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attention business owners!!! what do you look for in a resume'

Eric is on regarding the resume. I've had several good resume writers and they couldn't perform. Anyone can write a good resume with help. It's you, your attitude, and abilities that will get you a career. The interview is key. Research them, ask questions, sell yourself. Be sincere. Show them how you can help them advance their interests. If you can do that you can do well:)
 
for me and around here if you can run equipment, show up for work and take care of the equipment your runnin, your a keeper, ranch kids for mt companies bring a premium, most all mt. companies then know the kid will work and not whine about it. thats somethin i want to hear from a new hire, x2 on the clean cut but then if he's a ranch kid he would be anyway

jmo
 
listen to eric!

one if you want a job call me.

ragin, I would strongly suggest you get smart on trench safety, legal slopes and proper rigging and flagging.....that is going to keep you alive. any employer that has guys going deep w/o shoring or expects you to is not one you want to work for......period.

when I get new hands I always hear the song and dance about how good this....how I can wheelie a skid steer to the moon, how I can dig next to a phone drop and tell which way the conversation is going......blah blah blah. I expect a guy to be competent in the safety I mentioned, take care of the equipment.....ie check the rig over every time it is started, and be willing to hop in and help even if it means getting dirty. I would also learn how to read grade stakes, you might be the greatest operator there ever was, but if you cant read stakes you are useless unless you are stuck on the fill. learn how to dig around utilities, the best day of profit goes to heck if you smoke a util line........and the whole job profit could be gone if you bite the fiber. learn to look up all the time, sometime you will be under something and it will save your job/life.

my favorite is the guy who introduces himself as the "finish" hand....IMO that is for me to decide.....either you will be on the finish, or on your way back to finland.

I like to see the attitude when I ask about expierience, "there are things I have not yet done, but there is nothing I can't do"

shovel out your tracks!
 
Never put much weight on résumé’s as an employer. They are all fabricated BS for the most part. Use the info others have listed and keep in mind that all you need it for is to get a minute with the boss where your real self sell will happen. In your interview you might consider the following:
1. SAFETY - Stress how much emphasis you put on job site safety. Quote some of the safety issues and concerns that were identified and addressed in your schooling. Tell the employer that you are very interested in all aspects of safety compliance and would someday like to be a safety officer. Give me an address and I'll send you a few copies of "Safety Meeting Outlines" which are a pre-packed safety meeting that I get weekly. They cover great topics, have spaces for all attendees, comments, corrections, and many other issues. these forms are signed by all present and kept in the file to show that the topic was covered in the event of an accident. Use the document as an example to the boss of the type of proactive approach you bring to the company.

2. Liability - Let the boss know that you take his liability exposure very seriously as a potential employee. This means everything from driving the company truck to environmental spills and sexual harassment. Emphasize the fact that you are a mature worker looking for longevity and stability in employment and not a half cocked cowboy punching the time clock on his job site waiting for Friday night.

3. Maintenance/Ownership – Let the boss know that if he trusts you with a piece of equipment or a tool that you treat that equipment like it is your own and that you feel its condition and maintenance is a direct reflection of your character and abilities. (now don’t use this one if your pickup is filthy, looks like chit, and has 6” of sunflower seeds on the floorboards). I have on several occasions looked into a guys rig and or visited his home after an interview to see if he really walks the talk. If you do walk the talk, invite the boss to come over sometime to see just how you keep up your personal possessions. Ask the boss if he draws oil samples and at what intervals. Ask him if operators keep a daily operating/maint. log and if they are responsible for their own maint/lube etc. These questions will assure him that you are aware of the importance of good maint. and that you take it seriously.

4. Physical Condition – Let the boss know that you take your physical condition seriously. Let him know that you don’t have any past injuries (if this is the case) and that you work out and keep physically active. Let him know that you are not a stay at home with a runny nose kinda guy. I had a guy tell me once “I may be bleeding, but if I’m scheduled to work for you I will be here ready to go by 6am”. I also had an employee offer a no risk trial of his abilities. He offered to work for me for 1 day for free to show me his stuff. If I liked him great, if I didn’t he would shake my hand and walk away. He just retired and man do I miss him.

5. Management – Even though you’re new, let the boss know that you are willing to learn and accept any type of management that might help out with the project. Let him know that if he gets busy that you would be willing to schedule fuel and stay behind to sign for it. Tell him you would be glad to compile a list of replacement part numbers for things like belts, hoses, filters, lines, etc and a list of parts/service suppliers to call on to keep things running in his absence.

