pre

about ready to embark on that yearly ritual of finding / hiring help. this question is for you guys that actually have workers on the payroll and go through the same nightmares. migrant help is not an option at this point. we contact schools, unemployment offices, etc and can usually get a number of applicants but most are less than desirable. since we have to run them past our insurance company many get the boot for horrible driver's histories. afraid to drug screen since this may eliminate everyone - except me - but i do check for meth mouth during the interview. try to arrange early interview times to see if applicants are capable of showing up and standard questions are why are manholes round, do diesel engines have sparkplugs or can you count by nine - its amazing how many can't!! so guys - any successful sources of applicants / interview questions / techniques / personality tests out there?

Meth mouth??

meth mouth is an indication you may be dealing with a methamphetamine user. generally their tooth enamel is rotting away and gum line is blacken due the user's decreased / lack of saliva (caused from the chemicals in the drug) which helps keep your mouth clean. users usually care less about their hygiene anyway and sometimes gulp down high sugar pop like dew or surge to satisfy their cotton mouth.

Blech!

Unless you can offer some one work all through the year with no down times i.e. great season see you next season! I think this alone plays a major factor in any one getting the right man for the job. ( Ken excluded !!) I think the best way to find some one is actually head hunt some one you know already.

Why are manholes round?, i don't know...

Tops of square ones can fall in.

I never actually drug-screened, just a notice that all applicants would be and that we had a random testing policy (never tested anybody but the CDL guys, random is required by law if you keep them long enough) But you would be amazed at how the rate of applicants dropped like a rock when I put that in there...from having them "lined up" to fill out an application to maybe 1 or 2 in a day for 2 or 3 days. One of the biggest manufacturing plants around is always hiring, always has openings. Only union shop in this part of the country (although you have to work there a while to be eligible) good pay, great benefits, retirement & insurance etc., work is tough in some jobs & 3 shifts but hey, it's manufacturing...anyway a friend that has worked there a long time said the reason they hired everybody on probation for 90 days, then renewed probation for another 90, then hired them full-time was just to save all the union & insurance & such paperwork since they do random unannounced drug tests and only a tiny percentage make it through 180 days without flunking. That's why they always have job openings even though most positions don't even require a HS diploma. Amazing what our "work force" has come to.

I designed a system after years of wasting my time interviewing people that after the first 2 minutes of meeting them it was obvious they were not a match for the position. What I designed is a set of questions called "Pre-Interview Questionnaire". This is sent to the applicant (or given to walk-ins) along with a regular employment application to complete for them to even be considered for an interview. This weeds out 75% of anyone who applies and takes very little of my time. Then after I interview the remaining 25%, they get a post interview questionaire (if I am still interested in them) to fill out and return. The questions I have established were created after setting up outlines of how I conducted interviews. From these outlines, I came up with standard information that I was always looking for during an interview and the questions and order of the questions are configured to get a great insight into ones personality before you even meet them. It also tells you about their intelligence, education level, ability to speak and write the english language and gives you a great insight into their personality. For instance, one question is "What personality traits annoy you the most?". Many applicants describe themselves as can be seen from previous questions. I could write a book about the silly, stupid untruthful and deceiving answers that have been given. It really is a great aid and even a bit amusing at times.

When supplicants....er...applicants call about a position here they reach the "Employment Line" which is an answering machine with a 3 minute detailed message on what the advertised job entails. I try to include all the plusses and minuses, and if they make it through the whole message without nodding off and can leave a coherent message, then I call them back for a phone interview. If they sound viable, then they come in to fill out an application, at which point I can interview them on the spot, or let them know "we'll be in touch". After you do enough interviews, you start to spot the lemons, grifters, sleepers, and monday morning absentees straight up. Before a final decision is made, I run a background check ($20) and a Drivers License 7 year check ($7). Then I offer a job and see if they actually show up for work, or are just interviewing to keep the unemployment people happy. Either way, the Employment Security Commission is advised that a job was offered. I like older guys who have a wife and kids, and an ex-wife (or two) and kids and child support. They have to work or go to jail. While they may not always be the most cheerful of employees, ("My $#***@*# ex-wife is taking me to court for more child support and alimony, that #*&@##@!), they generally show up, will stay with you (at least until the kids turn 18 and the wife re-marries) and they rarely run off for a two week drinking & gambling spree in Atlantic City (altho they may take off Friday for a bus trip to AC for a weekend of drinking and losing two weeks worth of pay). Be willing to listen to their troubles, give them advice, the occasional loan or advance ("sign here in triplicate, give me your car title, and pay me back in CASH) and try to keep them employed full time, even if it is painting your house for two weeks during a slow period. Good help is hard to find, so if you find it, keep it.

