Red Seal primarily recruits for industrial and infrastructure companies; we find it is rare to be able to contact people at their desks. Due to fast paced lifestyles it is even rarer to find people at home at night. The evolution of technology has made it easier for people who are working in plants, field operations, and remote sites, whether they are management or field technicians to be mobile.

When I started recruiting cell phones were rare and faxed resumes were the standard way of initial communication with candidates. How things have changed…companies rarely post fax numbers and we see cell phone numbers and email address on almost every resume. This shift happened gradually but we are also seeing another shift as mobile phones get better at web browsing and are increasingly being used for day to day tasks.

Several years ago I had my first mobile candidate contact me through his smart phone from Fort McMurray, where he was working as a heavy equipment technician. He couldn’t send me a resume but we could chat about his experience. Now we are seeing more and more people browse our website everyday on mobile devices.

Currently we have about over 50% mobile users visiting our website on IPhones and a smaller number of Blackberry, Android (Google) and Windows users. This is bound to increase as 64% of Canadians owned a cell phone in 2008 and more are buying “smart phones” that allow them to browse websites and send emails.

We will continue to make our website mobile friendly and enable people to contact us using the most convenient method for them. If you are a communication or power lineman working on the road, or a civil engineer working on an oil sands construction project don’t hesitate to drop us an email or give us a call.

The idea of video resumes have been around since the 1980’s but it has taken the popularity of Youtube, digital cameras and, dare I say it, the easy editing ability of a Mac, to make video resumes a true possibility.

The idea of a video resume for the average worker in an office or the customer service industry has always been a little far fetched to me. Trying to put knowledge and education into visual form can be difficult and demonstrating interactions with customers may prove ineffective and violate the privacy of the customer.

An area that a video resume can be very effective is in the industrial and trades people sector. Issues of privacy and how you can display your knowledge are easier to overcome. If an applicant can show the industrial work they have completed in pictures or video with text added than the video acts like a preliminary “show me interview,” where the worker demonstrates his abilities.

An Autobody Technician recently posted a great portfolio of his work to AC/DC’s Who Made Who on Youtube. This short clip really showed the magic he can work with smashed up cars. Adding key technical terms to the visuals allow him to communicate to both recruiters and technical hiring managers in a way this is difficult to do with a print resume.

You can see his video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAok9BEP9VA

By taking pictures of the work you have completed and projects you have worked on and adding a few captions, an employer can get an accurate overview of the scope and size of projects you have worked on. Additionally, this medium allows a bit of personality to shine through with a choice of song and space for a few personal pictures of you enjoying your hobbies or family life.

This past weekend I attended a career fair in Kitimat, BC, organized by an employer who is shutting down their pulp mill in January 2010. Business closures are a difficult time for individual workers, families and whole communities when hundreds of jobs are being lost. However, it was soon apparent that workers emerging from this community were some of the most skilled and positive people we have talked to in years.

Heavy Duty Mechanics, Industrial Instrument Mechanics, Power Engineers, Maintenance Planners, Maintenance Supervisors and Industrial Engineers all turned out in large numbers. The most promising candidates were focused on a career and professional development path that included education and certification. We met Power Engineers working on their 2nd and 1st class papers as well as apprentices finishing their last year of schooling before writing their Red Seal exam.

Learning a trade or new skill is key to being highly employable throughout your career. No matter if you grew up in small town BC or downtown Edmonton, we all face job changes throughout our lifetime. By continually looking for skill-building and educational opportunities, we can be the people employers are looking for. Building your skill base will always translate into better opportunities, whether they be higher employability or the ability to start your own business.

Canadian workers have always been resilient; we build new entrepreneurial business in recessions and improve more established companies in times of surplus. Every worker I met last week had the drive to succeed, even if their mill closes. There will be struggles, but Canadian workers have the skills and knowledge to face difficult times and rebound.

Where do you start?

Look on any map and you will see that Canada is one BIG country! With most Canadians clustered around a few major urban centers, relocation is a fact of life for most job seekers and employers. If a Power Linesman in Vancouver, British Columbia or Toronto, Ontario wishes to change careers, it’s as easy as contacting a few employers or head hunters and then sitting back, waiting for the right opportunity. However, for many Canadians living in remote communities or small towns, finding work is not so simple. An electrician might be employed by the only company within hundreds of kilometers where they can find a job in their field, making relocation necessary.

