Week 37 & Jobs

Here we are in week 37, about to end the 3rd quarter of 2025. I’ve always found this time of year to be an important part of the year in the light industrial fields. The kids just went back to school, people are starting to think about, and plan for the upcoming holidays. I noticed this week that jobs are opening up. Staffing agencies are flooding the social media job groups with ads, and all the major job boards are full of posted opportunities. I’m Marty, and I’d like to thank you for stopping in with us here at Warehouse and Operations as a Career for episode 331.  

We’ve had a lot of questions come up over the last several weeks regarding the series on job positions and tasks in the warehouse and transportation fields, and this week I believe I’ve lived through several of those scenarios. So today I’d like to walk through a few scenarios we could find in our jobs and how one may handle them. Some good and some bad, some the right way and some the lesser right way.  

Ok, where to start, oh, this one's good, and I hear about it almost weekly from recruiters or hiring agents.  

Scenario one. An applicant comes in for a face-to-face interview. I assume they’ve been seeking employment, and have invested time in looking at ad’s, been entertaining both phone interviews and driving out for interviews, anyway, now he or she has scheduled an interview with an agency. This person arrives. Parking, on the street, is congested, and there's pay meters. The individual comes in, registers, speaks with the recruiter and asks if you have to pay to park. The agent says yes, but you can park in the back for free. The applicant leaves, it’s assumed to move the car around to the back, however, they never return. Now, there's several things in action here. Possibly the applicant took the recruiters statement about parking in the back out of context or felt like it wasn't delivered properly. I don’t know. The agency, based on the resume, did have a position to offer. The qualifications were met, they had the work tenure and the experience the account was looking for. Why leave. Was it a communication issue? Looking for a new job is stressful, and we’re going to be anxious. But it’s a process, we have to take our time, take a deep breath and push through it. It’s hard but we can do it. Communication seems to be the hardest thing for us humans to conquer or overcome!  

Scenario two. Along the same lines but even more effort and time was put into this example. So, the candidate had applied online, had a phone interview and came in for a sit down interview. The recruiter visited with them, discussed the extensive equipment experience the applicant had and was quite impressed. The open position was explained to them, things like the hours and schedule, the pay, the job description, the safety policies, and expectations the customer had. The recruiter was so impressed that they reached out for an unscheduled PIT class to get them certified so they could start the following day. So, to recap, the prospect had about 30 minutes tied up on the phone interview, another 30 minutes of travel round trip, and about 45 minutes for the sit down. About 1.75 hours were tied up so far. The applicant was asked if a 9 a.m. class or a 1 p.m. class would work better for them. They opted for a 1 p.m. and it was scheduled. Well, 1p came, then 1:05p, then 1:10p. The trainer called and reported the individual as a NCNS. Now as a side note. The recruiter had reported to the facility manager and customer that, based on a successful PIT class, the position had been filled. It’s so important to communicate. I’m not sure what happened, but that's over two hours invested, and a job secured, just to walk away. I always think maybe the job just wasn't for them. Instead of burning our chances of getting another position with the agency, why not just be upfront and honest, if that was the reason. Do you think the applicant knew they weren't going to go to PIT or accept the job? Again, job hunting is stressful. But, now, this agency is off limits to us.  

And here’s another scenario. This is something we all need to realize. Whither we agree or disagree with it, its legal and your hiring agent will probably do it. Our social media. Let's be honest, our feeds are written for our friends. While you’re seeking employment, I urge you to clean it up. Locking it could even be worse for us. It's important to remember that our recruiter probably has over a hundred applicants to look at. If there's something on our page reflecting violence, alcohol, drugs, or even what we ourselves recognize as poor or questionable decision making, we will be skipped over. And if we’re honest, we know which post to hide for that week or two we’re looking for work. One guy told me that he posted nothing his grandmother couldn't see! If we’re going to leave something on there, we believe is funny, let's let the recruiter know its there, tell them I started to take it down, but I just think it's funny, it doesn't depict my beliefs. Communicate and share, I’ll leave it at that! 

What's another one, ok, I hear this one a lot. As we know, we’ve spent time on the job boards, did the phone interview, and had the face to face interview.  Our work history is a little light in the warehousing field. We’ve worked in retail and at fast foods and want a warehouse job. We’re here and are being offered a GL position within a 30 minute drive from where we live. We’re offered x number of dollars an hour. We state that we can’t work for less than x number of dollars an hour. Now, lets reflect for a minute. We replied to an ad that stated the job description and pay rate. We’ve invested our time in the phone interview, where we could have brought up any pay rate questions or statements, sit through the in person interview without asking about it and bring it up once the job is offered to us. So some thoughts on this scenario.  

One recruiter had shared with me, a story where a person was offered x dollars an hour but stated they needed at least this amount per hour. They were asked, and why do you believe it should pay that amount. Now this is rarely going to happen but its our chance to at least share something about our experiences, our equipment use, our past accomplishments, anything to justify our ask. This recruiters applicant answered that its a living wage.  

Remember this was a GL position, a really good get our foot in the door job with a large corporation. These jobs are not necessarily long term careers. They are positions that can give us experiences to work towards those long term careers. There not built and structured for that. Anyway, I’m getting lost with opinions there. So this individual turned down the job. Didn't accept it until something better came along, or accept it and show the managers what a great employee they were. They just turned it down. I don't know what their responsibilities were, like rent, food, etc, but they obviously didn't have to have a weekly paycheck. I think some better communication could have helped us here, or at least a little better planning.  

Theres three or four scenarios that came up this week and each goes along with a question we’ve had over the last several weeks.  

Seeking a job is tough work. Having a job is hard work and can be frustrating to keep it. We all, or most of us anyway, are going to have to work until we can retire. And it's up to us to make sure we have the resources to retire when that time comes. I feel we alone own that responsibility. 

When I hear things like we’ve talked about today I wonder if those applicants we’re really needing a job. I mean of course they needed work, they wouldn't have invested the time otherwise. But I mean did they need a job. Like food on the table, gas or car money, a cool or warm place to sleep, and just spending money? I don’t know. But I know, what I described earlier wasn't the way to handle it, and it burnt a bridge that we may not be able to cross again.  

Share your thoughts on Facebook or X by using @whseops or on Instagram at waocpodcast and you can always email us at [e-mail].  

I’d like to end by saying, whither you’re an applicant, production associate, lead or supervisor or an executive management team member, communicate, communicate, and communicate more. Tuesday, I had a young worker tell me that communication is growth. Let that sink in for a minute. Until next week please be safe as that's what leads to a long life.