Tips for job posting?

ATH

ATH

Been here much more than a while
Location
Findlay, Ohio
I've been pretty fortunate that my helpers have come from personal connections...usually just looking for summer help dragging brush. However, for the last +/-3 years I've had a guy helping who started as there but has grown into making this a career path (hoping he passes ISA Cert Arb test tomorrow!). But......he's moving out of town (sidebar: he'll be looking for work in Pittsburgh area if you know anybody hiring - I think he wants to work for another family owned company focusing on tree care)

The company is at a place where I can use another arborist and maybe more help dragging brush...

Not to sound desperate, but I'm flexible. I'll take a good person without much regard to experience. Or, if they are ready to go, great....they can hit the ground running and we'll pay appropriately. If they want to learn, they can come on board, start dragging brush, and I can get them as far as they want to go. Frankly, I don't know that I want somebody who has worked for most other companies in town (not a blanket statement...just most) as I'll have to untrain them before training.

Anyhow - do I post a job description that broad? Will that chase off qualified people who deserve to be paid while also scaring off people who are just starting out? Should I even give a name the position since the person hired will really determine the position???

Thoughts appreciated!

Click here for draft job description
(It's a draft...but I'll take applicants...but that's not the point of this post. I'll put up another when it is "more official")
 
I feel like there have been some stellar examples in the last two years here- as well as some lame ones. I wpuld consider looking back over the last 10-20 postings on here and review the comments for each, as there were lots of good critiques.
 
It pains me that we are so far apart, because I think our families would get along as well as we would, and we all have similar ambitions. If you get a wild hair to bring your operation west, I have enough land for two families, and there's more work here than you can shake a stick at ;)

Edit: I got distracted seeing @Brando CalPankian post above and forgot this wasn't his post :LOL::loco: Though I bet we would get along swimmingly ATH
 
Matias said:
It pains me that we are so far apart, because I think our families would get along as well as we would, and we all have similar ambitions. If you get a wild hair to bring your operation west, I have enough land for two families, and there's more work here than you can shake a stick at ;)

Edit: I got distracted seeing @Brando CalPankian post above and forgot this wasn't his post :LOL::loco: Though I bet we would get along swimmingly ATH
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I was getting up to go pack the boxes, but my wife said "wait...there's a second paragraph, I don't think the invite was for you!"
 
Brando CalPankian said:
I wrote up the best job description I could. Then I had chat gpt refine it. Make your final adjustments and test.

It's really good at helping with the legal parts of job postings.
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I actually did that with Microsoft Copilot. I did it paragraph by paragraph to make it easier for me to digest. I did like some of the wording changes it made, but kept some of my own.

But I just did a "rewrite". Did you do a command prompt about "make this a better job posting"?
 
ATH said:
I actually did that with Microsoft Copilot. I did it paragraph by paragraph to make it easier for me to digest. I did like some of the wording changes it made, but kept some of my own.

But I just did a "rewrite". Did you do a command prompt about "make this a better job posting"?
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It's more conversational than that for me. Chatgpt is pretty neat. I start by just explaining my company, giving it my website and some info about what we do. After it familiarized itself with my company (and writing style) I give it what I wrote up. I ask it to make it a formal and fully legally compliant document. I go through and add more or change wording in sections until I am happy with the results. It can even export it to a PDF for you.

Since you can log in to an account, it can learn more and adapt to your questioning and preferences as you use it. It's helped me write contracts, reports, and other legally binding documents so that I can present it to my lawyer and have him verify if it's good, which makes things cheaper.

I don't have it do things from scratch. It's really good for tedious work that you can fill in details with (the stuff you pay professionals to write up). That includes job listings as they are a pita to write. I had great success with mine that is running now on indeed (feel free to peep it on indeed, Blue Pine Works).
 
Boomslang said:
I would post 2 job ads. One for inexperienced grounds person and one for experienced climber. That way you're less likely to scare anyone off. You can simply choose the best candidate out of everyone who applies or if you get a person in each category that blows your mind, bonus!
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Oh definitely. There's also the ISA, TCIA, and local web boards (chamber of commerce, gardening, horticultural listings) to apply to. I normally put a "college" requirement. I've had good luck with folks having some brains apply instead of two toothed tim down the street.

Edit: I have good luck with indeed. Ziprecruiter is okay, not good or bad really. Some of the other ones aren't worth much time. I had stellar applicants last year on green industry related ones but I wasn't in the position to bring that level of candidate on (expensive, relocating, etc).
 
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Matias said:
It pains me that we are so far apart, because I think our families would get along as well as we would, and we all have similar ambitions. If you get a wild hair to bring your operation west, I have enough land for two families, and there's more work here than you can shake a stick at ;)

Edit: I got distracted seeing @Brando CalPankian post above and forgot this wasn't his post :LOL::loco: Though I bet we would get along swimmingly ATH
Click to expand...
Our plan is to make small satellite offices in rural towns that specializes in arboriculture where it isn't. I don't know if I want to go back out west. I loved the area, I mean I grew up outside of Spokane and lived all over the pnw. But I don't know that I'd want to live there again.

I want to meet soon anyways! We're hoping to start attending comps as a company volunteering and maybe competing. Everyone seems on board for that this year. Trying to see if we could swing nationals in Texas, a guy can dream. Lol.
 
If your existing guy has time before the move ask him if he knows of anyone. Also before he leaves have him help train the new hire, training should be crew wide in my opinion.
Way back an up and coming coffee roaster/coffee shop explained to me how they refuse to hire anyone with roasting or barista experience. They paid very well and the first few months were just training without any ‘live’ work.
It makes sense!

Consider reaching out to the better companies in your area, and put word in with them. Maybe they are staffed up and can pass your name to folks hitting them up for a job.

It might be a touchy idea but also consider speaking to parole officers. Around here there are many folks who did time, then worked the fire lines, then are placed on work release.
 
Brando CalPankian said:
Our plan is to make small satellite offices in rural towns that specializes in arboriculture where it isn't. I don't know if I want to go back out west. I loved the area, I mean I grew up outside of Spokane and lived all over the pnw. But I don't know that I'd want to live there again.

I want to meet soon anyways! We're hoping to start attending comps as a company volunteering and maybe competing. Everyone seems on board for that this year. Trying to see if we could swing nationals in Texas, a guy can dream. Lol.
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The company I just started working for sends a couple of crews to TCIA conference, and I wanna try making it out to comps too, so we'll certainly get to cross paths, hopefully break bread soon enough!
 
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ATH said:
I was getting up to go pack the boxes, but my wife said "wait...there's a second paragraph, I don't think the invite was for you!"
Click to expand...
I had a partner here for many years that I brought out from Cleveland. He moved back two years ago to help his cousin who owns a landscaping business in Cincinatti. If he were closer to your neck of those woods, I would say he is worth calling, but I don't think he wants to move again. I'm gonna give him a call anyway to catch up, so if things have changed, I'll DM you. I taught him how to prune shrubs and small trees, so I know he knows how to make good cuts, but he's not had a good enough reason to learn to climb, although he was interested until he moved back east.
 
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So many job postings sound the same, blah blah, work in inclement condition... blah blah, good communicator.. blah blah... operate and maintain chainsaws, powe... blah blah..team player...blah.



A video self-introduction and company culture/ day to day operations explanation would be good. Could even be an instagram, FB, etc., posting.




My job posting was possibly overly informal.

It's a balancing act.
 
Probably would catch more attention that way. That's a very good idea!

But I'm not on Instagram...and only have FB for business where I almost never do anything. I'll have to think about doing a quick video.
 
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