Thinking it might be time to hire my first employee, how to in this day and age?

[TopFliteGraphics]

As the title suggests, I have reached a point where I really think I need to hire somebody to help out around the shop and in the field. I've been in business for close to 5 years now and have pretty much been doing everything myself except for the occasions when my 18 year old son came in to help me out. He is now in the US Army so I don't have access to his help any longer. Having him help me made me realize that this type of work is certainly not for everyone. He would get incredibly frustrated weeding vinyl. Something I take for granted as just part of the job. I used to manage a warehouse years ago and whenever we needed help, we ran an ad in the newspaper. Well, since I don't think anybody reads newspapers anymore, what do you do to get the word out that you are looking to hire? I am probably looking for a part-timer at this point but can easily see it growing to full-time fairly quickly.

A friend and kind of mentor said to me the other day that you can't grow the business without growing the business. It hit me like a hammer on the head. I have always been so self reliant that I did not see that this very same trait that has gotten me to where I am is now limiting me from where I can and want to go.

 

[CanuckSigns]

Ive had issues hiring part timers in the past, I found that either you are looking at someone who potentially has other part time jobs elsewhere and having to work around their other schedules, which can be a pain in our "everything is last minute" industry.

Or you end up with a retiree, looking for something to occupy their time between vacations, you will never be their top priority.

Also, someone who is good, hardworking and reliable, is generally not looking for part time work, In my opinion, you would be best hiring someone fulltime who can help out in other ways, such as a production guy who can also do site visits and possibly do the day-to-day invoicing and bookwork.

 

[myront]

...Or you end up with a retiree

Careful now. I'm a retiree. lol Retired military that is. Signs is now my career.

We've gone through several part timers over the years I've been here. Very frustrating indeed. Must know computers and software well. The rest you can teach a caveman to do. Oops, sorry about that one.

 

[TopFliteGraphics]

Good points. Only reason I was thinking part time is right now I do not know how much help I really need. I am backlogged on some art work for a couple of clients plus have assembly work that is slipping behind as well. Not sure how long the "rush" will last and I am worried about affordability in the long term. I know that once I can get back out and start selling that I will see even more business but I don't want to bite off more than I can chew by committing to having someone on full time. In my car restoration business, I averaged two employees for the last 2 years and I closed it due the fact that it was not profitable enough for the stress it put on my shoulders. Most weeks, I paid my employees and then there was nothing left for me due to the poor customer cash flow situation. After I closed that down, I started to concentrate solely on the sign business and since I did that the results have been great. I want to grow this business properly and look forward to having a full crew but want to do it right.

Another question, what is the going hourly rate for a new hire in this industry?

 

[myront]

rates are going to vary greatly. Depends on the area and how experienced the person is. Designer? Weeding and sticking? Sales/customer service?
I'd say rural area $10 p/hr to start. Knowledgeable designer start at $12 p/hr. Urban areas would have to be higher.

 

[TopFliteGraphics]

rates are going to vary greatly. Depends on the area and how experienced the person is. Designer? Weeding and sticking? Sales/customer service?
I'd say rural area $10 p/hr to start. Knowledgeable designer start at $12 p/hr. Urban areas would have to be higher.

Suburban Palm Beach County. Not looking for a designer. Weeding & sticking plus help installing signs in the field. Floor sweeper, etc

 

[myront]

consider a high schooler. We did this for a couple of years. Come in after school around 3ish. Sweep, weed, stick, empty trash, answer phones. Probably could get away with minimum wage too.

 

[Gino]

No answer for your employee problem, but thank you kid for his service.

 

[bomaboat]

Please pay your employees a living wage so they that can stand on their own two feet rather than requiring food stamps and other social services to get by. That is starting at $15/hour these days. Part time, full time, young or old.

Besides it being the decent thing to do, the best way to get and keep​ good help is to pay them properly.

 

[TopFliteGraphics]

No answer for your employee problem, but thank you kid for his service.

Thanks - I will. He did not want to be just another rudderless kid post High School. Enlisted two days after his 18th birthday. I told him in my first letter to him that he is a better man thank I was at his age and I am very proud of him.

 

[rossmosh]

Craigslist. Give a very simple instruction within the ad, something like "Please email me with a simple resume and hours you're available to work." If they can't do that, they aren't a candidate. Also be clear about what you're paying. Hiring without telling the pay shows a lack of professionalism.

The last thing I can say is cheap labor is cheap for a reason. Don't be surprised if you need to fire 3-4 people to get a decent worker. Also setup clear rules from the start, specifically about cell phones.

 

[DerbyCitySignGuy]

It's also not a bad idea to start people on a probationary period. After three to six months, if they're going to work out, bump them up a buck or two.

It should be pretty easy to weed out bad employees within three months.

 

[TopFliteGraphics]

Craigslist. Give a very simple instruction within the ad, something like "Please email me with a simple resume and hours you're available to work." If they can't do that, they aren't a candidate. Also be clear about what you're paying. Hiring without telling the pay shows a lack of professionalism.

The last thing I can say is cheap labor is cheap for a reason. Don't be surprised if you need to fire 3-4 people to get a decent worker. Also setup clear rules from the start, specifically about cell phones.

Craigslist - Don't know why I did not think of that. I buy things on CL all the time. Never had to look for a job so advertising for one in 2016 is all new to me.

