What green flags do you look for in employee or colleagues?

[SeeFair]

What things do you see in someone walkng through your shop that makes you hire someone or tell the management in charge to hire that person?

To keep it simple, when I was hiring engineers, I would ask myself 3 questions:
1. Can they do the job?
2. Do they care about the job?
3. Can I get along with them?

Miss any one of those, and you're out.

I can remember those 3 things, and most of the qualities of a "dream employee" can be derived from them.

 

[mhajicek]

I think it's important that a person will reevaluate (not necessarily change) an opinion when presented with new evidence.

 

[EmanuelGoldstein]

What things do you see in someone walkng through your shop that makes you hire someone or tell the management in charge to hire that person?

First thing I notice is boobs. Then legs, waist, hips, and last, face. If she looks happy and friendly, the interview is now officially over. Congratulations, Miss ! When can you start ?

 

[garyhlucas]

First thing I notice is boobs. Then legs, waist, hips, and last, face. If she looks happy and friendly, the interview is now officially over. Congratulations, Miss ! When can you start ?

Kind of funny. I interviewed a young lady for an assistant position. My coworker commented on her big boobs, and my wife had stopped in and was busting on me about hiring the one with big boobs. It wasn’t until the second interview when I actually hired her that I noticed she did have big boobs! I am a face guy first. We worked together for 4 years.

 

[dkmc]

The 3 of you then?

We worked together for 4 years.

 

[Booze Daily]

I used to get kids from the local JVS that they would place at “ real” shops to give them experience. I got this lady once. She was older but real enthusiastic and actually had a kind of knack for it.

I told my wife about her and my wife “stopped by” to visit.

 

[Yan Wo]

When I was interviewing prospective employees, I'd first give them a plant tour, then ask them, "Well, what do you think? Would you like to work here?"

Believe it or not, a few guys said something like, "Yeah, I guess it'd be ok to work here." End of interview.

When I got my plant tour I was more like, "I'll pay you to let me work here!" That's the green flag I was looking for.

 

[john.k]

Yes the stories about hiring young women as "personal assistants"......both partners at the painters were on third marriages ......and if ya dont think third wives put the magnifying glass over female hires..........The really funny thing was they hired a female for the office who was working as a bar person at the pub opposite Cols container yard.....She was turning tricks working in the office.....Never looked like much ,tho......Anyhoo ,for the yard employees ,a green flag would be a $5000 grant from the gubbmint for hiring a lifer on parole.....Big list of grants for hiring on older workers,aboriginals,long term unemployed,jailbirds,psychos .....and so on...Col and Paul would pocket the money,tax never woke up.

 

[thermite]

You read just like some dreamers on dating websites like "Match.com"

Instead of listing their qualities that they would bring to a relationship, rather they simply post up a long winded list of the "perfect man" and must "ride in on a white horse and sweep me off my feet".
But they don't reciprocate in kind.

"No difference in pay" ?

You can purchase oats qty (2) ways.....one more (much more) expensive than the other.

Not sure what has changed, lo the... nearly 30 years since it came up, but..

The person I wanted was already employed. Just "elsewhere".

Find out who was best in the industry? Have a better situation for them.

To be fair?
We could not, always.

But money was NEVER their first priority.

Successful folk are already doing well enough it has dropped in relative importance.

First priority was to be with a team they fit better.. and that "won" better and more consistently.

It need not be all that different from family, hunting party, injuns on the warpath, sports teams...

Folks like to be part of winning teams among others they understand, respect, see as winners, get along well with, and TRUST to keep on doing more of the same, loads fairly shared among them.

"Perfect?"Damned seldom.
Honest and communicative?
Able to cover each other's weaker points.. and the reverse?

With out fail!

SAS or a SEAL team could not prevail if the team members were indifferent, boycotting each other, working at cross-purposes, scheming butt-f**kery..

How would any other team fare when gaming each other?

Manager's job to create that healthy environment ... and keep it so.
You motivate the team to create itself. You CANNOT.

Manager ain't up for that?
Why TF would you even GO there?

You going to CHANGE that from below?

Now and then, yes.
But you do it by changing the company name on your compensation package.

It's what works. "Whining" only counts in comic books.