For many workers, job hunting in Canada involves vast area maps and lengthy discussions with friends and family before making a move. Relocating for a job quickly becomes one of the biggest and most stressful decisions of your life! From an employers view, they may realize too late how much of a challenge relocation is. After lengthy candidate searches and costly interviews, an employee who initially accepted the job offer declines based on the need to relocate. Or worse even, after relocating they leave the company after much time and investment has gone into their training because they don’t feel settled in their new area.

Having a realistic understanding of the community and location is almost as important as the job itself. Spousal and children’s involvement in a relocation decision is key as starting a new job can be stressful without the support of loved ones. After the move to a new community, getting socially involved is key to a positive experience. Sports opportunities for kids help integrate young children into a new environment while also contributing to a parents’ familiarity with neighbours and social mores. Finding local community and activity groups early is integral in cementing new friendships and creating a true sense of “home”.

If you are interested in jumpstarting your career in Canada, chances are that relocation will be one of the most important parts of the new job and the Red Seal Recruiting team is here to support you. Whether you are a Power Engineer from Toronto looking to live in a quieter community, or Project Manager wanting a fresh start in a vibrant city, Red Seal Recruiting has the knowledge and experience to help you find your niche.

The most important thing a recruiting or hiring managers does is build trust. Conducting interviews, writing interesting jobs ads, responding to inquiries from candidates and marketing on the web may be important but all of this is secondary to building trust.

Switching jobs is one of life most stressful events and it is often combined with moving or relocation. Not only does one face loosing most of their former co-workers but also their friends and routines they have built their life around. Not only is this stress faced by the candidate but also by their whole family.

The bridge between ones current job and a new job is built on the back on the recruiter. Rarely is a recruiter or hiring manager someone who does the job and they often do not live in the place where the job is located. The best recruiters have to be skilled at learning the ins and outs of the position, department and community and then have to communicate these details to candidates.

One of the things our industrial and infrastructure recruiters do well is discuss community to build a personal relationship with candidates. Asking about what they are looking for in a community leads to discussions about family, interests and even religion. Our recruiters share their similar experiences and take a real interest in the person and their lives beyond the resume.

An expert on change management and trust Peter de Jager says trust is “Belief in another’s ability and intent to execute according to their word.” Our recruiters need to trust and understand the hiring managers and company contacts so they are, in turn, able to communicate and build trust with the candidates they source.

Our industrial and infrastructure customers employ people in some of the world’s most dangerous working conditions and their employees trust in each other is key to every day operation. Working on High Voltage Power Lines, Mines, Oil and Gas Plant construction and maintenance, Transportation, Marine Engineering, Pulp & Paper are all dangerous workplaces where workers need to trust each other. As an example, electrical limits of approach, lock-out and communication are critical for a safe workplace in an industrial company. Employees of a company need to have a level of trust amongst themselves in order to carry out daily operations.  This trust begins to with form from the day a potential employee talks to a recruiter and it builds as the candidate transitions through the hiring process until the point where employees place their lives in each other’s hands.

Building trust with everyone in the hiring process including the recruiter, company, and future employee is critical in building the relationship that lays the foundation for an efficient, productive and safe workplace.

A hot topic in recruiting is the use of social networks to find passive candidates or possible employees that are not looking for work. The idea is that over 80% of the people who could fill a job are not actively visiting workopolis.com or asking their friends if they know of anyone that is hiring.  As a result 4 out of every 5 people won’t hear about great opportunities when they happen.

Social Network recruiting is the idea

of getting information about opportunities out to people on social networks where both job seekers and passive candidates can see these opportunities. This can also be reversed and passive job seekers can now be actively passive by setting up their work information on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Setting up your work information and professional interests allows companies to advertise jobs to you and allows your friends to network with you. The best way to find a job is to find people who do the type of work you would like to do or who work for the companies that employs those people.

DO NOT post how you hate your current job, or how you are off on worker’s compensation, or that you would like to kill your boss. You would be amazed at how many of my friends post negative things that would turn off any future co-workers who could recommend you.

