How does one find employees, including trainees?

[mm]

How does one find employees, including trainees?

I have a friend with a burglar alarm business, installation and
monitoring, homes and commerical property (no autos).

He needs more installers and repairmen. Any ideas on where he can
get them?


He can't find them.
He advertises in the newspaper or on the web, and 4 people will call.
Only one will show up for the interview, and he won't be qualified.

Most high school grads don't know anything about electricity, and he'd
like them to at least know Ohm's law. Trade schools around here won't
let him, or others like him put up anything on the bulletin board.
Even nationally advertised companies are turned down.

He pays pretty darn well. For those with experience, I think it is
over 50G. Isn't that still a lot? (I don't know how much over 50.)
And he's not so small. Between 600 and 1000 customers for whom he
installed the equipment and does the monitoring, and has contracts for
some national name brand chains to do repair work at any of their
stores within say 100 miles of here.

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.

 

[Allan Waghalter]

An excellent source for employees is his local distributors and parts
houses. Another good source is the alarm associations in or near his local.
Another way is to just boldly ask installers he see's at stop lights, on
construction sites and at the distributor's if they know anyone who might be
interested in working? If he has a good reputation in the community,
applicants will generally find him!

 

[Mike Sokoly]

www.electricaltrainingcenter.li
We do License classes for Electricians, Security and Fire; Practical
Training and seminars, if you're near NYC. Also in NY check BOCES trade
schools and Electrical Contractors Organizations as well as ALarm
Associations

 

[Bill]

You might have something in the ad which is scaring people off. (*Must* know
this, or *must* have this experience, security, etc.)

(Might want to copy what is in the ad here and get feedback...)

May want to try... Do you like to tinker with electrical and electronic
devices? Looking for work? Call xxx-xxxx.

Also good managers have an "up and out" philosophy. That is train new
people, help them grow in their knowledge and careers, and when they have
grown beyond positions which your company can offer, help them to switch
jobs and go elsewhere. Even help them with their resume to find a
promotion/work elsewhere! (Don't hold them back.)

This may sound "radical", however over time you will have a lot of friends
working all over town. People you have helped. They will return the favor
and send poential employees your way.

So help people, help them grow in their careers, and it will be returned to
you [Pay it forward kind of thing...]


in message

 

[[email protected]]

Most high school grads don't know anything about electricity, and he'd
like them to at least know Ohm's law.

Why? Most of the few who do will be headed to college.

Being prepared to gasp the implications would seem of more practical
importance at the start. If he finds ohms law actually important to
entry level work, he should explain it to candidates and hire those who
pick up on that.

 

[ABLE_1]

Actually you just never know. Here for starters is a good beginning. But
then I noticed you did not post the name, your location, state, city so it
would be hard for someone that may have some interest ring somebody up.
Information is a wonderful thing when you use it.

 

[Robert L Bass]

How does one find employees, including trainees?

You could try contacting the Colorado Burglar & Fire Alarm Association.
Here's their contact information:

Colorado Burglar & Fire Alarm Association
PO Box 6015
Denver, CO 80206
Phone: 303-805-0885
Fax: 303-805-7866

Most state associations run training schools under the auspices of the
NBFAA. Each has a training coordinator (or similarly titled person). The
Colorado association shares training resources with Oklahoma. Here's
contact info:
Robert Larson
Life Safety Systems Design
8321 Oakwood Street
Westminster, OK 80031
Cell: 720-373-1359

Before anybody gets bent out of shape about the post, the above information
is already available on the WWW because these folks want interested parties
to contact them.

Best of luck.
--

Regards,
Robert L Bass

=============================>
Bass Home Electronics
4883 Fallcrest Circle
Sarasota · Florida · 34233
941-866-1100 Sales & Tech Support
http://www.bassburglaralarms.com
=============================>

 

[Steve Foley]

How does one find employees, including trainees?

Lots of variables.

What newspaper is he advertising in? Is it the one you would pick up if you
were looking for a job, or is it the weekly rag with the cheap advertising
rates?

Where on the web? Craigslist or Monster? One is clearly better.

What is he offering in comparison to his competition? The same pay for an
unknown employer?

Look at it from the point of view of the job-hunter. Why would someone
respond or not repsond to his ad.

How about starting an alarm installation and repair class as the local adult
education center?

 

[Crash Gordon]

Mine used to get lost all the time, so we put GPS tracking devices in the
trucks...then we could tell which donut shop they were hanging out at.

Seriously...I never had much luck with advertising for techs. We pretty much
would steal them away from other companies, ask other techs about friends
etc...

 

[shady]

How does one find employees, including trainees?

I have a friend with a burglar alarm business, installation and
monitoring, homes and commerical property (no autos).

He needs more installers and repairmen. Any ideas on where he can
get them?

I got my start about two years ago from an ad posted at an employment
agency.

I had tons of computer experience, a little home construction experience,
but no alarm experience at all... never even touched a keypad before.

He was looking for someone experienced, but was willing to train too.

There isn't really much training when you get someone like me. Now I'm the
only person doing installations and service. 15-20 installations a month.
Residential, commercial, cameras, and whatever else I get thrown into. It's
a small town so we manage to keep up but are generally booked solid for a
week or two in advance.

As far as ohm's law goes, I've never used it. What would I need it for in
the alarm field? Electronics, sure... electrical, maybe... alarms, no.

 

[Tommy]

"As far as ohm's law goes, I've never used it. What would I need it

for in the alarm field? Electronics, sure... electrical, maybe...
alarms, no."

You must be the best installer in the world. you've never had to chase
down a faulty contact or bad wire. if you ever use a meter for much
besides a paperweight you have been kneedeep in ohm's law.

