With the amazing growth of this industry throughout the last few years what we are finding through talking to our friends at many other shops and parts manufacturers as well as our own dealings with the subject of help is that its hard to find. Its not like we can just hang a help wanted sign out front and be flooded with talented craftsmen that are able to just come in a start doing what we all do. At any given time we could keep twice as many guys as we have busy, if we could just find them. We are definately fortunate to have talent like we have right now but they are few and far between. We get a a ton of guys that want to work at a hot rod shop and would probably be great workers, they just dont have the skills to do it without training them for a year or so but who has time to do that? We barley have time to do what we have to do to start with. The tech schools are usually pretty good but seem to be lagging behind a little when it comes to being up to date. I have had several guys come in lately from different tech schools that took welding classes and they say they can weld good, then you ask them what kind of welding they can do and every single one of them said stick welding. Can you TIG? Never have Can you MIG? Tried it a couple times. Man, teach these guys to weld like we weld today. Sure we have a couple of old stick welders in the building my grandfather used years ago but if they werent my grandfathers we would chunk them out in the scrap metal bin. Yes with a little work with someone that knows how to stick weld you can teach them to MIG but why not teach them in welding classes. Give them something they can actually use. Many of the tech schools around here don"t even have a TIG machine. Then we get to the body work side of it and it gets even worse trying to find guys that can do body work like we do and not like the wreck builders do. Alot of difference building a high end show car and a rebuilt used car lot special. Even guy that can do the work that come over to this business from a dealership or regular body shop go into shock after the first week because they are use to replacing a fender , blending in a quarter or painting and replacing a bumper cover, spending a few days on it and moving to the next job. Then whe they have to spend 6 months doing metal replacement and body work on a 57 chevy they flip out. Its seem to me that Hot Rod Guys are just a different breed.
It takes talent, It takes patients, it takes motivation to take a car from a heap of rust molicules holding hands to a completed work of art. I hope the industry doesnt grow faster than we can get talented guys trained to do the work, but it aint looking good. Did I mention we are taking applications?
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I must agree with the boss on this one. The schools around need to get up with the times. Just because "pawpaw" used the buzz box 60 years ago to weld the tractor, doesn't mean we still need to use it today. Come on guys get up with the technology. Just think if you went to the barber shop today and they still wanted to "bleed you " like in the western days to make you feel better. What would you do? I would find a new barber. "Times are a changin" Thats all i'm sayin'
ReplyDeleteWish I could come work for you, unfortunately I cant. I see a lot of work going into your page, the videos are awesome to. The only thing I see wrong is as follows:
ReplyDeleteNo 34 Video
Seriously, I have shared all the photo's around here, and the ones today of the interior, earned a lot of email responses. My favorite one simply read, Luxuriously Rad! Kind of says it all what people think of you and your staffs work and reputation. (smiling about the 34 video remark).
Keep up the good work.
Your best customer,
Tom and Pam Strawser
What you could perhaps consider is coordinate with some other shops in the area and donate some newer equipment to a couple schools. The schools would of course need to have someone that can teach the newer equipment but why not? Also, if your crew can make some spare time they could go to a few schools to teach a couple of classes. You have stated a need you have. To get the people you need you may have to invest your time and skills to create those people. It could only help yourself in the long run. Businessmen and executives teach night courses all across America to give back and to show students what the real world is all about. A business such as yours requires special skills and to put them into students heads you are going to have to DIY and not wait on somebody else to come up with the idea and carry it out for your eventual benefit. It seems to me that you needs go beyond just regular automotive building needs but are actually in a new realm that needs MBAs of automotive skills. I hope that if you take this and chew it over and run with it, even though it may be difficult, that it works better than you could have hoped for.
ReplyDeleteBob
Atl, GA
Great ideas for sure. I am all for "giving back" and I would way rather have an indiviual that I had something to do with training through actual hands on than someody that has been "trained" in a classroom. I agree that it would benefit us to teach a night class etc. The only problem with it is time, time, time. In this business its not a 40 hour week even though the hours on the door says it is. Its usually more like 60 if your lucky, then go home, play with the kids, say high to the wife and run through the shower and then do it again. With that said we actually have been talking about doing some classes at our shop and donating some equipment to the local tech school. Thats a start for sure. Its just disturbing when you talk to these kids just out of school and they do not know any skills that are really usable in todays workplace. Thats what I thought we paid teachers to do???? Thanks for your input for sure.
ReplyDelete