What would be the best way to find out what the competition's pricing is? Eric

The very best advice I can give you is to forget you ever asked that question. IT DOES NOT MATTER! Knowing will only complicate your life. All you need to know is what your price is to make the profit you need/want and how to sell your work at that price. Knowing if they are higher will make you overconfident (you would find out soon enough because a customer would go "wow that's really cheap") and if you are higher you may well get stuck in the worst trap any contractor gets caught in ...thinking you need to be the low bid... And I am not joking, I gave the top rated seminar in Vegas last-year on why it was an advantage to be the most expensive (providing you do work "worth the money") and people seldom believe when I started in the business I was in it 3 years before I accidentally found out I was higher than everyone else. By then I didn't care, we were we had plenty of work, I just wondered why those guys were too dumb to charge more...

AAAAAAAhhhhh I see said the blind man. Very good point. Thanks Don !! Eric

An addendum to what Don said.... (and I include this in my seminar, too)...... NEVER but NEVER say the word "bid" to a prospective customer. Even if the customer wants a "bid", agree to provide him or her with a "proposal" or an "estimate". When you "bid" you are reducing your company to providing services at the lowest price. Proposals give you the opportunity to sell quality. We used to try to compete but now operate at almost twice what the bigger "cut throat" restriping companies charge in the neighboring metroplex.

Ericram30, Don is right on the money. It does not matter what you are charging if you can sell the service and give your customer the quality of work that they are looking for. Customers are going to go where they feel they are getting the best overall service, not necessarily best price for their money. Treat them right, do what you propose, follow up periodically, & go the extra mile for each customer. Stripes is definitely right with not using the word "Bid". Proposal is the route we take, it is the estimate for the work we are proposing to perform for our customers. Don't worry about the competition, let them worry about you. Domingo

Thanks Don and Stripes good advice...

I had a company in that has been in the business for 10 years in my area call me about two weeks ago and started to act like they were looking for a bid on sealing & striping on there stores parking lot. The only bad thing was when they called their company's name came up on caller ID. So I asked them what were looking for and they were looking for a price on 40,000 sq/ft, 100 parking spaces, 10 handicap spaces and 1,000 ft of center line. So me begin to tell them my "Prices" 40,000 sq/ft: $ 12,000 @ $0.30 per sq ft 100 spaces: $ 1,000 @ $10.00 per space 10 HC spaces: $ 500 @ $50 per space 1,000 ft center line: $ 600 @ $0.60 per ft And the guy just keeps up the bit by telling me that those sound like really good prices So I tell the guy that the price is going to be $14,100 (See i have to get up with my monthly PLP dues) and when does he want us to start. He tells me that he is going to do some more shopping around before I makes up his mind. And I ask him does he want me to mail or fax the bid to C********* Sealing and if needs me to I can just bring it to his office. The phone got quite then he hung the phone up. What can I say He was acting, so I just figured that I could just go along with the joke. -Dean

Good job!

I would still go take the bid by there office. Never know what might happen. It showes your co. is serious and fallows through. You might even get a free cup of coffee.

Good one S.A.M. Caller ID comes in handy... I did the same thing one time 4 or 5 years ago, can't remember the specifics but I did the opposite, quoted like 3 cents for sealcoating, 2 or 3 cents a ft. for stripng...$2 per handicap etc. unbelievably low.... told them the specs & such & the guy finally asked how I could be so cheap for those specs and so I gave him another little white lie and said we had special "secret" deals with the suppliers that were not available to anyone else. Unlike you I never mentioned his name was on the caller ID