All the names of the people and organizations have been changed to protect the innocent for this fictional HR tale, inspired by true stories.
So it’s me Eric, 38 years old, with my “have an engineering degree will travel” attitude, and I’m about to put it to the test. In my case “must travel” is a more appropriate term for this career move, one made primarily for maintaining marital harmony.
Anyway, I’m sitting outside Bob Smith’s office, the harried plant owner at his Acme Industrial Minerals operation (1 of 6). I’m still not really over the shock of just how fast Dan at Resource Erectors got me into this seat for a six-figure interview. And I’m not the only one. Check out the testimonials from actual Resource Erectors professionals at all levels to see what candidate services a heavy industry professional can expect from Resource Erectors.
My wife Emily had just earned herself a major promotion up to the C-suite at her company. It’s an amazingly lucrative offer we just couldn’t refuse, but one that came wrapped up with a transfer to Oklahoma. We were in North Carolina at the time.
There was no way Emily could or should refuse such a career crowning position, a lofty goal that she’d worked to achieve for 15 years now. So for me, It was time to head west, young man. Once the decision was made there was just one thing to do to set it all in motion.
Better call Resource Erectors.
“Engineers can work anywhere, right?”
I’d often said that very thing when my also-an-engineer wife Emily had the opportunity to make what Dan over at Resource Erectors calls “a strategic career move up the Heavy Industry ladder”. Honestly, I was glad to get the motivational kick in the butt Emily’s C-suite promotion provided to get out of my own career rut.
We were comfortable, but I was getting tired of being the universal “go-to-guy” at work with only scheduled incremental pay raises that were not amounting to much in the way of any kind of incentive to stay put. Not with record inflation to deal with. It’s no wonder so many engineers are on the move, crossing industries left and right lately.
Moving up the career ladder? My job was beginning to feel like a slow-motion escalator. I’d heed my dear old Dad’s sage advice and leave the place better than I found it. Then I’d check the Resource Erectors job board for heavy industry job opportunities in Oklahoma. Honestly, I thought it was a long shot, but Moving Day for Emily was closing in fast.
Sure enough, good old Dan, the heavy industry professionals connection man for decades now, had positions there in Oklahoma, along with Texas, Missouri, Georgia, California, Florida, Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, Illinois, Nevada, and Iowa. Figuratively “ across the board” as Dan says.
Sometimes career moves are more about geography and domestic bliss than anything else. But racking up a hefty salary bump along the way can usually be a deal maker in any hiring situation.
The Match Made in HR Heaven
Bob Jones, Dan’s corporate client at Acme Industrial Minerals in Oklahoma is offering well above six figures to start and bonuses, benefits, and compensation to be determined today. But I’m confident going in for negotiations.
Bob was all business during the initial phone screening, and Dan wouldn’t waste his clients’ time by sending them under or over-qualified candidates. That’s why over 85% of Resource Erectors placed professionals are still working for the companies where Dan matched them up over 5 years later and counting.
I’ve already seen about 6 trouble spots around Bob’s surface operation here, where profit is lying on the ground or under the belts. But the team is chugging out a decent tonnage of (insert any industrial mineral here). So it’s not like I’m walking into a total disaster zone, cleaning up the mess after the disruptions of a bad hire on Bob’s part.
After all Acme Industrial Minerals is also a Resource Erector’s client. In their case, the highly competent plant manager retired, after staying on far longer than he’d planned. It’s a pretty common scenario now as the vast wave of baby boomers with the production savvy gained from decades of heavy industry experience reach their sunset years.
On top of the accumulating high cost of vacancies in critical positions in his organization, (essential vacancies such as the plant manager job I’m up for), Bob is also apparently dealing with the usual SNAFUs masquerading as “issues and challenges” in the year known as Catch 2022. Judging by the one side of the phone conversation I can hear blasting out the open office door, that is.
Plant owner Bob definitely has the voice of command as he deals with the boots-on-the-ground battle to keep on cranking out the industrial minerals needed to supply unprecedented global demand in 2022.
