Trades Talk – July 2023
July 2023 Explore The Trades at SkillsUSA 2023 Explore The Trades attended the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in Atlanta, GA from June 19-22, 2023. This conference brought together over 15,000 students, educators, industry vendors and trades professionals from all over the country. These individuals showcased the best in over 100 technical vocations. To […]
Bringing Back Blue-Collar Pride
There is a modern misconception that the “ideal” career path is one that involves an expensive education, a strenuous corporate climb, and thousands of hours in an office with a boardroom as the ultimate destination. In reality, careers like this can entail tens of thousands of dollars in debt, lack of fulfillment, and burnout. The […]
Keep Your Eyes Peeled For Recruitment Bonuses
The shortage of skilled tradespeople has gotten so bad all over that many companies are offering recruitment bonuses to employees for referrals and to experienced trade workers to come to work for them. Many surveys show that upwards of 75% of construction and construction service companies are looking to hire more skilled trade workers. This […]
Connecting With A Career You Will Love
Yes, you are supposed to love what you do for a living. You’re going to spend about eight hours a day doing it, so it makes sense to be sure you’ve made a wise choice. Is every minute of a good job going to be enjoyable? That’s an unrealistic expectation. Most of the time, though, […]
The Trades Via A Back Door
Many people who enter the trades go in through the back door. By that I mean they had no intention of looking for a job in the trades, but a job found them. How does that happen? Well, there is a severe shortage of skilled trade workers and that causes many employers to develop their […]
Addressing The Skilled Labor Shortage
A recurring theme of this blog has been the dire shortage of skilled trade workers. The news media is filled with reports of this shortage and how it has been holding back construction projects and service companies from doing even more work, like this one. Here’s more. http://www.constructionweekonline.com/article-49977-spotlight-on-mideast-gen-z-as-global-youth-reject-construction-careers/ https://www.curbed.com/2018/1/23/16910310/construction-homebuilding-labor-shortage-jobs-vocational-training https://jobsite.procore.com/narrowing-the-construction-skills-gap http://www.peyton.k12.co.us/career-technical-education-facility/ https://www.wsj.com/articles/young-people-dont-want-construction-jobs-thats-a-problem-for-the-housing-market-1533029401 http://gobuildalabama.com http://www.hbi.org In […]
Seeing Is Believing
Open your doors to interested people Virtually every trade contractor I know tells me that finding qualified help is one of their biggest problems, especially technicians who are either experienced or trainable. They put help-wanted ads in all the right places, attend career day events, offer recruitment bonuses, even put recruitment messages on their service […]
Advice For Businesses/Governments That Need To Recruit HVAC Techs
February 26, 2016 By Renée Cardarelle The HVAC industry is facing a severe workforce shortage. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the HVAC industry will face a 21% increase in jobs by 2022, coupled with the fact that there are not enough HVAC technicians to fill job needs today, this is a serious concern. […]
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 one to belittle the value of experience. But in my […]
How To Find Great Trade Workers: Part 2 of 3
December 22, 2015 Part 2 of tips for employers This article continues a review of best practices for recruiting, hiring and retaining top-notch trade workers. Look outside your local area. The smaller your market area the more likely it is that you’ll have to find someone who lives in the next county or next state […]