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Mentoring Has Its Benefits

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 09:14:00 -0700

By Gary Turner, Puget Sound Energy.

Looking at my life I can honestly say my life has been more successful and rewarding because of mentors. Mentoring provides many benefits to both people - it’s not just about imparting knowledge from a senior person to the younger protégée. Indeed, the person being mentored can also impart valuable insight and wisdom to the mentor as well. Have you experienced the benefits of mentoring? Have you been a mentor to another?

I have been fortunate to experience significant mentor relationships at critical points in my life. Different connections came about without me really seeking them out. Mentors that come to mind were: a neighbor, Don; a teacher, Mr. Cutler; my uncle, Bill; a coworker, Phil; and family friend, Archie – all unbelievably fortunate for me to have and beneficial to the point that my life’s direction was altered because of them! Reflecting on these experience here are a few thoughts about effective mentor/mentee qualities. A great mentor:

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Mentoring

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 11:20:00 -0700

By Sue Z. Hart

“Try not to be a man (person) of success, but a man (person) of value.” ~ Albert Einstein

When I think of mentoring, I believe there are two types. The first type of mentoring is what most people traditionally think of, which involves deliberate sharing of one’s time and skills. The mentor works alongside the mentee to share their wisdom in a purposeful way. This is especially important when so much of our skilled workforce is getting ready to retire. The knowledge they have learned by “doing” a job over the past three or four decades cannot be taught in a book. Their “hands-on” knowledge would be lost without mentoring.

We need more mentors and programs that promote this type of training.

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The Importance of Having a Mentor

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 09:09:00 -0700

By Glenn froehlich, My Knowledge Matters

Webster defines is as a wise and trusted counselor a teacher or an influential senior sponsor or supporter. As I reflect through life I have had many, and have been one. To this day I still use coaches and mentors in different areas of my life. One of the most influential was a man who taught me the practice of paying it forward. I was in a tough place, going to school, working in a commission job, and no money, not a little money, no money! My boss at the time knew I was hurting, but I showed up every day, went to school every day and worked hard. One day he pulled me into his office and sat me down, I thought I was being fired, and he handed me a check, not a lot a money just a couple of hundred dollars, which at the time made a huge difference in my world, and all he said was, “You don’t have to pay it back, but if you see another person who needs help, and you can help, give them a hand” Since that day, I always try to help were and when I can, sometimes just the smallest things can make the biggest difference. Today, I pay it forward whenever I can, hoping I can make the same impact he made on me, in someone else’s life.

My First Job: An Experience to Remember

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 11:36:00 -0700

By Gary Turner, Puget Sound Energy.

My first job was so long ago I actually have a problem remembering what that job was…sad but true! One early job was working at the Bavarian Waffle Bar in the Food Circus at the Seattle Center. The Food Circus was a large building with what we would today call a food court with many eating establishments to satisfy your dining preference.

My training was brief - how to clean strawberries with nothing more efficient than a plastic spoon to core the berries, how to run the cash register, instruction to not ever trade free food with other vendors, and what I’d be paid. The words I’ll never forget at age 15 or16 were “You’ll make $1.50 an hour for the first month. If you last that long you’ll get a raise to $1.65 an hour and you’ll stay at that pay forever. Good luck.” I could eat all the strawberry topped waffles I wanted-what a benefit!

Unfortunately I succumbed and broke rule number 1, swapping a waffle for a hamburger with one of my neighboring booths by the end of the first week (I resisted offers from other vendors for as long as I could despite constant offers…strawberry waffles were in demand!) I also did make it to the raise in pay but don’t remember much else. I still love strawberries.

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My First Summer Job

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 08:41:00 -0700

By Glenn Froehlich, My Knowledge Matters

I’m not sure how I got the job, I think I just went in and ask the owner if he needed help. It was a TV store, were they did repair and sales of TV’s. Now understand, this was when TV’s were huge and heavy, when they had tubes in them and huge wood boxed around them! The owner of the store, Bob did everything; he sold the huge consoles, with names like RCA and Zenith. He worked on them, carefully testing the tubes and replacing them as needed to bring these huge boxes back to life. But Bob was getting a bit older and needed a young buck like me around for all the little things it took to keep the TV store going. So my job, when I wasn’t helping move TV’s from the showroom to customs homes, was to keep the showroom spotless. I would dust the TV’s using a special product on the wood consoles to make them shine, then dusting the screens one TV at time. I would watch as Bob would great customers, people would come in and tell him a problem they were having with their TV, like “it’s really green or there is no sound, or it’s wavy….and Bob would look up for just a moment and diagnose the problem with the precision a crew chief for a NASCAR team, I was always amazed….It was a simpler time. I learned the value of listening to the customer, about doing what needs to be done if you see its needs to be done and lots of other great lessons. After the summer, I went back to school, Bob ended up closing the store, something about “tubes are going away” I’ll miss Bob’s TV Sales and Service.

