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How to Hire a Steel Detailer

Speaker

Ryan Wunderle

NISD

memberservices@nisd.org

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How to Hire a Steel Detailer

Sorry….

It’s only going to get harder not easier.

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Source:� Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development�Release:� Main Economic Indicators�Units: � �Persons, Seasonally Adjusted�Frequency: � � � Monthly�OECD descriptor ID: LFWA64TTOECD unit ID: STSAOECD country ID: USAAll OECD data should be cited as follows: OECD, "Main Economic Indicators - complete database", Main Economic Indicators (database),http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/data-00052-en (Accessed on date)Copyright, 2016, OECD. Reprinted with permission.�Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development,� Working Age Population: Aged 15-64: All Persons for the United States [LFWA64TTUSM647S],� retrieved from FRED,� Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis;� https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LFWA64TTUSM647S,� January 4, 2023.��

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What does this mean? This means we have shifted from a employer powered market to a candidate powered market. Meaning there are more jobs than people. People can leave at any time to find a new job. That’s why finding the right person is even more critical than it use to be. People won’t stay in job they don’t like. Mainly because they don’t have to any more. They can get a job anywhere.

Source:� U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics�Release:� Employment Situation�Units: � �Percent, Seasonally Adjusted�Frequency: � � � Monthly�The series comes from the 'Current Population Survey (Household Survey)'�The source code is: LNS11300000��The Labor Force Participation Rate is defined by the Current Population Survey (CPS) as “the number of people in the labor force as a percentage of the civilian noninstitutional population […] the participation rate is the percentage of the population that is either working or actively looking for work.” ��The Labor Force Participation Rate is collected in the CPS and published by the BLS. It is provided on a monthly basis, so this data is used in part by macroeconomists as an initial economic indicator of current labor market trends. The labor force participation rate helps government agencies, financial markets, and researchers gauge the overall health of the economy. ��Note that long-run changes in labor force participation may reflect secular economic trends that are unrelated to the overall health of the economy. For instance, demographic changes such as the aging of population can lead to a secular increase of exits from the labor force, shrinking the labor force and decreasing the labor force participation rate. ��For more information, see:�U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CES Overview�U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Concepts and Definitions (CPS)�U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,� Labor Force Participation Rate [CIVPART],� retrieved from FRED,� Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis;� https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CIVPART,� January 4, 2023.��

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How to Hire a Steel Detailer

Know what is important

What are they going to do?
What type of projects are they going to do?
What type of software do they have to know?
What are you willing to train them on?
What are you un-willing to train them on?
What type of work culture do you want to build?
How many years of experience do they have?
Create a job description

Know what is important – Know what is important to you.
What are they going to do? - Modeling, Shop Drawings, Erection Drawings
What type of projects are they going to do? – Not everyone has the same experience. Particularly when detailers come from fabricators. Elaborate on this…
What type of software do they have to know? – Autocad, SDS2, Tekla, Bluebeam, Other solutions. Software may not matter as much as you think. Software can be trained.
What are you willing to train them on? – Struc.? Misc? Checking? PM? Estimating?
What are you un-willing to train them on?
What type of work culture do you want to build? – Work from home, Show up whenever as long as the work is done? Work late until the project is done or pick it up tomorrow? OT always, never or sometimes. What to do when you have to let the dog out or the cable person in. Accountability. If you have had trouble hiring the right person. This can be the issue. I have seen tons of detailers & other people leave jobs because they weren’t allowed to work from home or were not treated with respect.
How many years of experience do they have? – This metric is very, very, very overvalued. I have detailers with 2 years of exp. That can walk circles around people doing it for 20 years. The more people talk about how long they have been doing it the worse they can sometimes be.
Create a job description – What we are really talking about here is building a job description. Really stopping to think about and layout what the perfect person for the position would be. If you have great team member currently. Stop to think why they are so good.

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How to Hire a Steel Detailer

Where to start….

Find as many candidates as possible

Job boards, Indeed, Monster, ZipRecruiter, etc.
LinkedIn
Referrals
Ask clients
Ask vendors

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How to Hire a Steel Detailer

Multi Step Process

Initial Interview

�
Online Assessment test – This can be done before step 1 & 2 as an additional vetting process. There are a lot of different ones out there. They can test, literacy, special visualization, problem solving, typing. Most are able to be customized for a specific position. As you use these over and over you start to verify their accuracy & trust in the process. They are not always perfect though.�
2^nd interview with multiple people – This I say is the formal traditional interview. Ask about job history, projects worked on, strengths, weaknesses, etc. Why multiple people. Multiple people help catch minor differences in interpretation. Come up standard questions & a rating system. Interview tips: If they are asking questions it’s a good thing. You can’t be a good detailer without asking questions. Encourage them to ask questions during an interview. You can tell a lot about a detailer based on the questions they are asking. It shows if they are thinking ahead to next steps. �
Detailing specific assessment – If they know the program you use have them model, or detail a very small project. This will really seal the deal to confirm their knowledge & experience level. Using helps determine their strengths & weaknesses. Their speed, their accuracy. The time estimating skills. Side note: it’s also a good way to test our remote workers to see if they have what internet speeds that will work.

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How to Hire a Steel Detailer

Multi Step Process

Online Assessment test

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How to Hire a Steel Detailer

Multi Step Process

2^nd interview with multiple people

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How to Hire a Steel Detailer

Multi Step Process

Detailing specific assessment

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How to Hire a Steel Detailer

Multi Step Process

Hire them with confidence

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How to Hire a Steel Detailer

Speaker

Ryan Wunderle

NISD

memberservices@nisd.org