Focus on other strengths and qualities that you bring to the job that might give you the nod over the more experienced guy. Let the boss know that unlike most equipment operators, you know how to run equipment, but how you operate it will be at his discretion. Let him know that you have ability, but the experience you get will be based on his vision of how his equipment should be operated and not on how other equipment was run on differnt job sites by the other applicants. Hope that makes sense. Let me know if you want some copies of the safety meeting outlines. Good luck man. EW

thanks alot eric! that helps a lot! i spent over an hour working over a resume i had written in highschool and stressed safety....but i TOTALLY spaced out and forgot to mention that i have completed MSHA mine safety training and and am certified to work in an open pit mine....and that i will be taking some safety class dealing with OSHA in the next month! DOH!!!! please someone slap me!
 
listen to eric!

one if you want a job call me.

ragin, I would strongly suggest you get smart on trench safety, legal slopes and proper rigging and flagging.....that is going to keep you alive. any employer that has guys going deep w/o shoring or expects you to is not one you want to work for......period.

when I get new hands I always hear the song and dance about how good this....how I can wheelie a skid steer to the moon, how I can dig next to a phone drop and tell which way the conversation is going......blah blah blah. I expect a guy to be competent in the safety I mentioned, take care of the equipment.....ie check the rig over every time it is started, and be willing to hop in and help even if it means getting dirty. I would also learn how to read grade stakes, you might be the greatest operator there ever was, but if you cant read stakes you are useless unless you are stuck on the fill. learn how to dig around utilities, the best day of profit goes to heck if you smoke a util line........and the whole job profit could be gone if you bite the fiber. learn to look up all the time, sometime you will be under something and it will save your job/life.

my favorite is the guy who introduces himself as the "finish" hand....IMO that is for me to decide.....either you will be on the finish, or on your way back to finland.

I like to see the attitude when I ask about expierience, "there are things I have not yet done, but there is nothing I can't do"

shovel out your tracks!

1. learned about trench safety in class and took MSHA mine safety training and will be taking an OSHA training class in a month or so.
2. i do a walk around everytime i start up a piece of equipment. our teacher has stressed the piss out of it!
3. i took a whole semester of basic surveying. i know the basics of surveying and i was actually one of 2 people out of 18 people in my class chosen to go dig footings for a MBIA house foundation. we actually did a purdy good job considering i have never done anything like it before. i enjoyed it alot!
 
EricW and Spring Snow Hero made some excellent points.

As for not having much experience, I don't see that as a liability. You see some guy's resumes and they've ran everything and worked for everyone North of the equator. What does that tell you? Obviously they aren't worth a chit, or if they are, they don't stay in one place very long. Neither are a real positive.
 
Keep the resume short, but don't leave out important things. General rule of thumb is 1 page per 20 years of employment. If your school does perfect attendance or GPA awards, include those. Eagle scout, volunteer service, licenses, certifications, are all good things to include even if they aren't directly related to your desired position. If you have any major achievements or patents in your name, include those.

Write the resume for a specific job opening, not a job. Include words from the employer's job opening in your resume. This is especially important for larger companies that may use a computer to filter out resumes.

Corporate buzzwords... "Implemented cost-effective risk mitigation and management procedures", "Maximized supply chain diversity while reducing shipping cost", etc.

Never ask about pay or benefits until the employer brings the subject up. When they do, be agressive yet knowledgable about it. Don't ask for $200k a year right out of the chute, know what the average starting salary is and negotiate using your specific skillsets (Education, licenses, etc).

If there's 3rd-party certifications you can get for a reasonable cost, try and go for those. Show an interest in expanding your certs once you're employed, a lot of employers will pick up some if not all the cost of education. It's as beneficial to them to have skilled workers as it is to your paycheck.
 
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one thing I found as an employee and later as an employer...throw a copy of both your driving record and your credit score in your resume(it shows you are a responsible person(provided you pay your bills and dont drive recklessly)...both records really speak volumes about you as an upstanding valuable addition .........also ..include your medical examiners certificate,and any first aid/ cpr training..all go along way to show you are on top of things and ready to go..good luck....
 
Apply everywhere.

Carry copies of your resume in your truck, keep them in a folder so they don't get wrinkled.