My First Summer Job

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 10:41:00 -0700

By Brad Brickman, , Constellation HomeBuilder Systems.

Growing up in the communities surrounnding a big city like Seattle has it’s advantages. I grew up in the fast growing suburbs of Chicago, IL. Like the Seattle - Everett today, there were summer work opportunities that relied on an a developing workforce. I found my first job at the Marriot Hotel and Convention Center in Oak Brook, Illinois. I was 15 years old and feeling very fortunate to have my first real job and paycheck.

My mom initially made this possible by doing the thankless work of driving 25 minutes each way to get me to and from work. Since I could not drive myself, she helped my convince my skeptical employer that I would show up to work on-time. And I appreciated the flexibility my employer had to manage the details necessary to hire summer workers.

My boss, Carol Ashby, was head of catering and managed a workforce of mostly non-english speaking Central Americans. I was one of the only “white” guys in the crew. I grew up in Hinsdale , IL, a community that had virtually no people of color. My first summer job opened a whole new and exciting world to me. For the first time I could understand the value of the Spanish courses I had taken in high school. And because of my language skills, I became an immediate asset to my boss. I was fascinated by the culture and struggles that brought so many Central Americans all the way to Chicago to find work.

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My First Summer Job

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 10:34:00 -0700

By Sue Z. Hart

My first real summer job was one of those “chance of a lifetime” opportunities where I worked with the Youth Conversation Corps (YCC) at Mt. Rainier National Park. Our crew of eight, made up of seven 16 and 17 year olds from across Western Washington and a Crew Leader from Prescott College in Arizona was based out of Longmire, along with about five other crews. Each week we would hike into a different location on the Mountain to restore damaged trails. Our program design gave us an average of six hours to work and two hours of environmental education each day.

I had never had a job other than babysitting or farm work and hiking or camping was not something my family did. Working with YCC turned out to be one of the most impactful experiences of my life. Coming from a very small town, this job exposed me to another world, several new worlds actually. Different people, cultures and an education beyond anything I had ever known.

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Master Builders Career Connection Part of Construction Camp

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 09:19:00 -0700

The Master Builders Career Connection, (MBCC) a philanthropic arm of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties will participate in the second annual MAGIC (Mentoring a Girl in Construction) Summer Camp presented by the Puget Sound Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC). The camp is designed to give high school girls an introduction and hands-on experience to potential careers in the building industry.

The event will be held June 27 through June 29, 2011 at Western Washington Sheet Metal JATC training facility in Everett. Journey level tradeswomen will team teach with instructors in safety, carpentry, electrical, tiling and welding skills during this free, three-day program. For the final camp project, students will build Charlie’s House, a sustainable house complete with electricity. Charlie’s House is an award-winning program of the Master Builders Career Connection, who is also a sponsor of MAGIC Summer Camp.

Master Builders Career Connection Executive Director Cathy Feole notes, “We are very excited not only to sponsor this great NAWIC event, but also to provide a true building experience for young women who rarely have the opportunity to learn carpentry or to actually build a structure. NAWIC does a wonderful job of providing these kinds of experiences for young women and the Master Builders Career Connection is proud to be participating.”

The event is also sponsored by The Western Washington Sheet Metal JATC and the Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Committee.

Congratulations Master Builders Career Connection Scholarship Winners

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 08:20:00 -0700

Master Builders Career Connection (MBCC) continues to provide scholarships to students who are pursuing construction related degrees at the University of Washington, Washington State University, Central Washington University and local community colleges. After considering many worthy candidates, the selection committee has awarded scholarships to the following recipients for 2011: Nathan Pozzesi from Washington State University; Ryan Hunter and Christopher Murdoch from University of Washington; Rafe Samonte from Edmonds Community College; and Kari Sypher, Morgan Holtz and Wendy Borgatti from Seattle Central Community College.

Thanks to the scholarship funds provided by our generous donors, the Foundation has awarded nearly $10,000 this year to outstanding students. MBCC is very pleased to be able to help talented people like these to continue their education in pursuit of a career in the homebuilding industry. This is just one more example of how the MBCC is committed to preparing your future workforce.

Congratulations to all of these worthy students, and thank you to all of our association members for supporting the educational dreams of our next generation of homebuilders and remodelers.

Free Retraining Programs: WA State WorkSource

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 08:59:00 -0700

By Matt Youngquist, Career Horizons

Are you currently receiving unemployment benefits in Washington State? If so, one of my contacts in the WorkSource system wrote me to remind people of a few special training options/benefits that are available to certain professionals who qualify for them. Here’s what she asked me to pass along:

“Matt: Just thought you might want to remind your clients that the King County WorkSource system provides ‘dislocated workers’ up to $7,000 (lifetime limit) to ‘purchase training services from an eligible provider‘ he or she selects in consultation with an employment counselor. Please advise your clients and workshop participants to go to their local WorkSource center (www.worksourceskc.org/default.asp) and talk with an employment specialist about using these funds.