 

[john.k]

When I did the plant tour,I was thinking it would be like Christmas to work there ....work truck,free diesel and oil,all the steel I wanted,welding rods,gas, ,shipping containers full of electric motors ,hudraulic stuff,truck parts,a thousand tons of goodies.........the saddest part was after the business sale ,the new owners scrapped everything........which is what happens when you put an MBA in charge of an alladins cave............PS for the first time in 25 years I had to buy a hydraulic hose a few weeks ago .....and pay for it.....$200 + tax....!

 

[10 fingers]

crap shoot

I've interviewed machinists for 35 years. No perfect indicator. People will lie about their ability straight to your face. Previous employers will seldom be frankly honest. Perhaps the most valuable advise I ever got was from a therapist when trying to figure out women. Was told, "what you see is what you get."

With that in mind I judge on interview punctuality. Ability to generate a proper resume , or at least a data sheet. Hand them a complex blue print with ample geometric tolerancing, gear data, and sequential heat treat and plating, then ask, "how to make this?" Some men can not bring themselves to admit they don't know, and will dig themselves a hole bull shitting me.

Will walk with them to the parking lot and look at their car. Regardless of age and value, is it well cared for not full of cigarette butts and McDonald's wrappers or beer cans? If they take no pride in an automobile, can be assured they will treat my machines the same way. Bumper stickers are a HUGE give away of character. Lastly, will spend time doing web searches for arrests and political postings.

If thinking this is too judgement you're right. By pressured request, I once interviewed for a senior, corporate position. The long ride and ample coffee had me using the executive restroom. To this day I have never seen a restroom as magnificent and spotless. Taking the hint I insured it was just clean, or cleaner when I left. Later, I was told the restroom was inspected after I left. That being a pig was an immediate disqualifier. Not a bad trick.

 

[CarbideBob]

1 green flag (biggie!) asking questions about the work and process. Ask about machines you've never run, etc...

Me too.
The shop tour. Is there hoh-hum, I can do that or the questions on how that works and why do it that way.
Bob

 

[thermite]

To this day I have never seen a restroom as magnificent and spotless. Taking the hint I insured it was just clean, or cleaner when I left. Later, I was told the restroom was inspected after I left. That being a pig was an immediate disqualifier. Not a bad trick.

Two more disqualifiers, and a "maybe" or so - ULM level, "luncheon" test of fifty years ago:

- "I'll have what he is having" without having first read the menu.

We are seeking a "Decision Maker", not an ass-kisser.

- Salting food BEFORE tasting it.

Operate in the blind, off force of habit? Dangerous, that.

- Alcohol "management".
No obvious lushes wanted, of course, but refusal to take ANY drink was not a good sign, either.

-Smoking without first asking, OR being the virtue-signaler if one of those interviewing smoked.

Salt thing later proved to be a good indicator of high medical expenses, more sick leave, and shorter productive live, but the jury was still out on that 1970 or so.

Zero alcohol is more welcome now than then.
Smoking is now presumed "all bad" and rare is the place one can smoke at-table, anyway.

That said, "recreational drugs" - the "new orange" - seem to have done a full order of magnitude greater damage.
Or more?

ZERO tolerance for that.

Then, now, or 12th of never.

You chose drugs, not career? I am actually grateful.

It confirms what might not have been as clearly obvious, thereby cutting down on the number of folks one has to make time to interview.

Darwin thing. Winning doesn't begin with losers.

 

[john.k]

My one criterion is "can this guy make me money?...Will this guy make me money?".....

 

[kustomizer]

I've interviewed machinists for 35 years. No perfect indicator. People will lie about their ability straight to your face. Previous employers will seldom be frankly honest. Perhaps the most valuable advise I ever got was from a therapist when trying to figure out women. Was told, "what you see is what you get."

With that in mind I judge on interview punctuality. Ability to generate a proper resume , or at least a data sheet. Hand them a complex blue print with ample geometric tolerancing, gear data, and sequential heat treat and plating, then ask, "how to make this?" Some men can not bring themselves to admit they don't know, and will dig themselves a hole bull shitting me.

