It is “Resume Season” at JWS Woodworking and Design Inc. as we look for another member for our team.
First of all, I have to say this. Resume season ALWAYS makes me feel fortunate and thankful and somewhat humbled at times. Fortunate that I have such an amazing CORE team that has been loyal and hardworking and focussed all these years, and thankful that they are already part of my team. Humbled that there are so many people that continue the search year after year after year for that “perfect” job while people on our team have helped create theirs.
The title “journeyman” comes from late Middle English: from journey (in the obsolete sense ‘day’s work’) + man; so named because the journeyman was no longer bound by indentures but was paid by the day. Looking over a great number of resumes, sometimes I wonder if the brothers and sisters in our profession have confused the true meaning of the term. What is it about our occupation that sees, on a regular basis, carpenters, trades and apprenticeship hopefuls that have moved from job to job to job, sometimes spending a few years in one place and other times spending just months at a given employer? For example, it would be not uncommon in a “Resume Season” for us to review several resumes where the individual had worked for 15 employers in 15 years? Nice people, normal people, well spoken and presentable….yet, with feet seemingly as itchy as a cat in a fiberglass insulation factory!
I absolutely acknowledge that there are many other professions where the workforce is quite transient and I certainly am well aware that there are numerous reasons and mitigating factors that see our current craftsmen and women transition from place to place so often. Amoung them are moving horror stories about abusive workday hours, legitimate concerns over safety issues that go overlooked and un-ending accounts of unpaid overtime and an overwhelming number unrequited promises of an assorted nature. All of that I get. I understand, I can relate. On a daily basis I ask my team “is everyone happy?” It is not meant as a rhetorical question. Why then is it that we get these types of Resumes? Is it a sign of the times? Perhaps, but it must prove a confusing backdrop for young people new to the industry, and that concerns me.
If I had one piece of advice to give to the new generation of carpenters, this new “Millennial” troop that I have praised for their flexibility and their innovative approach to our profession, it would be to consider what you are doing and think about playing the “Long Game” once in a while. Don’t necessarily DO it – just think about it. You already know the adage about “interviewing a company” as they are interviewing you, but don’t do so at the peril of realizing you should be bringing a skill set to that employer – that is why THEY would want YOU. Sometimes those skill sets take time to develop. We all want to make a great living at what we are doing – but that ability to be “paid” for great work needs to be based on the premise that we actually DO great work. Some of the best members of the skilled trades took their entire careers to hone their craft and refine their skills. Others were in menial aspects of the trades for years before their collective successes made them worthy of moving up in a company. I applaud anyone who is ambitious, it is the very core of what drives a self employed business owner, like myself. I do worry about the candidates that we get however, that are looking for a “supervisory role” in my company because they have graduated from a college woodworking program? Never forget the reciprocal relationship that your pay rate and position in a company is likely based directly on. Clients won’t pay Renovation companies higher rates because their trades are more skilled “on paper” but you bet they will shell out balanced compensation for work well done!
I guess my point is, in this time of instant communication and instant gratification, don’t be embarrassed to be a little patient. Look for a company, not only that YOU can contribute to, but a company that will look to compensate you fairly as your skill set increases, but maybe don’t ask about it on your first interview. Look for a place that you can contribute to and can “belong” to. There is no shame in committing to something long term that contributes to (but is not responsible for ) your financial security and gives meaning to your work life. Realize this may take time and in the process you are being trained and coached as well as contributing to your own career path and job satisfaction by working for a place that you are slowly making your own. Remember, a great career doesn’t “happen to you,” you create it! Look for that place, find that place and contribute your best everyday to that place….and when you DO find it….(they are out there)…stay awhile. 🙂
Happy Job Hunting!
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