Are You Meant To Be An Entrepreneur?
Take a look at the great startup unicorns out there and it’s easy to see why so many people want to become an entrepreneur. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has become the wealthiest person on the planet, with a net worth of $130 billion.Google says that
Construction Plagued by Labor Shortages
February 2017 Service firms also cry for trade workers Most of our economy has largely recovered from the devastation of the “Great Recession” that started in 2008. One notable exception is construction. Home building is still at recession levels, and one reason is a lack
Are You Job-Ready? – Part 4
December 6, 2016 Act like a professional This will be my final blog on the subject of job readiness. The topic is professionalism. What does professionalism mean? One dictionary defines it as “the skill, good judgment, and polite behavior that is expected from a person
Are You Job-Ready? – Part 3
November 29, 2016 You must get along with people Some professions are typically characterized as a “people business.” Certainly anyone who sells for a living falls into that category. Public relations, politics and other fields also require advanced social skills on the part of their
Are You Job-Ready? – Part 2
November 15, 2016 Great work requires focus and concentration Are you really ready to hold down a responsible job? You need more than technical ability. The ultimate sign of readiness is productivity coupled with excellence. Can you produce value commensurate with the pay you receive?
Are You Job-Ready? – Part 1
Time is of the essence. Your success in a trade career depends on several elements. One is mechanical aptitude, coupled with relevant technical education and/or experience. You must be trained or trainable, and able to do the work. In the next several articles I will
Why Women Should Consider The Trades
May 24, 2016 Brute force is not required! Misconceptions abound about the trades and the people who work in them. Many of these misconceptions date back to a bygone era when there might have been more truth to them. One of these misconceptions is that
Automation Doesn’t Threaten The Trades
April 26, 2016 Robot plumbers are a long, long way off Can trade workers be replaced by machines? That would seem to be the implication by a computer scientist at Rice University, who predicts that by 2045 machines will be capable of doing almost any
How To Find Great Trade Workers: Part 3 of 3
January 5, 2016 Part 3 of tips for employers This article continues a review of best practices for recruiting, hiring and retaining top-notch trade workers. Don’t over-value experience. As a grizzled veteran with more than four decades of experience in my chosen field, I’m not