you to experience the actual work environment.
You’ll get to see things such as:
- What the position actually looks like day to day
- How we work with dealership personnel
- How vehicles are located, photographed and processed
- How our systems and equipment are used
- What working independently in the field is really like
- The pace, physical demands and expectations of the position
At the same time, our manager is getting an opportunity to learn more about you.
What Are We Looking For?
We’re not expecting you to know how to do the job on your first Shadow Day. That’s not the purpose. We’re paying attention to things that are much harder to determine in a traditional interview:
- Did you arrive on time and prepared?
- Can you follow directions?
- Do you communicate well?
- Are you comfortable working outdoors and around vehicles?
- Are you respectful and professional around dealership employees?
- Are you attentive and willing to learn?
- How do you respond to coaching or corrections?
- Do you seem comfortable working independently?
- Does the job appear to be something you would actually enjoy doing?
How Do I Prepare for My Shadow Day?
All specific Shadow Day instructions are included in the calendar invitation you receive from CarData. That invitation will include details such as:
- Where and when to meet
- Who you’ll be meeting with
- Who to contact if you have a problem
- Where to park
- What to wear
- What to bring
- Any additional preparation instructions
How Long Does a Shadow Day Last?
There is no guaranteed length — our Shadow Days are intentionally flexible. You may spend only a short amount of time with the manager, or you may remain with them for most or all of the workday.
Around noon, the manager will generally let you know whether they would like you to continue for the remainder of that day.
A Shadow Day can also end earlier if either you or the manager determines the position does not appear to be the right fit. You are free to decide the job isn’t for you — that’s part of the reason we use Shadow Days.
A Shadow Day Is Not a Job Offer
Being invited to a Shadow Day does not mean you’ve already been hired. It means you’ve advanced far enough in our hiring process that we want to evaluate the fit in a real-world environment.
Likewise, completing one Shadow Day does not guarantee that a job offer will follow. We frequently want more than one opportunity to work with an applicant before making a final hiring decision.
You May Be Asked to Complete Multiple Shadow Days
CarData does not have a set number of Shadow Days that automatically results in a job offer. Some applicants may only need a small number before a decision is made; others may be invited back several times. In some situations, we have conducted as many as 10 Shadow Days before making a final decision.
The local manager determines how many Shadow Days are appropriate based on the position, location, applicant and what they still need to evaluate.
How Shadow Day Pay Works
All approved CarData Shadow Days are paid, based on the same compensation structure as the position you’re applying for. We don’t use a reduced “training rate” simply because you’re shadowing.
Hourly positions
You will be paid the same hourly rate as the position you applied for, for your Shadow Day time.
Commission-based positions
Your Shadow Day compensation is based on the commissions you would have earned if you had been working that day as a regular CarData team member on your own.
When do I get paid?
This depends on whether you’re ultimately selected for the position:
Once the Shadow Day process ends, your Shadow Day earnings are sent separately via Zelle. CarData processes these payments in weekly batches.
This requires that you submitted the requested Zelle information before your Shadow Day began.
If you’re hired, we do not separately Zelle your Shadow Day earnings. Instead, all of your Shadow Day earnings are rolled into your first applicable payroll.
CarData payroll dates are the 1st and 16th of each month.
What Happens After My Shadow Day?
Your manager will evaluate how the day went and determine whether they would like to continue the hiring process with you. There are generally three possible outcomes:
You’re asked to return for another Shadow Day
If we want to continue evaluating you, someone from CarData will contact you and invite you back. Being invited back means we’re still interested. It does not guarantee an offer, but it means we believe it’s worth continuing the process.
You’re selected for the position
Once the local manager and hiring team have enough information to make a hiring decision, we’ll contact you about next steps — your job offer, compensation, onboarding requirements and what you’ll need to complete before officially starting.
Do not assume you’ve been hired until you receive an official offer from CarData.
You don’t hear from us
We want to be transparent about that upfront. Our field managers are actively managing dealership accounts, team members, applicants and day-to-day operations, so you may not receive a separate rejection call after your Shadow Day. If we want you to return or we’re moving forward with you, we will contact you.
Not being selected does not change your right to the compensation you earned during an approved Shadow Day. Assuming you provided the requested Zelle information beforehand, your earnings will still be paid via Zelle within 5 days.
What If I Decide the Job Isn’t for Me?
That’s completely acceptable. The Shadow Day is not only about CarData evaluating you — you’re evaluating CarData too. We would much rather you experience the job and determine it isn’t right for you than accept an offer without really understanding the work.
If at any point you determine the position isn’t a good fit, communicate that with the manager you’re shadowing. You will still be compensated for the qualifying Shadow Day work you completed.
Why Does CarData Use Shadow Days?
Our field positions are different from many traditional jobs. Depending on the position, you may spend much of your day:
- Working independently
- Driving between dealerships
- Working outdoors and walking dealership lots
- Working around hundreds of vehicles
- Communicating with dealership employees
- Following specific photography and vehicle-processing procedures
- Managing your time without someone standing over your shoulder
It’s difficult for you or us to know whether that’s a good fit from an application and a phone conversation. The Shadow Day gives you the opportunity to answer:
“Can I actually see myself doing this job?”
And it gives us the opportunity to answer:
“Can we see this person successfully representing CarData in the field?”
Remember: We’re Not Looking for Perfection
You don’t need to show up knowing everything. You don’t need automotive photography experience. And you don’t need to pretend to know something you don’t.
- Show up on time
- Read and follow your calendar invitation
- Pay attention
- Ask questions
- Take coaching
- Be professional
- Put forth an honest effort
We’re not looking for perfection. We’re looking for people we believe we can train, trust and build around.
Now we both get the opportunity to see whether CarData is the right fit.