“What do you mean we’ve got Lipo charging problems? And just what does that have to do with the pneumatic gear system? The parts are still back-ordered, yeah, so what else is new? Maybe we should just switch back to a mechanical system with linkages.” I smile quietly to myself out in the waiting room chair.
Been there, done that. Electric forklift or hauler problems I’m guessing? I’m thinking the federal pressure to go green with EV equipment to “address the climate crisis” and “Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability” is alive and well in Oklahoma just as it is everywhere else.
Bob’s tirade on the phone continues. Now it sounds like he’s got a fleet management problem.
“No, no! 113 bucks a gallon is out of the question, don’t even think about it. Go with the 10% lower grade stuff for 30 bucks.” I’m thinking maybe I’ve been out of the loop on skyrocketing industrial lubricant costs for too long.
“Well of course the parts fit sucks, everything for the original American model is made in China now. When they’re not shut down by their own government that is. That’s why we get our electronics from Taiwan. Yeah, just get us one good cabin top if you can and the guys in the fab shop will make it fit. I want everything 100% and ready to go by Sunday.”
Now I’m thinking there’s a dozer that needs repair and worse. The plant must be going full steam 24/7, and there may not be such a thing as TGIF at Acme Industrial Minerals anytime soon if they’re firing up plant operations on a Sunday. That’s OK, I’m up for it.
“Sorry to keep you waiting young man”, comes a jovial holler out the door.
I catch a glimpse of harried Bob the plant owner, as he pockets his phone and waves me in with a red-faced smile. I expect that he’s eager to meet one of Resource Erectors’ top qualified potential plant managers, a go-to-guy like me, one on whom he can dump all of those all-too-common supply chain problems he’s dealing with and take some of the load off his weary shoulders.
And as I walk through the office door, at last, there on Bob’s huge oak desk, is an equally huge scale model airplane attempting to replicate a V-tail Beechcraft Bonanza, with the retractable landing gear works hanging haphazardly out of it. I know the model because I built one myself from a kit years ago in college and happened to mention it as an interest on my Resource Erectors resume.
“You must be Eric! So how about $165k to start, 4 weeks paid vacation, a generous 401K setup and we’ll talk about benchmarks and bonuses later. Welcome aboard.” All the while Bob is pumping my hand as he walks me closer to the half-gutted Bonanza airplane model.
“ So you say you built this particular scale Bonanza plane in college? Do you still fly the radio control stuff?”
Bob’s face lit up when I told him I had my own little 800mm electric RC Corsair ready to fly in the car and never leave home without it. It’s a great way to blow off some steam at lunch and on the weekends. Then we got into some of the benefits of working for Bob’s operation.
“You know we have our own flying spot right here on site? We’ll head over there this afternoon. Now, what exactly did you do about these infernal pneumatic nose gear retract doors jamming up? And how the heck did you get those windows to fit in the cabin without any big gaps? Can you believe glow fuel with 10% nitro is going for 110 a gallon? But if you go with electric power you need a stockpile of charged lipo packs just for an afternoon of flying.”
So much for OPEX stress.
It was a Resource Erectors match made in heaven. And by the way, there is a TGIF at Acme Industrial Minerals now. The plant is cranking out at optimized production and we take most weekends off. The only time a dozer runs on Saturday around here is to grade us a proper runway pointing into the Oklahoma wind that races across our planes.
It really is an HR match made in heaven.
About Resource Erectors
It’s always a good time to be an engineer at Resource Erectors, where our industry-leading heavy industry companies know that their human assets are their most valuable assets.
If you’re a heavy industry company building your production dream team or when you’re looking to make your own move up the career ladder as a top qualified professional in related fields such as sales, procurement, safety, process engineering, construction, bulk materials and more… don’t hesitate to contact Dan at Resource Erectors today so we can all get to work.
And a healthy amount of play time to go with it.