The power of your network can be amazing. The average person has 120 friends on Facebook and they each have 120 friends. If you do the math that 14,400 people you can network with in a blink of an eye. So go ahead, ask if anyone knows a “Great X who works at a place that does X”, you be surprised at how quickly you’ll get a response.

Last Sunday I had the opportunity to stop near Lillooet BC to see my former co-workers from the BC Ministry of Forest – Fire Protection Services in action. Working in some of the world’s most difficult country, private helicopters and government fire fighters were working to hold back a fire that was almost impossible to contain. I’ve attached a short video of the helicopters re-filling their Bambi-buckets with fire retardant before returning to the fire.

Unfortunately this weekend one of the helicopters did not make the round trip. It plunged into the Fraser River and the pilot went missing. Given the power of the river and the search that went on, it is presumed the pilot has died. This is a tragedy that has happens to helicopter pilots and workers all too often. Last year two employees of one of our customers, a helicopter pilot and a bystander were killed when their helicopter crashed in a residential area.

Some will say Helicopter accidents are unavoidable and there are too many factors that can contribute to a crash. It is a difficult business and I feel fortunate to have flown with some of the world’s best pilots throughout BC, the Yukon, Alberta and Ontario. I have vivid memories of the many work trips made in these powerful machines. Given the number of factors that can endanger a helicopter and its crew I have to say too many chances were taken with bad weather, overloaded machines and over worked pilots.

This accident and all workplace accidents should be remembered by all employers and job hunters when thinking of joining a company. Questions about safety should be asked by both parties in interviews ensuring safety is a priority from the beginning to the safe end of the relationship.

Helicopter safety is a continuing problem but if everyone has an attitude that safety is the highest priority and than it can and will improve.

The Provincial Government just released information that 23 Power Linemen who work for one Canadian Utility company earned over $200,000 last year. These employees are paid a base salary of just over $33 dollars per hour, yet worked so many hours of overtime, they more then tripled their base salary! Not only are utility companies not selling any power when power lines are down, but also power is often restored at overtime rates of 2 and 3 times the regular wage.

A 2006 study by Public Safety Canada put the cost of one Ontario power outage at over one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000). Power outages in the United States are estimated to cost one hundred  billion dollars ($100,000,000,000) every year. Having enough qualified Communication and Control Technicians, Design Engineers and Electrical Engineers combined with a strong field team of Power Linemen, can drastically reduce the total cost of these power outages.

We could use the average revenue per employee to calculate the cost of vacancies, but this does not take into account how critical certain employees are to supplying customer’s power consumption needs.  For example, Second Class Power Engineers that run power generating plants are needed for the safe and efficient operation of power plants. In addition, they are required by law to be on-site at all times for large plants. If one of these employees is off sick, plants generating thousands of dollars of power per hour could be shut down until another certified Power Engineer can be brought in.

In mining, Heavy Duty Mechanics keep haul trucks, loaders, stationary engines and other heavy equipment running efficiently. A huge 700 series off-highway Caterpillar truck costs a company over $1,500,000 dollars new so keeping equipment maintained and running efficiently rests with the mechanics and maintenance planners. If these vehicles brake down or if they need extensive repairs it will cost the company hundreds of thousands of dollars.   Gold and silver don’t provide cash flow laying in the bottom of an open pit mine, these trucks must be up and running at all times to earn the company money.

Agricultural, road building, and construction equipment breakdowns cost thousands of dollars in production and lost revenue. Equipment suppliers lose millions in lost sales to competitors if they do not have enough qualified service technicians to cater to their clients.

Vacancies affect team members, management, customers, employees in various departments, and everyone in the organization, including human resource professionals. Beyond the immediate impacts on revenue there are stress and workload burdens on the individual since they due to not having the necessary team members to fill vacant positions.

During summer months these problems get worse as vacancies cannot be filled when human Resource managers, hiring managers and key decision makers take vacations. Those left working are barely able to keep up, much less take on the extra task of filling vacancies. Companies that fill vacancies quickly through effective hiring strategies have less of these direct and indirect cost, resulting in lower turnover in September when other companies start to play catch-up!

For the last six months companies across Canada have been putting spending, hiring, bonuses and training on hold, in order to weather the economic reset and achieve a better bottom line. What will this mean for the rest of summer and September, when we traditionally see hiring pick up in earnest?

