In January, I received an email from a Washington D.C.-based contractor who wanted to share his latest trials and tribulations as it relates to hiring laborers for his concrete contracting company.
This contractor has tried all kinds of ways to find, recruit and keep laborers. His latest attempt was to use the job search engine Indeed with the hopes of finding someone, anyone, willing to learn and perform the work required for the job.
The job was posted on December 29, 2017. Here are the results from the initial job posting on January 8, 2018:
- The job posting received 1,325 views
- 232 applicants applied for the job
- 53 applicants were identified as candidates and asked to come and sit for an interview
- 25 applicants responded and scheduled an interview
- 3 applicants inquired about the details of the job, but did not interview
- 4 applicants actually showed up for the interview
- 3 applicants were hired, one of which never showed up for work
There was one additional applicant not included in the stats above. This gentleman was looking for a career change. He has a Masters of Arts in Teaching – Intensive English Program Instructor and Teacher Trainer at the University of California. He was laid off due to low enrollment for the course.
The contractor told me he didn’t know what to do with this applicant, but stated, “He wants a job and is willing to start at $17 an hour.” The applicant was also willing to relocate from the West Coast to the East Coast. The applicant was so engaged with the job he attended the World of Concrete to get an idea about what his new career would entail. In my opinion, this the prime example of the type of people contractors should want to hire in an instant.
From the numbers above, is this is a common occurrence when it comes to posting job openings? As a contractor, do you see these high numbers of applicants with such low turn-out/success rate? I’d be interested to hear your job posting story as well as your results.
CORRECTION: In the January 2018 issue of Concrete Contractor, it was erroneously reported in the Cover Story that Charlie and Jason Griffasi had founded the Concrete Polishing Association when in fact, the duo founded the International Concrete Polishing and Staining Conference (ICPSC). We apologize for this error.
