Headhunters For The Trades
Archive for June, 2009
Uhhh … a pig and a cell phone.. what’s that got to do with placing people?
Jun 23rd
A short anecdote from our Rochester Office:
Jimmy Crespo came in to my office to re-interview. He had already interviewed with one of our staff some months ago, but I was looking to put together a crew of metal-stud framers for Acquest.
He was friendly and funny, and apologetic that his cellphone was almost continually ringing. He got 11 calls, and answered none during the interview. After about the
3rd, he explained that he was selling his daughter’s pig, and a ton of people were obviously interested.
“So, you live on a farm?”
“Oh, no”, he said, “in the city.”
“Um…then what’s with the pig?”
“Yeah…well, she’s a teenager, you know, and she was saving up her money to get some really expensive cellphone. I told her it was crazy, and she was wasting her money. So the next day she comes to me and says that I was right, she didn’t need any $300 phone. But she wanted a pig. She’d seen that they’re smart and this one kind stays really really tiny.”
“So, you bought her a pig?”
“No, SHE bought the pig, but after 3 months, she’s over it, and that’s why my cell phone won’t stop ringing.”
“People want the pig?”
“Everyone wants the pig.”
He started working that week at Acquest. I didn’t hear too much about Jimmy -whose nickname I will not mention- until a few months later. Kirt (From Acquest) called and said that they want him to stay on permanently. Jimmy is steady, reliable, a great framer, and gets along easily with everyone. I think he’ll make a great crew leader for them before too long…
Blain Lay Goes Permanent at Empire Building Diagnostics
Jun 9th
The following article is written by kim Tatoian, CPGworks Recruiter from the Springville office…
Funny story about Blain Lay. I met him by accident at the end of October 2008. He showed up with his friend whom I was going to re-interview in our Springville office. As I was chatting with our guy,I turned to Blain and said, “hey, what are you up too?”. Very shy and quietly he said, “nothing-looking for a job, but I have to work local until I get my car on the road”. I gave him an application and told him, “I may have a local spot in Gowanda coming up in Mid November”. Blain stayed and filled out the application and we got to know each other a bit.
Blain is a very shy, very quiet, very reserved guy, but also very concerned that his past mistakes would lead him nowhere. I let him know that I was into giving everyone second chances and let’s see what we could do. He started on the Gowanda project with Empire Building Diagnostics in November. Right away, the foreman Norb said, “he works really hard and is doing a great job, not a slacker!”. When he would come to pick up his check, he started to open up more and more. You started to see the pride in his eyes about working and putting in his time. By early February Norb called and said, “I want to give Blain a $.50 increase due to the great work.” He was very impressed with his work ethics- doing great wants to keep him on his team. He wanted to take him to buffalo. Blain came in beaming – very happy and even took the 10 hour OSHA Course here in Buffalo.
Blain is now Permanent with Empire, even though he is still payrolled with us until the season breaks back open. Keep up the great work!
Internet use in America – WAY UP!
Jun 3rd
The following article from Buffalo Business First shows just why it’s smart to be marketing through the internet.
“Sixty-four percent of Americans 18 and older reported using the Internet in 2007, up from just 22 percent a decade earlier.
That’s according to a report released Wednesday by the [CompanyWatch allows you to receive email alerts with stories related to your companies of interest.
You can watch up to ten companies at a time.
] U.S. Census Bureau, which also shows that 62 percent of the nation’s households report using the Internet at home in 2007, an 18 percent increase from 1997.
Among households using the net in 2007, 82 percent reported using a high-speed connection, and 17 percent used a dial-up connection.
“As access to high speed connections have become more prevalent, so too have the number of people that connect to the Internet at home,” said Thom File, a statistician with the Census Bureau Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division. “These data give us a better understanding of who is using the Internet and from where.”
Among the states, New Hampshire had the highest rate of Internet use for those age three and older in 2007 at 82 percent. Mississippi and West Virginia had the lowest rates of use at about 52 percent. Usage rates for New York state were at about 59 percent.
Internet usage also varied by education and race. For individuals 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree, 87 percent reported going online from some location in 2007. About half (49 percent) of those with only a high school diploma reported using the Internet, compared with 19 percent for those without a high school diploma. Meanwhile, 69 percent of whites lived in households with Internet use. The same was true for 51 percent of blacks, 73 percent of Asians and 48 percent of Hispanics.”