Will walk with them to the parking lot and look at their car. Regardless of age and value, is it well cared for not full of cigarette butts and McDonald's wrappers or beer cans? If they take no pride in an automobile, can be assured they will treat my machines the same way. Bumper stickers are a HUGE give away of character. Lastly, will spend time doing web searches for arrests and political postings.

If thinking this is too judgement you're right. By pressured request, I once interviewed for a senior, corporate position. The long ride and ample coffee had me using the executive restroom. To this day I have never seen a restroom as magnificent and spotless. Taking the hint I insured it was just clean, or cleaner when I left. Later, I was told the restroom was inspected after I left. That being a pig was an immediate disqualifier. Not a bad trick.

Likely 30 years or more back, already tired of the hiring game, I decided one day that while they filled out their job app I would go have a look at their car like you I didn't care much what it was or the age but how well kept and where they parked. Many rushed in late or nearly late and would just stop, get out and run in the building leaving our parking lot blocked to anyone else wanting to come and go. I also started giving them a card from my Rolodex to put their contact info on if I thought I might be interested, I would hand it to them directly from the Rolodex and upside down, If they wrote their info on it upside down I didn't want them.
Wonder Woman caught me at it one day and after the person left she chewed my ass and took over the interviewing which didn't break my heart. Within a year I found her checking cars, dress, neatness on the job app and some other simple common sense type things. I asked her about it one day and she starts telling me how she has found they will lie to you about anything you ask them but there are many truths in what they actually do when they don't realize they are being watched. When I mentioned the Rolodex card she chewed my ass again some but was smiling this time. Along about this time a guy showed up late for an interview about 10 mins late, he was wearing flip flops and actually putting on his shirt as he walked in the door, she met him just inside the door like a rabid Pitbull, she chewed his ass all the way back to his car using all of her Navy words, called him everything under the sun and made it real clear what a stupid SOB he was. I was still laughing when she came back in the building and as a result I got chewed on a bit too. We quit trying to hire that day, encouraged the rest to wonder off to do other things, we packed up our shit, moved to the middle of nowhere and hide out in the woods doing what we can. We have found that most of the stresses in our lives were employee related, teaching adults 3rd grade math, redoing what they didn't do correctly, showing them yet again how it needs to be done, reminding them to cleanup their work area and make it ready to use in the morning, sorting their good parts from the bad ones, telling them that blowing out the soft jaws does not mean they are clean and free of chips before they smash the chips into the parts and jaws damaging both, don't try to hide the bad parts, get help to make them right, telling them that adjusting the machine every cycle is not the way but to learn how to properly seat the parts in the machine instead, on and on and on...

Now we just make parts, assemble them, package them and ship them though yesterday she brought me a part from a run of 12,000, stuck it up in my face and said, what is this doing in my parts? I had a 23.68 blank just a bit short and one of 9 parts in the strip didn't clean up, my fault, my auto saw is on the blink, I am cutting blanks manually and that one wasn't right.

 

[ttrager]

My one criterion is "can this guy make me money?...Will this guy make me money?".....

Nobody should be losing the company money, fair enough. But everyone who signs on to a company, and every company's expectations are that everyone contribute to making the company money. That's as basic and necessary as breathing.

I've personally witnessed a production employee get fired, not because he wasn't making the company money, he was. His work wasn't prone to high scrap rates or low production numbers.

He got fired because he kept screwing around with other positions around him, gossiping with his co-workers on the floor excessively instead of doing that at lunch, leaving his position a shitty mess for the next shift repeatedly causing Day versus Night Shift Drama. Those are "red flags" that should have been "green flags".

So here's how that works when considering the importance of someone "making money" for the company: He got fired for his "red flags" and the boss hired someone else to make him money.

