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Looks like hiring time has come.

threeputt

New Member
Right hand man who's worked here for 14 years is getting ready to embark on a new career. I've known about it for a while, but this weekend we talked and it's coming about soon.

I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons of hiring a total trainee, an experienced guy who can step right in and contribute....or somewhere in between.

We're a fast paced commercial shop of four people full time.

Would love to hear commentary from others who've been this very situation.
 

SightLine

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Find some experienced and mature (probably will be older). It seems most anyone young anymore has zero loyalty, zero initiative (have to tell them what to do constantly), lazy, cannot get them to stop dicking around on their stupid phone, thinks they should make what an experienced person should, etc, etc....

Yeah I'm tired of the younger generation. Spend a year training them and they just bail on you. For them it's 100% about the easy buck. I'm in the middle of negotiating hiring a very well known and very experienced guy right now. He will just about be moving halfway across the country if it works out and we can get him. I feel pretty positive about it right now.

The flip side though, if you bring someone in who has experience then you may butt heads on how things should be done. Just be open, someone might have some ideas and/or know a better way of going about something than you do. They can potentially bring new ideas and or more efficient or better ways of doing some things to the table. With someone new to the business you can of course train them on how you want things done and how you feel they should be done though.
 

Gene@mpls

New Member
The flip side though, if you bring someone in who has experience then you may butt heads on how things should be done. Just be open, someone might have some ideas and/or know a better way of going about something than you do. They can potentially bring new ideas and or more efficient or better ways of doing some things to the table. With someone new to the business you can of course train them on how you want things done and how you feel they should be done though.

I am a big believer in this- there are many ways to make a (whatever) and
I certainly don't always come up with the best/most efficient solution. I always stress that I welcome opinions... but the bottom line is that someone has to make the final decision, and that has to be me.
 

threeputt

New Member
How does one find an experienced guy? I will put some feelers out locally through suppliers I guess.

Is there a better way?
 

HulkSmash

New Member
finding someone with experience in a sign shop isn't easy. especially installers, you'll go through them like water.
 

threeputt

New Member
Wow, yeah installers. Just watching my guy wrap two Chev. Express vans, nose to tail. He's just tearing through 'em.

Be hard to replace. We may have to have a moratorium on taking in wrap jobs.
 

ProWraps

New Member
i dont care who they are, make them sign a ND,NC, and an employee handbook.

trust me.

good luck in your search. its a nightmare.
 

thewvsignguy

New Member
Find some experienced and mature (probably will be older). It seems most anyone young anymore has zero loyalty, zero initiative (have to tell them what to do constantly), lazy, cannot get them to stop dicking around on their stupid phone, thinks they should make what an experienced person should, etc, etc....

Yeah I'm tired of the younger generation. Spend a year training them and they just bail on you. For them it's 100% about the easy buck.

We have the community college up the road and when we take applications they all want a "designers job". We tried a few with some illy and PS experience and some with no experience. The ones with a little knowledge of Illy and PS wanted $10-12 per hour to start. They want the experience and then to move to the big city and make it big. The one's with out experience are friggin lazy and have to goals, they are just there for a few bucks and then quit.

My advise is not to jump the gun, take your time and take lots of applications.
 

signswi

New Member
Depends on the position responsibilities.

"thewvsignguy" 10-12/hr to start is more than reasonable for a college kid with CS training. Most design internships pay more than that for * sake, though they're delusional if they think a community college anything will get them anywhere real in the field.
 

threeputt

New Member
I'm more the "hire the attitude, teach the skill" guy.

Right now I'm actually leaning toward hiring a totally green guy. There's one guy that I've been very impressed with. I've seen him working at the country club I belong to.

He's polite, very smart and has a really nice "way". Good communicator too. Don't know if he's handy with tools, has any computer skills, or has the appropriate aptitude.

I think I'll talk to him and see if he's interested in a full time position. (he's only working part time now, I'm told)
 

thewvsignguy

New Member
Depends on the position responsibilities.

"thewvsignguy" 10-12/hr to start is more than reasonable for a college kid with CS training. Most design internships pay more than that for * sake, though they're delusional if they think a community college anything will get them anywhere real in the field.


Sorry, the point I was trying to make is that they do not want to stick around a sign shop. The ones we interviewed during and after the CC classes have one small piece of the puzzle, and they want a desk job. They want me to teach them things and once they find something better they move on, nope. For 10-12 per hour you need to be able to do much more then just know Illustrator and PS.....
 

SightLine

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Found our guy! Dont know if the stars just happened to align just right or what. Just a random message here on the boards about something unrelated I had posted about turned into a conversation about my needing someone. We worked out some details and he is going to move here from out of state in a couple of weeks. Not going to divulge who it is at this point but I feel he will be a great asset to our company and is a quote well known and respected member here with a ton of experience. I am very fortunate to have such a good talent coming on board.
 

ova

New Member
Found our guy! Dont know if the stars just happened to align just right or what. Just a random message here on the boards about something unrelated I had posted about turned into a conversation about my needing someone. We worked out some details and he is going to move here from out of state in a couple of weeks. Not going to divulge who it is at this point but I feel he will be a great asset to our company and is a quote well known and respected member here with a ton of experience. I am very fortunate to have such a good talent coming on board.

Did you hire Mosh or Edna?






Dave
 
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