You are a growing remodeling company with more work than you and your current crew can handle. You're thinking it is time to bring on one or more lead carpenters. You write the add and place it on Craigs List, Indeed, Monster, Zip Recruiter and Linkedin.

You tell the lumberyards and friends you are hiring. If you are fortunate (the qualified guys are working for someone else) you get some good candidates and you set up some interviews. The best candidate sends a resume stating he has lead carpenter designation and training. Now you are pumped!

The interview begins and he has some questions for you about your company and lead carpenter production system. His questions come from experience and knowing what a true system entails.

He asks you questions like;

• Do you have a job description that I can review?
• What are my responsibilities?
• Do you have reliable sub-contractors?
• Do you have reliable suppliers that provide prompt service?
• Is there a plan for growth?
• Who will handle customer service and change orders?
• What type of work will I be required do? Will I have access to help?
• Do you have a firewall between sales and production?
• Do I have to use my own tools?
• Will I receive training on your processes? 
• What paperwork will I be responsible for?
• Will the scope of work be finalized before I start the work?

As he is asking the questions you begin to realize you lack what he is looking for...And then you lose him.....

Recently I assisted a client by finding and hiring a lead carpenter.

In our interview the successful candidate had excellent questions that my client could answer because we developed and installed the lead carpenter system for him.

I asked the candidate where he learned to ask these questions and he said in a lead carpenter training program and experience of knowing what he is looking for in a company.

I asked why are you leaving your current employer? (Read carefully what this gentleman says)

He replied "the owner is a great guy but his paperwork and projects are totally disorganized. The project files are incomplete, there are no paperwork production tools and I have to fix everything on the job site. The customers are constantly confused about what they are getting, the scope is vague, products are not selected and there are no sub-contractor quotes leading to cost overruns. Then I get blamed if the project does not meet budget. I am totally frustrated that the customers are unhappy and that I end up doing what sales should have done before I was given the job."

Then he went on to say he wants to work for a company who is organized and has its processes clearly defined. He said he is looking for a company that will be his last stop.

Over the past three years while training hundreds of contractors in our workshops we are noticing that many companies have little or no understanding of a true Lead Carpenter Production System. With the increase in remodeling work many companies are facing the challenge of losing out on this work because they do not have the right systems and skilled labor in place. Without the right system they will not be able to attract the right personnel.

In our Lead Carpenter Workshop next week Shawn McCadden and I will be teaching Construction Business Owners what they need to know and have in place before deciding to attract and hire a lead carpenter.

Can't make the workshop, no problem Contact Me to discuss your needs.