the horrors of hiring people.

[Darth-Baiter]

i am hiring engineers.  it has been brutal.  applications vary wildly, but they trend towards AWFUL.  we asks candidates if they have any special licenses for the job.  for example, if they are a licensed Civil Engineer.  i got, "i have a drivers' license!"

 

at interviews, when asked about the occasional night work, i got, "well, i really like my sleep"

 

my job opening is for field engineers at major construction projects.  the kiss of death for me is, "so, can i do this job from home?  telework?"

 

the wind beneath my wings of enthusiasm for building a great team is now gone.  dead air.  hahahha.....

[813basstard]

And these are engineers…

 

I had a guy actually ask for a ride to the interview that I’m interviewing him for. 
I said no but I’ll send you an Uber. Which I did, however it dropped him to the unemployment office. 
..can’t make this up

[J._Bricker]

Wait to you interview a candidate that’s taking the interview for “practice”.

[Darth-Baiter]

goes without saying.  if you know of any Civil Engineers that want to fish Clearlake and the CA Delta with me.  have them reach out. 

[gim]

The pool of quality, reliable, qualified candidates in just about every field is probably slim right now.  Its a job seekers market, not an employers market.  There just isn't a lot of people that can fill the shoes need to be worn.  I don't do any hiring, but I occasionally train people.

 

This problem is quite apparent working at the federal government too.

[Captain Phil]

This problem has been coming for a long time.   Baby boomers were a huge group of highly skilled workers.  When they retired, they left big shoes to fill.  When I started out, companies trained their own workforce through apprenticeship programs.  Today, businesses want to hire experienced skilled workers and there aren't enough to go around. When I was 19, I was hired by a fortune 500 company as an entry level service technician.  I didn't know squat.   I had good grades in high school and scored well on my SAT's, so they took a chance and trained me.  Today, you have to go in debt at least $100K for a college degree before anyone will consider you.  There are good employees available, but it may take an investment on your part.

[Deleted account]

"Young people are lazy, unfocused, entitled, and listen to the Devil's music, in my day"....

I'm sure some caveman's kid was sitting around the fire gnawing on some mastodon jerky thinking "Dad is such a troglodyte"...

[Darth-Baiter]

20 minutes ago, Captain Phil said:

This problem has been coming for a long time.   Baby boomers were a huge group of highly skilled workers.  When they retired, they left big shoes to fill.  When I started out, companies trained their own workforce through apprenticeship programs.  Today, businesses want to hire experienced skilled workers and there aren't enough to go around. When I was 19, I was hired by a fortune 500 company as an entry level service technician.  I didn't know squat.   I had good grades in high school and scored well on my SAT's, so they took a chance and trained me.  Today, you have to go in debt at least $100K for a college degree before anyone will consider you.  There are good employees available, but it may take an investment on your part.

i can agree with this.  except.  one of the example i put up was an older guy.  maybe mid 50's.

 

we are mostly getting a more mature group of candidates in general.  

[corey90]

1. take a chance on someone you might be surprised if not fire them.

2. Train people otherwise how will anyone learn.

3. kids today aren't lazy get off your highhorse.

4. people wont work for ********

[VolFan]

The older I get, the more I learn to hire the person, not the skill set (obviously within reason). I’d rather teach someone that wants to be there than try to guide someone who doesn’t. I don’t think that’s changed in the 20+ years I’ve been interviewing/hiring people.

[Bird]

Point blank......hire a Mexican.

My brother has a large roofing business and logging business, every employee is Mexican...... again, point blank.

[throttleplate]

8 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

my job opening is for field engineers at major construction projects.  the kiss of death for me is, "so, can i do this job from home?  telework?"

 

[DitchPanda]

4 hours ago, corey90 said:

1. take a chance on someone you might be surprised if not fire them.

2. Train people otherwise how will anyone learn.

3. kids today aren't lazy get off your highhorse.

4. people wont work for ********

I always laugh when everybody says " kids these days sure are lazy and entitled". Hate to break it to you bud but most people are lazy and entitled. Where do these young people learn it from? Their parents. I'm 39, not a kid but not an old man...I have a strong work ethic. Learned that from my mom and dad. To take it even farther I will say hands down the laziest person I've ever worked with is a guy at my plant...he just turned 56. Have a 22 year old kid working on days who works circles around his lazy a$%.

[bigbassin']

You’d be amazed how many people have no called, no showed on interviews and then called a day or two asking to reschedule…guess they never learned the importance of first impressions.

 

Guess what the one or two we hired did within the first week? Guess where they weren’t the second week.

 

9 hours ago, 813basstard said:

And these are engineers…

 

I had a guy actually ask for a ride to the interview that I’m interviewing him for. 
I said no but I’ll send you an Uber. Which I did, however it dropped him to the unemployment office. 
..can’t make this up

Not an interview, but I had a guy I picked up and took to work one day try to fist fight me during the shift.
 

