Personnel Files By Alex Baylon
LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR?
Finding Mr. Goodwrench Is More Like It!
W
hile it was a commercial success earning $22.5 on a production budget of $2.5 million and garnered a couple of Academy Award nominations, the 1977 movie Looking For Mr. Goodbar was a real bummer! A school teacher’s search for something more leads to a downward spiral of bad hookups and ultimately — spoiler alert — gets her killed. Because of her family and her job, Diane Keaton’s character has to lead a double life as she desperately tries to keep her career from colliding with her desires… That was 1977 and you have come a long way baby (for those of you old enough to remember Virginia Slims ad campaigns of that era). Employees no longer have to worry about leading a double life when they check out career opportunities and employers can post help wanted ads without panicking staff. And face it, with the Internet being what it is, there is no such thing as a secret any more. This story started a couple of months ago with a Google search to see if there are any companies/employers always looking for employees even if they don’t need them at that moment. The results were interesting. It is not a career killer to check out other opportunities!
68
If fact, there are a million articles about why employees should always be keeping an eye out for a new job. Giving reasons like pay, clarification, knowing your value, staying on top of interview skills and so on. However, I could not find a single article on employers always looking for employees even if they don’t need one. This doesn’t seem right to me. This got me thinking, wait a minute! This is a perfect case of “what’s good for the goose isn’t good for the gander.” Remember the days when you were concerned about your employer seeing your resume online? Well, those days are long gone with the advent of LinkedIn — the business social networking website — helped make it more acceptable. At MIJ we started working on changing stigma for employers in the motorcycle industry. Let’s talk about why this is so important first then we will get to the how. MIJ is in its 17th year in business and one of the things that has always remained consistent is the need for good mechanics. I think it’s safe to say it has always been our top job category and will continue to hold that spot strong for at least another 17 years. Women or men wanting to get into the powersports business can fast track their career and write their own ticket by learning to spin wrenches. One of the biggest struggles for MIJ is the expectations employers have when posting a “help wanted” ad for techs. The vast majority of employers posting on MIJ assume they will be flooded with perfect Master Technicians and “A” Level candidates. Talk about looking for Mr. Goodbar! I always say that request is like trying to find your soulmate on Match.com in 30 days or less. Actually, I believe the Match.Com odds are in your favor more than hooking up with a dream tech! Finding experienced employees that meet your needs and criteria, specific to the brands you carry is never an easy task. This is why recruiters make thousands of dollars searching for them. So why isn’t it okay for employers / dealers to always be looking, given the near astronomical odds of finding the perfect tech? And if you do have an A-level Master tech on the team, wouldn’t two or three be even better? This perception that it is bad to be looking is what we set out to change with MIJ. We encourage all dealers to always be looking! Whether you are looking for mechanics, sales, or parts people, we offer services to allow you to always be looking. When employees decide to give their 2 weeks notice, employers should have a backup file of potential candidates. Certain job titles are easier to fill depending on the experience required. However, getting a replacement employee like a master tech could take many months to find the right person. For that reason, I’m recommending and encouraging employers and especially motorcycle dealerships to always be looking.
