Notes from the team
Hiring trends, market signals, and recruiting craft.
Occasional posts on what we are seeing across labor markets, compensation, hiring patterns, and the craft of running a good search.
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A Better Working Interview: Test the Skill, Respect the Candidate
A working interview can show you more than another round of questions—but only when the exercise is job-relevant, consistent, safe, and respectful of the candidate’s time.
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The Hire Isn’t Finished on Start Day: A Better First 30-Day Handoff
A signed offer solves the vacancy. A clear first-month handoff gives the new hire a fair chance to stay and succeed. Here is a practical plan for day one, week one, and the first 30 days.
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When the Pay Is Close: How to Compare Two Job Offers
When two offers pay about the same, compare the week, the year, and the first 90 days—not just the number at the top of the offer letter.
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Your Skilled Trades Interview Process Is Filtering Out Better Candidates — And You Don’t Know It
You’re not failing to find skilled tradespeople. You’re failing to recognize them. The corporate interview format you inherited from an office-hiring playbook was never designed for the people who actually do the work you need done. Here’s what to do instead.
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Your August Hiring Window Is Shutting. Here’s How to Keep It Open.
# Your August Hiring Window Is Shutting. Here’s How to Keep It Open. **Slug:** august-hiring-window-skilled-trades-logistics **Excerpt:** August is the most dangerous month for skilled trades and logistics employers. Students head back to school, seasonal workers walk, and the fall rush hits with no warning. The employers who hire fast now are the ones who won’t…
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BlackRock, Ford, Google Are Throwing Billions at the Skilled Trades. Here’s What That Means for the Small Shop.
Four billion-dollar companies just announced a coalition to flood the skilled trades labor market with training dollars and recruiting power. Small employers aren’t part of that equation. But this week’s news might be the clearest signal yet that the labor market has fundamentally shifted — and here’s how your shop can position itself to win.
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Background Check Policies Are Costing You Your Best Candidates (And How to Fix It)
Most skilled-trades employers treat background checks as a non-negotiable gatekeeper. The problem is, they’re also the reason the same gatekeeper is filtering out the exact people you need — and nobody’s counting the cost.
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The Real Cost of One Empty Seat (And Why It’s Bigger Than You Think)
The Number Nobody in Skilled Trades Likes to Calculate You have an empty seat. Maybe it’s a line driver. Maybe it’s an electrician. Maybe it’s a dispatcher with thirty years of knowledge who finally retired. Whoever it was, the seat is empty. Your team is covering. You’re working around it. It’s annoying, but manageable —…