Obviously had to let him go on the spot, he asked me I could go ahead and take him home since he’s off the clock. Politely informed him he’d need to find another ride home.

[DitchPanda]

11 hours ago, bigbassin' said:

You’d be amazed how many people have no called, no showed on interviews and then called a day or two asking to reschedule…guess they never learned the importance of first impressions.

 

Guess what the one or two we hired did within the first week? Guess where they weren’t the second week.

 

Not an interview, but I had a guy I picked up and took to work one day try to fist fight me during the shift.
 

Obviously had to let him go on the spot, he asked me I could go ahead and take him home since he’s off the clock. Politely informed him he’d need to find another ride home.

My plant manager has complained about this very thing to me several times in the past year. Had two guys go thru the phone interview, the in person interview and the background check, physical, drug testing. Both came back clean both accepted the job offer on the spot, neither ever showed. One guy text a few days later and said he changed his mind, other guy never contacted us again. Why waste your time and others?

[gim]

45 minutes ago, DitchPanda said:

Both came back clean both accepted the job offer on the spot, neither ever showed. One guy text a few days later and said he changed his mind, other guy never contacted us again. Why waste your time and others?

That’s so disrespectful. At least have the common courtesy to notify the employer.

[Susky River Rat]

I work for a company of about 400 people at my plant. Our retention rate is around 12%. The people that do stay are generally lazy but, use the excuse “if I made more money”. I point blank tell them there are jobs that pay better. Also the excuse of if I made more money I’d worked harder is a lie. You work hard or you don’t.

[DitchPanda]

21 minutes ago, gimruis said:

That’s so disrespectful. At least have the common courtesy to notify the employer.

Exactly. On the flip side though I'm glad they never showed up, I don't want to work with worthless people like that.

[Deleted account]

1 hour ago, DitchPanda said:

Why waste your time and others?

 

My best guess, parents threatened to kick them out if they didn't have proof they were really trying to get a job...

[DitchPanda]

1 minute ago, Deleted account said:

 

My best guess, parents threatened to kick them out if they didn't have proof they were really trying to get a job...

Your likely on to something there.

[Deleted account]

1 minute ago, DitchPanda said:

Your likely on to something there.

 

They are nothing if not literal and transactional, use it to your advantage.

[TOXIC]

Funny, before I retired, my line of work pretty much guaranteed me of no returning to the workforce due to the specialized nature of what I did for the most part.  34 years and a few moves and a lot of travel cemented my decision to go.  I wasn’t retired more than a year when I got a call from a company who was under contract to the Treasury Department to go to 3rd world countries and assist them with their banking systems.  Some notable people I had worked with were doing it and someone passed my name on to them. I would travel for 3 months, then be home 3 months, travel with armed protection and stay in very nice high end places.  Pay was almost too good to believe but being 100% contract employee there were a lot of hidden costs.  I ultimately turned it down and later found out that my assignment was to be Ukraine.  This was before the current situation.  Likewise, my LinkedIn profile has been getting queried a lot in the last few weeks due to the recent banking events.  Maybe I ought to pull a Tom Brady and come out of retirement.??

[Deleted account]

29 minutes ago, Darnold335 said:

Our retention rate is around 12%. 

 

Ok, That number tells me you've got more than just employee issues...

6 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

Funny, before I retired, my line of work pretty much guaranteed me of no returning to the workforce due to the specialized nature of what I did for the most part.  34 years and a few moves and a lot of travel cemented my decision to go.  I wasn’t retired more than a year when I got a call from a company who was under contract to the Treasury Department to go to 3rd world countries and assist them with their banking systems.  Some notable people I had worked with were doing it and someone passed my name on to them. I would travel for 3 months, then be home 3 months, travel with armed protection and stay in very nice high end places.  Pay was almost too good to believe but being 100% contract employee there were a lot of hidden costs.  I ultimately turned it down and later found out that my assignment was to be Ukraine.  This was before the current situation.  Likewise, my LinkedIn profile has been getting queried a lot in the last few weeks due to the recent banking events.  Maybe I ought to pull a Tom Brady and come out of retirement.??

 

LOL, I let my clearance lapse and burned every bridge I could, and I still get contacted with "hey, so and so says you would be a great fit". Nope.

[Susky River Rat]

1 hour ago, Deleted account said:

 

Ok, That number tells me you've got more than just employee issues..

The work is stupid easy. You’re just expected to work. That’s the issue.

[Jigfishn10]

15 hours ago, DitchPanda said:

I always laugh when everybody says " kids these days sure are lazy and entitled". 

 

Agree. That *** is getting old.