 

[DerbyCitySignGuy]

Craigslist - Don't know why I did not think of that. I buy things on CL all the time. Never had to look for a job so advertising for one in 2016 is all new to me.

You can also post job offers on Indeed. There's a free level and you can also pay to have your ad run at the top.

 

[JoeBoomer]

1 Question

Hungry and tech savvy.

My #1 question I ask and judge people on is: "If you don't know something, how do you figure it out". If they don't say "google it" or similar somewhere in there answer, that pretty much takes them off my list. Doesn't matter what position I'm hiring for, if they aren't self-sufficient enough to search the interweb, your only going to have headaches after that point.

 

[Baz]

I use our province's employment department services.
Does your state have that available for you?

I hired a second full time employee about 6 weeks ago by placing my
add on my government's job placement website.

My add ran for four weeks and had almost 600 unique views.
I must have received about 40 legitimate inquiries.

 

[CanuckSigns]

Good points. Only reason I was thinking part time is right now I do not know how much help I really need. I am backlogged on some art work for a couple of clients plus have assembly work that is slipping behind as well. Not sure how long the "rush" will last and I am worried about affordability in the long term. I know that once I can get back out and start selling that I will see even more business but I don't want to bite off more than I can chew by committing to having someone on full time. In my car restoration business, I averaged two employees for the last 2 years and I closed it due the fact that it was not profitable enough for the stress it put on my shoulders. Most weeks, I paid my employees and then there was nothing left for me due to the poor customer cash flow situation. After I closed that down, I started to concentrate solely on the sign business and since I did that the results have been great. I want to grow this business properly and look forward to having a full crew but want to do it right.

Another question, what is the going hourly rate for a new hire in this industry?

Have you considered outsourcing certain parts of your business? You mention being behind on some design work, i have used Phillip @ Sign Amigo in the past and his rates are more than reasonable, usually 24 hour turnaround and top notch work. Plus you only have to pay him per job, so it's easy to work the price into a project.

As for assembly work, depending on what type of assembly you do, if it's mostly cut,weed, mask apply vinyl or other mindless work, a local highschool kid looking for a co-op placement might be the ticket, but make sure you watch them when they first start, if they are really bad they could end up costing you more time & money than you think (ask me how I know)

 

[TonyC]

The last 4 employees we hired were from Indeed.com site. I tried to post a job on their site once and got 30 resumes with no experience required as requested. The last few I simply searched the resumes myself and send emails to the people I deemed acceptable from their resumes.
You should hire on a probationary period and don't be afraid to let them go and try again.
As for pay, we usually start anyone at $15 and they are usually at $17-18 if they make it to the end of probationary period.
I believe if you get the right employee they will pay for themselves. You can maybe have time to quote more jobs and get more work.

 

[blufftonsignguy]

As the title suggests, I have reached a point where I really think I need to hire somebody to help out around the shop and in the field. I've been in business for close to 5 years now and have pretty much been doing everything myself except for the occasions when my 18 year old son came in to help me out. He is now in the US Army so I don't have access to his help any longer. Having him help me made me realize that this type of work is certainly not for everyone. He would get incredibly frustrated weeding vinyl. Something I take for granted as just part of the job. I used to manage a warehouse years ago and whenever we needed help, we ran an ad in the newspaper. Well, since I don't think anybody reads newspapers anymore, what do you do to get the word out that you are looking to hire? I am probably looking for a part-timer at this point but can easily see it growing to full-time fairly quickly.

A friend and kind of mentor said to me the other day that you can't grow the business without growing the business. It hit me like a hammer on the head. I have always been so self reliant that I did not see that this very same trait that has gotten me to where I am is now limiting me from where I can and want to go.

Being a firefighter here, and knowing how most firefighters come from different backgrounds, maybe try your local fire department for part time help. Atleast one background check should have been done on them already! Most firefighters can't live on a firefighter's salary alone, and a lot of them are looking for part time (not necessarily steady) work. Just my thoughts

 

[ams]

As the title suggests, I have reached a point where I really think I need to hire somebody to help out around the shop and in the field. I've been in business for close to 5 years now and have pretty much been doing everything myself except for the occasions when my 18 year old son came in to help me out. He is now in the US Army so I don't have access to his help any longer. Having him help me made me realize that this type of work is certainly not for everyone. He would get incredibly frustrated weeding vinyl. Something I take for granted as just part of the job. I used to manage a warehouse years ago and whenever we needed help, we ran an ad in the newspaper. Well, since I don't think anybody reads newspapers anymore, what do you do to get the word out that you are looking to hire? I am probably looking for a part-timer at this point but can easily see it growing to full-time fairly quickly.

A friend and kind of mentor said to me the other day that you can't grow the business without growing the business. It hit me like a hammer on the head. I have always been so self reliant that I did not see that this very same trait that has gotten me to where I am is now limiting me from where I can and want to go.

The two best free places to hire is indeed.com and craigslist.
(I've hired 4 or 5 people from craigslist, just weed out the good from the bad, I've hired some pretty decent people on there)
Indeed is more upscale and generally they seek a little more pay, but it's better.

Many paid job sites suck and many barely have anyone local.

Also go to your local workforce services office and ask about the internship program. Here in VA they will give me someone for 150 hours for free, the state pays it. Then I have the option to hire or fire them and try another intern. Generally they are fresh out of high school and seeking their first job, but this way you can train them your way and not have them experienced and doing it someone elses way.