Hiring

southsoundtree said:
@evo, be sure to advertise that you're in the dry part of Western Washington... You're a bit rain-shadowy, right?


Ok, not dry.
Drier.













I had a neck-down raker position to fill for one week...a guy my employee knew. Turns out he was on methadone. Very Short trial period. He was really confused when I said it was time to go, you're a pain in the ass, don't come back.

Shelton is 22 miles from Olympia, only 12 miles from me. If you need a needle, just go to the park bathroom, it used to be a good park, built by the community.

If downers aren't your thing, it's a meth hotspot, if no longer capital of the NW, or so I've heard.

Machines, mini, Honda/ Simpson capstan, and your skills.


Can you mechanize more? Power your material handling? Electric Arbor Trolley? Mucktruck (SP?)? Mini?

Can you "down-skill" your position to match your needs: driver, material processer, assistant under supervision, rather than pro treeworker until finding a pro.

It's what I've found successful... Keep good employees for as long as possible... often they have another thing going (school, firefighting season, etc).
Use lesser employees to do lower skill functions, and be proficient at doing everything myself. The mini and I can feed the chipper in needed, and a laborer can drag and rake.



Are your rates reflecting the difficulty/ expense of a laborer or skilled ground worker? Do you need to pay $35 per hour to afford life there/ make commuting worthwhile? $30? $25? $40?


It's tough to be limited by the labor-pool!
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I think I’m finally in a decent position, need to give it time through the summer to find out.

I pay well for island standards, and certainly willing to go into the mid to high 30’s plus perks for what I do.

Got a mini, grcs with a battery super hawg, just got some ramps so I can load the mini in the dump. Issue is stream lining the bigger jobs to negate the back log. A remote on the mini would be the ticket.

Seems like most green as green can be want a minimum of $25 without knowing knots or a single tool on be truck. Finally got a real resume, dude is 47 and looking for a career change, seems solid abd willing to learn. As we all know many can’t hang with production beyond a month or two before they get over the endurance hump. Not holding my breath and want as many cards up my sleeve as possible.
 
A remote for the mini is something I would do!!


What pays $25/ hour with no experience up there? I'm not familiar with that anywhere? No experience at least means no bad tree-specific habits.

I mean, if they are worth $25, sure.

Have you considered a contract climber? Maybe I've asked. A contract climber while training the new guy to do groundwork effectively might give you a big oomph of bang-it-out-itude.
 
southsoundtree said:
A remote for the mini is something I would do!!


What pays $25/ hour with no experience up there? I'm not familiar with that anywhere? No experience at least means no bad tree-specific habits.

I mean, if they are worth $25, sure.

Have you considered a contract climber? Maybe I've asked. A contract climber while training the new guy to do groundwork effectively might give you a big oomph of bang-it-out-itude.
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A large part of the issue is my county was the fastest growing county in the state before the recession, now that things have picked back up all available labor are pounding nails.

Another aspect is 20-30% of my work is climbing. Another 20% felling, and the rest is fine pruning on the ground, very high end gardens, my niche is specialized landscaping pruning to some bigger felling and pruning. That funny in between from landscraper and production removal company. This is a great niche, but it’s so diverse it’s impossible to train! I’ve only used my porty 2-3 times so far this year. When I need to pull it out I NEED some one proficient, or at least someone who will remember how to set it up
 
What is the job you need done?
Basically assist you?
Be able to fell trees?
Limb, chip, buck felled trees?
Operate the mini?
Drive?

Is there a way to be able to keep a person busy, FT, doing other things you wouldn't do otherwise? Other outdoor services while you prune?
 
southsoundtree said:
What is the job you need done?
Basically assist you?
Be able to fell trees?
Limb, chip, buck felled trees?
Operate the mini?
Drive?

Is there a way to be able to keep a person busy, FT, doing other things you wouldn't do otherwise? Other outdoor services while you prune?
Click to expand...


What is the job you need done?
I need a groundie and a mid range climber

Basically assist you?
yes or assist a second climber so I can leave to do other things

Be able to fell trees?
Nahh, I'd like to be in control of that

Limb, chip, buck felled trees?
Yes

Operate the mini?
Yes, to some degree

Drive?
Yes, but limited

The full time is the limitation. I don't want to work more than 32 hours in the field. If they can prune well, I could see gearing up to that. Also for the right trustworthy person I could send them out tilling, or other such tasks (mini came with a huge tiller, and a auger). Basically I'd be willing to "rent" the mini to them a day or so per week for their side work (as long as its different than trees (tilling, grading drives, mulching, fences, blahh blahh...)
 
If they wanted full time work, can you provide a shop day for the right individual?

My trucks are older, but just got 5-10 years washed off my chip trucks on Friday...an hour of scrubbing made each look much newer. You know the Olympia green-tint job.

Saw maintenance?
Mini maintenance?
Oil changes?
Greasing?
Sharpening?



You would probably benefit by giving some travel time/ distance from the mainland. Some people commute silly distances, IMO, but they do what they do. Might be rooted on the mainland with kids and such.



Short of the ideal candidate, what are you looking for? What is your regular schedule/ or what would you adjust to?
 
southsoundtree said:
If they wanted full time work, can you provide a shop day for the right individual?

My trucks are older, but just got 5-10 years washed off my chip trucks on Friday...an hour of scrubbing made each look much newer. You know the Olympia green-tint job.

Saw maintenance?
Mini maintenance?
Oil changes?
Greasing?
Sharpening?



You would probably benefit by giving some travel time/ distance from the mainland. Some people commute silly distances, IMO, but they do what they do. Might be rooted on the mainland with kids and such.



Short of the ideal candidate, what are you looking for? What is your regular schedule/ or what would you adjust to?
Click to expand...
It's funny, people who live here commute to the mainland all the time for work. Not so much the other way around.

I get what you're getting at and I could certainly offer shop time, and I have many projects I cannot get to or done. Hell it's hard enough to find time to split fire wood or mow the yard!

I THINK I have a good thing going, just need to buy some time. I have a guy who only wants 3 days, he is transitioning to leaving his job and moving to the Island. He has a place to live here. It's complicated but he is healing a shoulder injury, and needs to keep his current insurance until he is done with PT. I have him on Saturdays.

My schedule is very flexible, I personally need one business day off, and a bid day. Sunday is tough to work here, but I'm game if the client is.
 
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