 

[shady]

"As far as ohm's law goes, I've never used it. What would I need it

You must be the best installer in the world. you've never had to chase
down a faulty contact or bad wire. if you ever use a meter for much
besides a paperweight you have been kneedeep in ohm's law.

Maybe... I don't think I've had to do any real troubleshooting on my own
systems... just other installers and especially other companies.

Seriously though, I don't assume to know everything there is to know. But
(so far) faulty wires and contacts are easily found through continuity
checks. Perhaps ohm's law is subliminally stuffed into that kind of thing?
I can't even remember the formula to be honest.

I've never learned well through studying though, experience works best...

"The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education." - Albert
Einstein
"My education was interrupted only by my schooling." - Winston Churchill
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." - Mark Twain

 

[mm]

Actually you just never know. Here for starters is a good beginning. But
then I noticed you did not post the name, your location, state, city so it
would be hard for someone that may have some interest ring somebody up.
Information is a wonderful thing when you use it.

I'm sorry. I couldn't post the city or state because I hadn't even
asked him before I posted the question. It was a spur of the moment
thing on my part.

I also couldn't answer some questions about benefits, etc.

But I'm sending all this stuff to him right now. I really appreciate
you guys and I'm sure he will too.




Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.

 

[Tommy]

Ohm's law is one of those things we use all the time without even
realizing it. kinda like algebra. what's x+3=5? that's algebra in its
simplist form.

 

[[email protected]]

if you ever use a meter for much
besides a paperweight you have been kneedeep in ohm's law.

Unlikely.

More likely the technician was the end user of the pre-packaged
implementation worked out be the designer of the meter.

Using an ohm meter to measure continuity, or even to measure a
resistance and guestimate how far to a fault does not imply using ohm's
law.

Now if you measure two of voltage, current, or resistance, and use
those to determine the missing third, then you are using ohms law. But
really, how often do you do that?

And no, don't delve into what the meter is doing internally, unless you
are breadboarding up a meter from movements and shunts everytime you
want to take a measurement. We know the engineer who designed the
meter knows ohms law - the question is if the technician using the
meter uses ohms law with any frequency?

 

[JoeRaisin]

I got my start about two years ago from an ad posted at an employment
agency.

I had tons of computer experience, a little home construction experience,
but no alarm experience at all... never even touched a keypad before.

He was looking for someone experienced, but was willing to train too.

There isn't really much training when you get someone like me. Now I'm the
only person doing installations and service. 15-20 installations a month.
Residential, commercial, cameras, and whatever else I get thrown into. It's
a small town so we manage to keep up but are generally booked solid for a
week or two in advance.

As far as ohm's law goes, I've never used it. What would I need it for in
the alarm field? Electronics, sure... electrical, maybe... alarms, no.

Knowledge of Ohm's Law, however, implies a certain background or
training in electronics.

Someone who knows Ohm's law is almost certain to understand the
difference between a series circuit and a parallel circuit (very
important in installing and troubleshooting alarms).

The last guy my company hired (and who is no longer working for us)
overstated his training on his resume. He was a telephone "tech" in the
military, and made it sound as though he was versed in electronics while
all he really did was splice wires. Had they asked him that simple
question (Ohm's law) we would have at least been working with a known
value. Instead there was a lot of frustration before the rest of us
figured out he really didn't know what he said he knew.

A few of us took him under wing and tried teaching him but he decided to
quit instead. In his words, "its only a matter of time until they fire me."

So, while knowing Ohm's law may make one over qualified... it still
means that they are likey to be able to handle anything the job throws
at them (electronically).

 

[Jim]

Ohm's law is one of those things we use all the time without even
realizing it. kinda like algebra. what's x+3=5? that's algebra in its
simplist form.

I've had people work for me who couldn't quote Ohm's Law, but they
still knew how to use a meter to trouble shoot. I think it's more that
they understand to concept of current flow, resistance to that current
flow and that votage is the "pressure" that moves the "current". Once
understanding that .... it's sort of Ohm's Law with out knowing the
actual formulas. They do it more by comparison and process of
elimination. The actual formulas are really only needed for
predetermining voltage drop , loads and current. Certainly a help if
you know them, but for most troubleshooting cases, as easy as they are,
a "tech" can get along 90% of the time, with out actually being able to
recite them.

 

[Tommy]

I would have to disagree. checking continuity is a perfect use of ohm's
law. just because you aren't plugging numbers into a calculator dosen't
mean you aren't using the formula. how can you use an instrument if you
do not understand the feedback it is giving you.

 

[Tommy]

Why would knowing ohm's law make one overqualified? that sounds like a
comment from an unnamed (RLB) person who already says that alarm
installtion can be done by "trained monkeys."

 

[Robert L Bass]

Why would knowing ohm's law make one overqualified? that sounds like a

comment from an unnamed (RLB) person who already says that alarm
installtion can be done by "trained monkeys."

The above comment is from the same person who thinks that a one needs to
know Ohm's law to use a continuity tester. He apparently doesn't understand
that continuity testers only measure whether there is or is not a complete
circuit.

While it is handy knowing Ohm's law when doing diagnostic work, that
knowledge is rarely needed to install an alarm. Furthermore, one need not
know Ohm's law in order to use a common VOM meter.

As to the trained monkey comment, the gentleman is simply displaying his own
ignorance once again. What I said was that I could train any *primate* to
install an alarm. The funny part was when the Waco moron responded in anger
at being called (by implication) a primate. Clearly none of these folks
made it through 9th grade biology class. :^)

--

Regards,
Robert L Bass

=============================>
Bass Home Electronics
4883 Fallcrest Circle
Sarasota · Florida · 34233
941-866-1100 Sales & Tech Support
http://www.bassburglaralarms.com
=============================>