Anyone have any good suggestions for higher good hands. We are busy beyond belief and one of my partners just left the company (thank goodness) so we are struggling to keep up. I'd like to find some reliable help without placing an add in the paper and going through a long drawn out interview process...

Thanks

Any type of networking you can do to find help (talking to your GCs, wholesale house, etc) is the best. Most of the guys we get through ads are horrible. Its sad, but the people looking for jobs in the paper, usually aren't the best.

I can't think of any of our guys that we got through an ad in a paper that is still with us after a year.

Usually GCs are our best resourse for findings guys.

Cloning would be the only sure way! Otherwise you have to take the bumpy road.

Man - if only I could clone my brother I would be set. He rocks.

HappiMan,
Have you tried placing a Classified Ad here at ECN?.
Check this out Here
Click upon Employment.
I hope that this can help.
The other question would be be what is the money like?.

[This message has been edited by Trumpy (edited 07-08-2005).]

This is one area where the unions probably have the right idea. You "grow" the best employees yourself. If you need a guy who can hit the ground running you always have to ask "what is he running FROM"?

My next door neighbor recently bought some rental property. I told him "you don't advertise for tenants...you recruit! And when you have a vacancy, you make them a pitch as to why they should move into your place!"

Most of us have met folks over time who made a good impression on us; there is no reason you can't track them down and ask them what they're up to these days.
One must also be a bit open-minded as to the work to be done, hours to be kept, etc. An awful lot of an electrical contractors' work has little to do with "electrical work." A man who can patch drywall, then match the texture, is a real asset. Carpentry, set-up, clean-up, parts running, and roof repair are all things we do that aren't part of the apprentice electrician curriculum.

Happi_man,
Breed your own? Like Father, like son/daughter is an old maxim, but very true, hard workers run in families!

Alan

We grow are own, they start with the state program, do their 4 years plus then we pay what it takes to keep them, this is one way to add value to the business.
All off the street hires, turned out to be a disaster, they usually bring all their bad baggage with them.

Growing your own works. Try going to some of the high schools and talking to the vo-techs.
We need to start talking to guidence consulars as it seems as if they push the kids into going to college and away from the trades,at least in this part of the country.
We are seeing fewer and fewer young people coming into the business. While college and higher education is good, there are those who don't have the desire or ability to go on to college and these kids should be focused on to show them a trade.
We also provide apprenticeship programs for our employees which helps in making us a good choice to work for.

I wish I could tell you a good way. We can't find any experienced help. Classified Ads don't really work. They give you a few candidates, but in my area it's a waste of money. It's been my experience that if a guy is out of work, he's out of work for a reason. Think about it, if a shop slows down, they layoff the slackers first. Right now we can't afford to even fire slackers. A guy would have to really screw up for me to fire them right now. Not sure of the the answer, if you find it, let me know.