Personally, I think when you are ready for employees, you should wait until you can hire at least two. For about 2 years, I had a single employee. It's difficult to be the boss of one guy. You will spend a lot of time with this guy. Eventually, the line between employee and friend gets blurry. Especially if you are close in age. It's also tough for the employee because they have no real peers. They just have the boss and the work. If you can swing 2 guys, they can be friends/companions, and you can be the boss.
Ewlsey, that is a VERY insightful tidbit. Thank you for that. That specific facet of this had not occurred to me yet. Very pertinent. Thanks.
Most simply could not walk the walk.
I have been struggling with this, myself. I've had 5 "Toolmakers" come in and each have talked the talk. Yet, when it came time to show up for the "try outs" Two couldn't make it, and Three couldn't fake it. Simply put, they did not have the skills they said they did. But they wanted the money. Lesson learned - Keep having try outs.
How do I know? When I've hired him/her and they are still there after 4-5 years. I'm not being flippant, that's the only way I've ever been able to tell for sure. I've made almost every mistake you can make hiring. i could write a book on what NOT to do, but precious little about how TO do it.
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Mud, I appreciate that. I did not take it as flippant. I believe I know exactly how you intended it. It is the very thing that I am struggling with right now. More below...
Even something as simple as putting a part in a vise with parallels. Does he wipe off the vise. Wipe off the parallels. Check to see if they are snug when he tightens them down. Ect ect. Only takes a minute and you could see a lot good and bad.
Yes, this is the purpose of the try out days. So far, we've been paying them to come in when they have time, and work here so I can observe these very things. So far it has been disappointing to say the least.
How big is your operation and what do you need?
Seems to be simple and silly questions but that must be answered first.
In real man ours too...
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Thanks, Tony. All good, common sense stuff, but it got me off me arse to actually write it down and filter it through. I really needed to do that. I had not avoided doing so, but have been so busy that it has been difficult to find time for some things. This was one.
JS, I'm not picking on you. Was simply a convenient place to iterate what a few others have discussed as well, and address it.
I'm not sure why this even came up. Not really relevant to my query, and we won't. If they don't fit, they don't fit. And no amount of extra time here is going to change that. I'll know in Two days ( Three, tops ) if they fit, here. Past that, "Auf Wiedersehen."
That being said I personally would go look at their car, if its a pigsty, chances are they work that way as well.
simple test on a paper or machine your pick or a list of machines and a part ask them how they would make it.
I'm actually already doing both of those.
I have seen some very in depth interviews that became totally meaningless soon as the person hit the floor. For that reason I changed the way I hire.
Boy, howdy! You ain't just whistlin' Dixie!
( see above references )
It's this last part that really seems to give me a good idea as to the capabilities, attitude of a hire...Its at this point we can talk with an educated guess as to how to proceed. Prior to that point it is a shot in the dark based on how well they may be able to fluff their way through an interview, how their resume holds up to following up on calls to former employers.
By going that route I hired a gent I never would have given a shot...he came in setup and ran a job in very short time...all sizes in the mean, great finishes, cleaned up after himself. Our initial interview had a resume I could not verify as he was from out of the country, he spoke virtually no English coming in with his wife who spoke some and translated.
I'm in complete agreement on that. There is much that I would not care on whit about if they could do what we need. Still... see my ending point, below...
The very first thing I look at is their capability to write. Do they start a sentence with a capital letter? Can they tell the difference between your and you're. Do they make extra indents, add too many commas, spelling mistakes, ((())) shit expressions? Saves me the trouble of having a meeting in person.
I hear what you are saying ( writing ) and generally am in agreement with it. However, in this specific case I really could not give a shite. We're not hiring them for their grammar, public speaking, or accounting skills. We are hiring for their machining ability, capability, capacity to learn, and interest in advancing each of those.
For whatever the existing reasons are, qualified Machinists are either already employed and happy, or in a level that we cannot compete with financially at this point. ( yet ) So, we have adjusted the scope of the pool to choose from and Students/Apprentices/et al... have moved into primary focus.
The biggest issues I've faced so far have been overstating their abilities, lack of personal motivation, & absence of work ethics on their part. I've interviewed Fifteen applicants recently, and only Three are worth my time, so far.
I would love to hire Two people right now, but the reality is that due to the size of the present building we should probably hire just One. I'm not ruling out Two. But it will be VERY crowded until we get the new building. ( actively searching right now ) So faced with that choice, and having done most of what has been discussed, how would you then choose between the available candidates?
Number One has less experience than the others and has been limited to a single type of machine for the time that he has been in trade. But he is more motivated and has a drive to know more...
Number Two has a more rounded experience that leads me to believe he would be more useful right out of the gate. Also states he wants to learn. But he is a bit more, ahhhh... "laid back"...
Number Three has more rounded experience ( supposedly ) than the others, but less driven than the others. He may just be hedging his bets among all of us looking to hire, but I'm uncertain.
Each may work out. But how to choose... ? We are in the process of getting able to administer Apprenticeships and all three say they want that, so that part is good. But that alone is not enough.
Right now I am leaning toward Number One.
But I still come back to the original question.
"How do you choose?"