Looking for a worker

wyotech graduate students from all over the country every three months. street rod program with collision/refinishing base. you can call there offices and talk to students from washington. wyotech.com chad

 

Thanks for the well needed laugh

 

I've contacted Tech schools but haven't had much luck. I'll pay someone what there worth but it's hard to pay top dollar when the shop doesn't make top dollar. Overhead is a mother and an employee is the biggest one. It wouldn't be very cost effective if the employee makes more money than the shop. But that being said if someone comes to work here and is amazing & making the shop profit than I have no problem rewarding them for quality. Like I said before It really comes down to attitude and work ethic.

I just need to get some actual applicants first.....

 

Whats the wage? If you pay peanuts...be ready for monkeys.

 

im curious what the wyotech offices said to you? when i was graduating i was bombarded with questions about employment from them? they want to say "86% job placement"

 

cripes. A dream job within driving distance of where I live and I'm to darn close to retirement to change jobs. If I had it to do all over again, building hot rods would be what I would have done. The job I have has too good of retirement benefits to leave now.

 

Dang Mon, answer me this, you say "It all comes down to attitude and work ethic" .... so are you saying that you havent found someone yet due to their ethics and attitude , even in Pomona? or could it be that those with ethic and attitude wont work for the money you are prepared to pay??? ...... sounds like , even in a economic recession such as now, people would be knocking down your door to work assuming you are offering a fair remuneration.

So what do you think the problem is??

 

Well I haven't got to talk about potential wages yet due to the lack of interest. so when I do I suppose i'll have an answer.

The funny think is I've found in the past that the guys who ask first about money are usually the guys who want to leave early & view the job as just another way to make money. Not as something there passionate about and enjoy doing for a living. I sure don't make much money but I love what I do. I'll be the first one to tell you if you want to make great money be a welder or work in a body shop, not in a Hot Rod shop. Not mine right now any way. Ask my currant employees. There not rich, but there not starving and I believe there happy with what they do and enjoy coming to work?

 

One things for sure, if I could get a job like this I wouldn't give a rats ass if I made a shitload of money; as long as I could pay the bills and build hotrods for a living I'd be a happy mofo. I can handle most of the mechanical and electrical parts no problem but my welding pretty much sucks wind. Hope someone looks at the overall opportunity here and takes advantage of it. You won't know if you don't try, and it beats the hell out of looking back over the years and saying "What if...?" At 57 years old I've done that more than once, and it usually involved cars or women.

 

I am 27 and looking for a new place,I am passionate about hot rods.
but I have none of the required skills,can I stil apply???
It would be my dream job and it will take me as far away from the wife as I can.

 

Fresh out of tech school (1992) there was a place in Ca. that wanted workers also. Thay were only willing to pay $7 per hour and were located in an area with a really high cost of living. I would have loved to have taken the job with them, but at $7 per hour no way I could afford to eat have electricity and pay my student loans. Living high on the hog is something I have never been able to do, but then again I never had a job that expected me to live in a cardboard box either. Rod

 

Get me a green card and i will fly over tomorrow,will work for food

 

a guy i graduated with got a once in a lifetime job for a hot rod shop. when i saw him again he said he had quit because he couldn`t afford to live. i told him i would of worked at mcdonalds at night and on weekends to keep that job and learn. the way i see it its just like working my way through college. i think the person you are looking for speaks through his work not his negotiating.

 

My first hot rod job I went from making over $20 an hr. living with my parents working on Diesels to $10 an hr. living in Seattle paying rent. I knew I wanted to work on Hot Rods & had to start some where. I was broke as heck but I didn't care. I'm not saying that's what I want to pay someone or even a good idea but just someone with a similar mind set.

 

This is America .... you can work here without a green card. Just ask the 6million fine illegals already doing it! LOL

 

.... but in this original case you were asking for an experienced worker as said in your post #1 .... are you now asking for a inexperience person that just "wants to start somewhere"??

what are you after and what are you going to pay are both unanswered questions ... could you clarify?

 

Hi Rocket,

I'm going to give you my 2 cents, and there is no offense intended. Take this from a service manager who ran a 28-tech shop for years.

I'm thinking you're looking more to a lower-paying snack bracket compensation figure, I know you haven't said a number but it's not my first rodeo.

I wouldn't expect to get an employee who can hit the ground running without much babysitting if you're on the lower end of the pay offering scale. Those guys (or gals) are gold in this industry and you've got stiff competition, even in these times. If there's one piece of advice you can take from this whole diatribe, you've got to pay someone well if they're good... and yes, many months the shop will make less than the tech. That's the not-so-fun part of having your name in lights on the door. Welcome to the bigs!

However, if you're busy and you pay good people what they're worth, you won't have to fret over $ so much. And your best staff won't be going out for job interviews on their lunch break, or driving to work gritting their teeth because of $ stress.

Simple formula... good and happy staff=happy customers=more customers=more $ left for the chief cook and bottle washer on the bottom line. And no, none of the above can be altered without stiff (and expensive) consequences. A grumpy ol b*stard shop owner taught me those principles 30 years ago and it was about the best advice I ever got.

This sounds like a great entry-level gig for a very young enthusiast to cut their teeth on.

That said, I think you'll find your guy (or gal) amongst the post-highschool crowd. Get with the local shop teachers in high schools nearby, or if there's a co-op program they offer get into it. You may have to test drive a couple, but you WILL find one who has the need and desire (coupled with his/her own low personal overhead).

Don't overlook the "ricer" crowd, just because of personal preferences. I've met several young folks in that particular area of auto enthusiasts who could spin wrench/fab/weld/etc circles around alot of the guys in any scene. We may not groove to the same beat they do, but looking beyond their choice of rides you'll see alot of innovation and skill.



Cheers and good luck.

 

X2 on post #47
Dave

 

Yeah but i wanna WORK

 

I'm keen but it's x2 on the greencard for me as well

 

this is a tough spot. i know hot rods are different, but just like collision work you have to be somewhat of a leader to do this. make decisions... do work that you can stand behind. tell your boss or customer that you built a certain bracket or aligned a frame because you are confident its right and the work is worth it. they can put there family in there and drive down the highway. or that you welded a top or pancaked a hood without two gallons of plastic filler and its not going to rust in three months. thats why reputations are everything and its hard for a young person to start out...