Feed
Aluminum
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2007
- Location
- Western NY
Whether it be small bits or pictures of past jobs, obviously it doesn't prove they can walk the walk...
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Largest Manufacturing Technology Community on the Web
Stay Connected:
Would you be interested in seeing past work from a potential new hire?
- Thread starter Feed
- Start date
- Replies 26
- Views 8,546
Limy Sami
Diamond
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2007
- Location
- Norfolk, UK
It's always helped me- and I'm going back to rolls of film and getting them developed etc etc!, ……………………..…… and if it's you doing the selling, keep your mouth shut - it was a part, no need to tell them what it was or who it was for, etc etc etc and especially how much it cost, it's just part of your experience.
Likewise if you're ''buying'' and the person with the pics starts telling you everything I've listed above (and more)????………... let's just say I wouldn't hire them.
Likewise if you're ''buying'' and the person with the pics starts telling you everything I've listed above (and more)????………... let's just say I wouldn't hire them.
Bill D
Diamond
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2004
- Location
- Modesto, CA USA
Back in the centuries an apprentice worked and became a journeyman and then made a masterpiece that was judged to be top notch so he could rise to the top rank of his trade as a master craftsman. So they had to make a masterpiece and show it off. So showing pictures of this work would be the modern method.
Bill D
Bill D
Bondo
Hot Rolled
- Joined
- May 14, 2011
- Location
- Bridgeton NJ
This is what has happened to me, so take it as such. Most of the people who have brought in items to show off during an interview have been the bottom of the barrel people. It is like they trick you until you figure out in a few weeks that they just took a sample from their old job and BS the showing.
For example, I interviewed this guy from a national tech school for welding and fabrication. He showed off things that he drew up, things the class had done, nice things. Said the right stuff most of the time. But when it came down to the mega test, he failed. I took the last sheet of paper off his resume and folded it somewhere in half. I said how long is it? He said somewhere between 7 and 7 1/4. He couldn't read a tape measure.
Now that said, my best ever fabricator showed off his work, but I asked him how he did critical steps, like fixturing and such. He replied with a very good set of answers.
Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
For example, I interviewed this guy from a national tech school for welding and fabrication. He showed off things that he drew up, things the class had done, nice things. Said the right stuff most of the time. But when it came down to the mega test, he failed. I took the last sheet of paper off his resume and folded it somewhere in half. I said how long is it? He said somewhere between 7 and 7 1/4. He couldn't read a tape measure.
Now that said, my best ever fabricator showed off his work, but I asked him how he did critical steps, like fixturing and such. He replied with a very good set of answers.
Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
garyhlucas
Stainless
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2013
- Location
- New Jersey
Pretty sure the slacker that got me fired for saying he was bad at his job brought in samples he didn’t make. He screw up cutting 1/4-20 thread on the lathe twice, even after I showed him how to do it after the first one. He built a manual tapping fixture that took him several days and you didn’t need a square to see how far out of square it was! This from a guy that claimed to make precision stamping dies!
Thunderjet
Stainless
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2019
It depends on the type of job you're hiring for.
If a stamping die guy doesn't ask "how many do you need" for his first question.........you get the idea.
Larry Dickman
Titanium
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2014
- Location
- Temecula, Ca
No, it wouldn't. I've seen way too many people taking credit for parts they had nothing to do with.
Punkinhead
Cast Iron
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2010
- Location
- IN, USA
I'd wonder about the ethics of a person showing proprietary work from another company.
Limy Sami
Diamond
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2007
- Location
- Norfolk, UK
But says more about your people skills than it is the applicants technical skills.
Larry Dickman
Titanium
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2014
- Location
- Temecula, Ca
I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean, Sami, but then I'm pretty stupid.
A couple years ago, I made some impellers for another shop. A guy who worked there thought they were cool looking, so he took some pictures of them and posted them on his personal webpage. He quit or got fired and came by my shop looking for work. He starts flashing pictures of parts he had made on his phone, not realizing that I was the guy who really made them.
I feel like a lot of tech programs give people exiting this false sense of now being a qualified tradesman, and need to instead send them off knowing that they still need an entry level position in the real world environment. I remember one of those guys always replying to how good are you with Mig/Tig/Etc by saying "oh I'm certified Mig, I'm certified Tig…"
I'd say show me as much as you want to, but know that when you sit down to run some welds it will be apparent fast if you were bs'ing or not.
Bondo
Hot Rolled
- Joined
- May 14, 2011
- Location
- Bridgeton NJ
So this got me thinking of when I hire people. They always ask me, what should I bring. I now say... bring what you think you need. If you are applying at my company for a welder/fabricator position and you dont bring a welding helmet or tape measure..... you weren't worth the time for an interview.
Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
Joe Miranda
Titanium
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2004
- Location
- Elyria Ohio
A number of years ago when things were bad during the recession, I was out looking for work and I always brought a folder with high quality pics of my work. It helped me. Like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.
Sure, there are those who are going to BS you, but they are going to BS you with or without the pics. I know of one engineer I am working with right now that sure talks the talk - but he is sooo far from walking the walk that he is frustrating EVERYONE he works with - including me and my guys!
Sure, there are those who are going to BS you, but they are going to BS you with or without the pics. I know of one engineer I am working with right now that sure talks the talk - but he is sooo far from walking the walk that he is frustrating EVERYONE he works with - including me and my guys!
Limy Sami
Diamond
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2007
- Location
- Norfolk, UK
What I meant Larry, (and in no way did I mean it as an insult) was that if you're told something you have to work out it's validity, i.e. if you don't know the person ''selling'' or his reputation, you have to work out ''is he on the level or a BS merchant'' ………...which I was lead to understand comes under the heading of ''people skills''
mhajicek
Diamond
- Joined
- May 11, 2017
- Location
- Maple Grove, MN, USA
So you'd expect a machinist to bring their rollcab to every interview?
Honestly, if people bring parts to the interview but the person interviewing them doesn't follow up and use it at a point of discussion - asking how they made the part, what tools, what fixtures, what the challenges were, etc - then that is a total failure of the interviewer to dig into a candidates resume and skillset.
I would like someone to bring parts. I assume they have the right to bring those parts and show me. If they bring parts and can't tell me how they were made or what was difficult about them, then they just exposed themselves as BS'er and I would be thankful they gave me a shortcut to finding that out rather than wasting an hour or two of my day talking to them.
I would like someone to bring parts. I assume they have the right to bring those parts and show me. If they bring parts and can't tell me how they were made or what was difficult about them, then they just exposed themselves as BS'er and I would be thankful they gave me a shortcut to finding that out rather than wasting an hour or two of my day talking to them.
M.B. Naegle
Diamond
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2011
- Location
- Conroe, TX USA
Parts or pics help, but it's only half the story. With them I'd want to see a print with tolerances, the time it took, and the tools/machine used to make it. I'd rather have a guy that could consistently meet stated tolerances, than a guy who brags about how much higher a tolerance he could do than what was on the print.
jobshopblog.com
Aluminum
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2019
They probably don't have the right to bring them since they should have been properly tagged and dispositioned in the shop if they were defective or put into inventory if they were good, but the comments about the interviewer are spot on. I've done a lot of interviews and never had anyone bring parts they made. If they did, they'd better be ready to speak about them in great detail (including what the shop policy was for handling and disposition of defective material).
G
guest
Guest
This is exactly what I was thinking. If a person brings in a part to an interview, they better know everything there is to know about that part.
Similar threads