Small companies seem more willing to give young guys a chance, go talk to the owner and give him a copy of your resume...especially if they aren't hiring...that means next time they're hiring they've already seen your resume.

Check back in with companies constantly.

Find a job site with a piece of equipment that isn't moving and go tell the foreman you can run it. Maybe someone called in sick one too many times and you'll get their job.

Put up a flier at the local equipment rental store stating your qualifications and your hourly rate to run the equipment a homeowner rents.
 
All I have to offer is don't be afraid to take a grunt job and work your way up. That's how I started with my current job. Started as a seasonal part time truck driver. Did everything asked, worked every piece of overtime, did dirty crappy jobs that everyone else thought was "beneath" them. Pretty soon I got hired on full time, and worked my way up the ladder.

My boss said it best: "Attitude and apptitude determine your future."
 
All I have to offer is don't be afraid to take a grunt job and work your way up. That's how I started with my current job. Started as a seasonal part time truck driver. Did everything asked, worked every piece of overtime, did dirty crappy jobs that everyone else thought was "beneath" them. Pretty soon I got hired on full time, and worked my way up the ladder.

My boss said it best: "Attitude and apptitude determine your future."

That is true for sure, when I lived in Minnesota I took a job as a laborer for a road construction company, sooner or later I became a grade man for the crew and the last five years I ran dozers and excavators full time. T o be honest thats the way I would do it again. It helps alot to learn from the ground up, being a grade man taught me alot so when I got in the equipment I could understand what I was doing.
 
Like many people said before the first impression that you give is more important then the resume IMHO. Know something about the company and ask questions. Ask about projects they are working on, look at pictures in the office and ask questions even if they are the peoples personal pictures. Everyone loves to talk about themselves/kids/interests and interviewers are no different. Nothing I hate worse then an applicant that just wants to tell me all that they know for 30 min. Be happy and excited, show a willingness to learn, and let them know that you don't know everything and want to learn. If someone tells me they have done everything it just tells me they are unwilling to learn anything new.

Make sure what you have on Facebook or Myspace is something that you would want an employeer to see. Lots of places check them because it will give a lot better idea of what the person is really like, even more then a resume or first interview.

Be willing to start at the bottom and work up. If you have done every job the company has to offer your value really increases because you can help improve every process. The person that has the most job security at my shop is the the 14 year old kid that sweeps the floor for an hour in the afternoon. He never complains, is happy to have a job, and will do anything that is asked with a smile. Attitude is everything.
 
They'll want skill right off the bat.

Eventually dependability, honesty and integrity will be just as important....
 
First thing, do a resume, most big outfits expect them. Just keep it simple and be honest. I have been in the underground mining heavy equipment maintenance business for 30 years. I have hired many dozens on maintenance techs , all over this country. My point is that the mechanics can pick a good operator in a minute. Let me tell you I have heard it all. People with expirence will pick out a bull****ter in a day, whether it is a mechanic or a operator. I observe the day to day routine of the operators myself. If I see one that is better than the rest i will reward them with a hat or a tool that I have available as give aways. It pays back big time. The thing to remember is no one wants to hear what you knoW, SHOW THEM!
 
Lot's of good advice here. My hiring is done in a different environment but for me the resume gets you in the door. The interview is where I try to figure out whether you have a good attitide and can get along. My motto is I can teach anybody to do the job if they have a good attitude. If they've got a crappy attitude and can't get along with the rest of the crew it doesn't make any difference how talented they are, they aren't worth hiring.
 
Now I didn't start this topic but i'd like to say thank you as well to all the members who have contributed. I am graduating this summer with my Bachelors Degree in Managerial Economics and am basically in the same boat as Ragin'.

Its a tough job market out there, but hopefully I can get a job somewhere that i will enjoy for many years, even if it takes starting out at the very bottom.

Thanks again,
Dustin
 
Lot's of good advice here. My hiring is done in a different environment but for me the resume gets you in the door. The interview is where I try to figure out whether you have a good attitide and can get along. My motto is I can teach anybody to do the job if they have a good attitude. If they've got a crappy attitude and can't get along with the rest of the crew it doesn't make any difference how talented they are, they aren't worth hiring.

x2^^^^^^^

also if ya show up early and ready to work then an owner like myself can trust ya and teach you the skills you might not have had when you got there, especially if you can get along with everyone and want to work, some young people nowadays want the job but not the work:(
 
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