 

[thermite]

Likely 30 years or more back, already tired of the hiring game, I decided one day that while they filled out their job app I would go have a look at their car like you I didn't care much what it was or the age but how well kept and where they parked. Many rushed in late or nearly late and would just stop, get out and run in the building leaving our parking lot blocked to anyone else wanting to come and go. I also started giving them a card from my Rolodex to put their contact info on if I thought I might be interested, I would hand it to them directly from the Rolodex and upside down, If they wrote their info on it upside down I didn't want them.
Wonder Woman caught me at it one day and after the person left she chewed my ass and took over the interviewing which didn't break my heart. Within a year I found her checking cars, dress, neatness on the job app and some other simple common sense type things. I asked her about it one day and she starts telling me how she has found they will lie to you about anything you ask them but there are many truths in what they actually do when they don't realize they are being watched. When I mentioned the Rolodex card she chewed my ass again some but was smiling this time. Along about this time a guy showed up late for an interview about 10 mins late, he was wearing flip flops and actually putting on his shirt as he walked in the door, she met him just inside the door like a rabid Pitbull, she chewed his ass all the way back to his car using all of her Navy words, called him everything under the sun and made it real clear what a stupid SOB he was. I was still laughing when she came back in the building and as a result I got chewed on a bit too. We quit trying to hire that day, encouraged the rest to wonder off to do other things, we packed up our shit, moved to the middle of nowhere and hide out in the woods doing what we can. We have found that most of the stresses in our lives were employee related, teaching adults 3rd grade math, redoing what they didn't do correctly, showing them yet again how it needs to be done, reminding them to cleanup their work area and make it ready to use in the morning, sorting their good parts from the bad ones, telling them that blowing out the soft jaws does not mean they are clean and free of chips before they smash the chips into the parts and jaws damaging both, don't try to hide the bad parts, get help to make them right, telling them that adjusting the machine every cycle is not the way but to learn how to properly seat the parts in the machine instead, on and on and on...

Now we just make parts, assemble them, package them and ship them though yesterday she brought me a part from a run of 12,000, stuck it up in my face and said, what is this doing in my parts? I had a 23.68 blank just a bit short and one of 9 parts in the strip didn't clean up, my fault, my auto saw is on the blink, I am cutting blanks manually and that one wasn't right.

Storal of the morey as to how to get better help?

Share your blanket with a better Boss.

"Don't ASK me How I KNOW THIS!"

 

[AndyF]

Back in the day some of the things I looked for were when interviewing engineers and production employees:

1) Didn't carry a coffee cup during the plant tour. Today this would probably equate to kept phone in pocket during the tour
2) Tried to walk next to me rather than follow behind and asked questions during the plant tour
3) Head was on a swivel during the plant tour. Always looking around and asking "why" questions.
4) Responded to some of my answers to their questions with, "I've done it this way before and here's why and how it worked"
5) Showed up on time
6) Checked in ahead of time to confirm interview schedule, what was expected during the interview and sometimes, depending upon location, what would be appropriate attire.
7) Paid attention during the safety briefing before the plant tour and followed the rules regarding staying in marked walk aisles, off machines, out of way of fork trucks, wearing PPE appropriately, etc...

 

[10 fingers]

As owners, natural to want to clone ourselves by a new hire. Come to the conclusion I'm pretty much an extinct dinosaur. Thirty-eight years ago I was laid off. In 6 months I forwarded over 70 resumes throughout the New England region, with only 3 or 4 interviews resulting. Having accumulated a few frequent flyer passes I set out for PHX. I literally ripped the Machine Shop yellow pages out of a phone book and began knocking on doors. Wearing a 3-piece tailored suit, polished shoes, clean shaven, fresh hair cut, carrying a portfolio with resumes professionally printed on certificate bond paper and college transcript landed me 3 dream jobs in 2 days. That venture set a career and quality of life in motion I would have never experienced otherwise. For the past 10-20 years I encounter very little that impresses me from any 20-something. Refreshingly, I have been mentoring Dartmouth ME students on gear design. They are competing internationally building a SAE formula vehicle. These students give me a hope in humanity. Their manners, attitude, and rapid comprehension give promise some day a cure for cancer will be found by their generation. Now, how to hire a kid with the whole world at his doorstep?

 

[mhajicek]

Wearing a 3-piece tailored suit, polished shoes

I suppose 38 years ago that might have been the thing. These days, nope. I would not hire someone to work in a shop who showed up in a 3 piece suit. That shows they want a desk job, sales office maybe, they're not ready to get their hands dirty. I'd much rather see steel toed boots, jeans with no holes, and any kind of clean shirt that isn't a white dress shirt.