Do service technician have helpers?

[Dowadudda]

I have a helper who recently began with me. He starts school in January and he is an overall good young man. I am very pleased so far as to what he has done with me. He has his moments. But in general, I like him as a person and he shows up and does what he is told. I just hope that his quiet demeaner is not really that he is not interested.

The last helper was last summer. When I had more going on around here. He wasn't worth a $hit.

Nobody is the same as the last guy.

[airmatt]

mcfly im with you on this one.

[fishercat2]

maybe i'm outa place here.
when i went for my gas license our first instructor said to all of " all of you young guys working with old timers, just because they've been doing it for a long time doesn't mean that they're doing it right" he was a retired gas man. Learning a trade is hard for a new person you have to tell the difference from a short cut, from i'm too lazy to do it the right way. I don't have anything against old timers only ones who don't want to show the young guys or ladies the trade.

[Dowadudda]

Showing the guy the trade is one thing, and I will be honest about this. I hire a guy with 0 experience, put my time and effort in to him. Get him into his schooling and trained, I want something out of it. I want him to be my employee for a little more than just until he gets the experience.

That is the reason why people are so hesitant to hire guys like this. I am an owner and I expect some trade off. I aint giving it you for nothing. I paid for it coming up. Why shouldn't the next guy.

Young guys don't want to commit that way.

I garuntee you a job and I will turn you into the best damn technician there ever was. But will you commit to my employment for a minnimum of 5 years. I would do it in a heartbeat.

[iamtg1]

Originally posted by Dowadudda

I garuntee you a job and I will turn you into the best damn technician there ever was. But will you commit to my employment for a minnimum of 5 years. I would do it in a heartbeat.

Can I take you up on that offer? I would have no problem signing a contract to guarantee to work for a company for 5 years if you will train me to become a technician.

[a\c don]

Originally posted by Dowadudda
Showing the guy the trade is one thing, and I will be honest about this. I hire a guy with 0 experience, put my time and effort in to him. Get him into his schooling and trained, I want something out of it. I want him to be my employee for a little more than just until he gets the experience.

That is the reason why people are so hesitant to hire guys like this. I am an owner and I expect some trade off. I aint giving it you for nothing. I paid for it coming up. Why shouldn't the next guy.

Young guys don't want to commit that way.

I garuntee you a job and I will turn you into the best damn technician there ever was. But will you commit to my employment for a minnimum of 5 years. I would do it in a heartbeat.

Right on.

Tit for tat.

[markwolf]

I trained guys for a decade.Air cooled is right,one of the hardest things there is,is to find a kid willing to work.One you do find one you had better treat him right he is a rareity.One in ten might cut the mustard imo

[Dowadudda]

I take back every positive thing I said about new guys. Unbeleiveable. I let our new helper start taking our run around truck home with him. He has done a good job and I thought it was something to reward him with. Gave him the whole speech about the truck to be used only for work.

It had to come in for a new water pump. Three new dents and he doesn't know anything about it. So then we get this parking ticket this afternoon in the mail, in addition he got a seatbelt ticket a week ago and never told me. I found it in the truck. Both the parking ticket and seatbelt ticket were at times when the truck should have been parked.

No more truck.

[iamtg1]

Well dowadudda before you blame all new guys, did you check out the new guys references past employement history? Did you do everything you needed to do before hiring a new employee, and in trusting him with your company vehicle? Most good technicians and owners in here can train almost anyone how to become a good technician if the trainee have common sense, but you cannot train anyone to be a good employee come in on work on time everyday and do everything by the book. I also bet everything you guys say about the new guys now, the generation before you said the samething about you all.

[maxster]

i let new guys do paper work,wire up part-winding start compressors...etc.with one rule i check all the wiring so it is my responsibility on the final write-up.if you screw something up let me know right off and we'll work on it..and don't shine the droplight in my face and don't ask questions during trouble shooting of units,i will go over what was wrong with you.

[gschra11]

D4 you don't have much luck with young guys, do you?

[owner also]

Originally posted by Dowadudda
Showing the guy the trade is one thing, and I will be honest about this. I hire a guy with 0 experience, put my time and effort in to him. Get him into his schooling and trained, I want something out of it. I want him to be my employee for a little more than just until he gets the experience.

That is the reason why people are so hesitant to hire guys like this. I am an owner and I expect some trade off. I aint giving it you for nothing. I paid for it coming up. Why shouldn't the next guy.

Young guys don't want to commit that way.

I garuntee you a job and I will turn you into the best damn technician there ever was. But will you commit to my employment for a minnimum of 5 years. I would do it in a heartbeat.

Sorry Bud but you must have a time keeping people. The reason they leave you is because YOU think they owe you something. They find out that you aren't paying them what the going rate is for their talents. Read the Book by the founder Walmart to see what you should be paying your employees. Everything you are capable of paying, without them having to ask for a raise. You are not the most important person in your business, your customer is first and your employees are the second most important. You are dead last, without the customer you have nothing. Without the employee you have a one man business. Pay the poor slob (sarcasm) a decent living wage. I bet you charge overtime rates and give them the standard time and a half. Why not give them the whole time and a half you are charging? It cost you no more to have them out after hours than during regular hours. Answering service you pay for that if you get 1 call or no calls, that is paid from the regular hour overhead. Cost of the van being on the road that comes from the regular hours overhead cost not the overtime cost. So what, you do not make the overtime while you are sleeping. But every time they get an after hours call they will run to their vans to get the job and no more complaining about night call. They will be asking to have night call every night. I compete against contractors like your kind all the time for employees and I can have any of yours at anytime. Try paying until it hurts and see if they leave. Try a novel idea of bonus's and not the run of the mill $500.00 for Christmas. Try giving them $10,000.00 at the end of the year and see if they want to leave. If a tech is not making you enough to give them $10,000.00 (less than $50.00 a day) then there is something wrong. Morale is all it takes to have them make you that extra $50.00 a day and morale can be bought.

[a\c don]

Who are you? I noticed your profile sadly lacking any detail. Are you afraid to tell us . You I.D. yourself as a contractor, but from your remarks I find that hard to believe. You sound more like someone who thinks you see your boss making all kinds of money without even the slightest clue of how much it costs to keep a business running. KMA

One post and you know it all.

Maybe Walmart is where you should be. But with your attitude I doubt you would last long there. No team spirit. There's no I in us!

[Edited by a\c don on 12-07-2003 at 08:37 PM]