Also, here is another link (www.wa.gov/esd/e-learning/default.htm) to a series of free Microsoft training offered through the state WorkSource system. People need to act fast on this because this program only runs for 5 more months. As you know, computer skills are a must in today’s job market, so this training could be invaluable to certain folks who are a bit behind the curve, technology-wise.”

These are your tax dollars at work, my friends! So if you didn’t already know about these programs, and suspect you might be eligible for them, I’d encourage you to access the links below to find out a bit more about what they entail.

Recession-Proof Résumés: Get Hired Before Everyone Else

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 08:15:00 -0700

By Beth Madden, Madden Industrial Craftsmen, Inc.

The economy appears to be recovering quite slowly, and recent reports have mentioned that more than six million unemployed individuals have been out of work for six months or longer!

As you create your résumé, remember that it’s much more than just a listing of your previous jobs, duties and employers. Your résumé first and foremost is a sales tool — you’re “selling” your skills, knowledge and accomplishments to an employer. Your résumé should whet a potential employers’ appetite enough that you’re called in for an interview.

Below are some tips to help you craft a résumé that helps you get noticed…and hired!

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Fall-Back Jobs & The Marketing Delta

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 09:33:00 -0700

By Matt Youngquist, Career Horizons

Many times, when you’re caught between employment engagements for a number of months, you’ll find yourself wondering whether — as the old saying goes — it might be time to fish or cut bait.

I have clients come in on a fairly frequent basis, in fact, saying things like “Matt, I’ve been looking for work for a while now, without much success, and am thinking that maybe I should settle on this one marginally-crappy job I have brewing, or take some temp work, or try my hand at selling cars, or fall back to a ‘survival’ job waiting tables or something similar. Do you think this is a smart move?”

After holding this discussion with a great many people over the years, I think that there are times when this kind of “fallback” move makes a ton of sense — and other times when such a step would be grossly premature. At the end of the day, it all comes down (in my humble opinion) to what I call the “marketing delta” and how aggressively and competently a professional has been running their job search up until such time as this type of decision point is reached.

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Customers Satisfaction - Seven Tested Best Practices

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 10:43:00 -0700

By Brad Brickman, Constellation HomeBuilder Systems.

In today’s socially networked markets builders and remodelers cannot afford to have buyers that are not fully satisfied with their purchase. I recently hosted a webinar by Rob Bowman, President of Charter Homes and Neighborhoods, who presented the 7 customer-centric practices that helped them, earn the 2011 National Housing Quality Award.

I have provided some excerpt of the article published in last October’s Professional Builder Magazine (website link here). The article describes how customer satisfaction is more than great service and warranty — it’s about making the home-buying experience something truly special.

If you are interested in viewing the webinar please contact me for details. You can also visit our blog www.customerdiscussion.wordpress.com to view other great webinar presentations by Charlie Scott, Woodland O’Brien & Scott, Brooks Powell, Powell Homes, Chip Pennington of Shea Homes and many others.

Here is a snapshot of the 7 practices Rob presented that have the potential to make the biggest impact on your organization.

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With Ads, Reading Comprehension is Key

Tue, 31 May 2011 08:33:00 -0700

By Matt Youngquist, Career Horizons

Remember those annoying “reading comprehension” questions on the SAT exam? Boy, I hated those. While I’m generally pretty good with the English language, the idea that there was only ONE acceptable interpretation to a given story always got under my craw.

For example, I specifically remember one question that asked “Who built the Erie Canal?” and forced you to choose between 1) Irish laborers; 2) New York government officials; 3) Mules; or 4) Civil engineers. To this day, I don’t have a clue what the right answer was to that one, given that the word “built” could have so many different interpretations! Still makes my blood boil, just thinking about it…

But anyway, my own bizarre hang-ups aside, there’s no question that reading comprehension is a key ingredient to job hunting success — especially when it comes to responding to published advertisements. To put it bluntly, if you’re going to go through the trouble of pursuing an advertised opportunity, make sure to read the job description carefully so that you can demonstrate a strong comprehension of the employer’s needs, challenges, and requirements in your cover letter!

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Great Online Resources for Job Hunters

Tue, 24 May 2011 11:20:00 -0700

By Cathy Feole.

From the weather, one would not think that summer is just around the corner. However, there is finally some sun in regards to employment opportunities in our area. Perhaps it’s time to update that resume to be ready when the right job comes along. Or, maybe the time is right to start looking for that dream career and figuring out what to do to get it. Regardless of your circumstance, there are a number of online tools available that let you explore careers, find training, determine your skills and even figure out what salary you need to meet living expenses. Even if you have looked at some of these utilities before, take another, deeper look now. You may be surprised at what you learn about yourself that will help you map a brighter future.

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