We are going to see employers scrambling to fill jobs as the economy picks up and many top employees moving on to greener pastures. Some of the top employees we know are getting ready to jump ship after continuing to take on more work and responsibilities and seeing their employer slash or eliminate bonuses and overtime.

All ready this summer at Red Seal Recuiting Ltd., we have seen resignation letters being typed up and resumes that are being spruced up. Why? Summer is the best time for networking! Those great employers who ensure their people have lots of time off will also have employees promoting their brand around barbeques, camp fires and beaches across Canada.

Yesterday while taking my dog for a swim at a lake in Victoria BC, I heard a young woman promoting her employer on her time off! Her hotel chain was investing in her training and in making the company a better place for customers and workers alike even during an economic downturn. A hospitality recruiter working on her time off!

Networking continues to be the main way we find jobs. Recruiters and employment agencies spend all of their time networking on your behalf. Using Facebook.com or Linkedin.com to find employment opportunities is a great way of using your network but nothing beats communicating one on one with friends and family. Six degrees of separation is the theory that we are all connected through webs of friends and family to everyone else but this theory only works when we connect in a meaningful way.

Going for an iced coffee or tea with everyone you know all summer will definitely land you your dream job by leveraging your network. Asking people to go for a coffee to find out more about them and where they work is the most powerful networking tool available. Your interest in them and the knowledge they will share can get you more interviews then sending out 1,000 resumes!

Start by going through your phone book, then email, facebook contacts inviting people for a coffee every week. This networking will help you land a better job so next summer you can be the one laying on the beach bragging about your great employer!

By Kael Campbell
Head recruiter
Red Seal Recruiting

The Canadian Construction Sector Council has surveyed its members and the resulting report is incredible!

It appears we are about to see another boom in construction over the next three years, largely due to projects funded by the federal government.

This is great news for those out-of-work skilled workers who have been looking for work in the last few months.

The recent slowdown in the number of residential construction projects means that this public works bonanza will be a big shift for some workers, but a small shift for others.

Most skilled workers’ base-skills foundation comes from education and on-the-job experience. Although there may be major differences in electrical work between residential and institutional/commercial work, the knowledge base, skill sets and many of the fundamentals remain the same. But still, the question in many skilled workers with residential construction intensive experience is: “How do I make the move to industrial or commercial construction?”

Demonstrate the value you bring as a well-rounded, skilled worker to the employer and, of course, work hard.

If you want to move into industrial work, load up on additional, ancillary skills. Little things like taking an Industrial first aid course or obtaining a commercial drivers license may be enough for an employer to say: “I want you on our team.”

Having a large, diverse portfolio of skills and certifications will help you get a foot in the door and separate yourself from other job seekers. You should research compatible skills training and on-going complimentary skills upgrading.

Alternatively, if there is direct training that helps with employability such as Distributed Control Systems (DCS) or Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) training for industrial instrument mechanics or electricians. If you are on Employment Insurance, the government may even provide funding for a training program, and maintain benefits while you are attending the program course.

Over the years I have earned and held a commercial drivers license, industrial first aid and disability management certificates, a university degree in business administration and a two year college certificate. I obtained all of this accreditation since completing high school. All of it meant sacrificing time and money, but it has paid off. Extra training results in higher-paying jobs. It also demonstrates to employers that you are not someone who is going to become stagnant in their organization.

Forecasts show 168,000 baby boomers are going to be retiring in the near future. There will be plenty of opportunities for journeymen trades-people to move up to senior positions – and for apprentices to find full-time employment, even if it is a struggle to finish an apprenticeship right now.

According to the Construction Sector Council:
“[Through] government backed institutional, transportation and energy projects, Quebec has sustained employment growth through the recession.
Proposed major projects in mining, manufacturing and utility industries coupled with government infrastructure and industrial projects are sustaining employment growth in British Columbia”
“Momentum is also being created by new and ongoing projects in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador. When combined with government stimulus initiatives, these projects [have] helped to sustain construction employment.”

This is all positive news that will help people get through the short term pain we have seen so far in 2009. It also points to excellent opportunities and a great reason to invest in yourself if you are currently out of work.

By Kael Campbell
Head recruiter
Red Seal Recruiting