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No, I'm not offering a career or "real job" but this is a really economically depressed area and I am looking for 1-2 experienced housepainters. I do mostly very high-end custom work, including decorative paint and plaster and (although I didn't put it in the ad) will pay $15-20 per hour which is darn good blue-collar pay for this area. I have one guy who has worked for me for almost seven years and I pay him the upper limit. This is actually quite a bit more than what most experienced painters around here make; $12-15 is about the norm.
I didn't include my phone number because I didn't want to be bothered at work with a bunch of calls and texts. After outlining the type of work and my expectations, I ended with:
Ad was posted this morning and I have had 13 emails in the last 12 hours or so.
Only two people actually *followed directions* and elaborated on experience and desired hourly wage.
One of them is coming to the current job tomorrow and we will see how it goes, the other sounded so good (but not that experienced) that I will probably try him out on an upcoming job.
Ten of the other 11 respondents sent me one-sentence emails along the lines of "Hi I'm Joe and I have 5 years experience, my number is XXXXXX."
The last respondent wanted me to refer work I couldn't take on to him, and he's not insured or licensed or anything so, no.
Make that 14 responses, another just came in. He at least followed directions!
I just posted this because I see threads on here about how scammy CL is (and indeed it can be) but from my limited experience in looking for people to work, respondents, at least in my field and based on one day's worth of responses, are not necessarily putting forth much effort.
It could be of course that folks looking for work/gigs on CL are so cautious about potential scams they're not willing to divulge much, and I'm not a big-name employer offering a career with benefits, so I do get that.
But in an area as economically depressed as this (biggest city in the county is Flint, MI) it does seem that if one is going to go to the trouble of responding to a CL ad, at least putting forth a little effort and doing what was asked in the ad would make sense, right?
If I'm off-base or my ad was poorly-worded, I'll take criticism too.
I have a feeling that some people are leery of answering a Craigslist ad. They may be afraid of putting too much personal information in an email to you because there are so many bogus job ads on there. Some of them are just being careful. Just like you have to be careful.
My point is that the more specific info and expectations you present upfront, the better the quality of the responses. The way your ad is, everyone from experienced (high rate) painters to handymen looking for temporary gigs will be tempted to reply.
I'm not sure what you mean by "fair hourly compensation" ... you offer what you can offer and it's up to the respondents to determine whether that's fair.
I have to agree with setting expectations. As someone who knows what they're worth (albeit, in a different industry), I am leery of ads that aren't upfront about rate. Speaking as an applicant, I probably wouldn't have responded to yours thinking you were going to lowball me. Usually when employers don't post a rate - it's because they're going to try to hire a highly skilled person for peanuts.
OTOH, if the advertised rate is higher, I know I better be on top of my game and prepared to show how I'm worth that.
Nothing is going to totally weed out the bad responses, this is why large employers have entire departments dedicated to finding and hiring the right people. It'll be hard to minimize the amount of noise, but you can maximize the amount of quality applicants.
Again thank you for all the responses and I agree that I was wrong to be coy about what I would pay; if I run another ad like this I will be more upfront and clear. I really do appreciate the feedback from y'all.
The painter who showed up today worked like a champ so we agreed on $15 an hour to start. If she gets through the "honeymoon period" and remains a hard and motivated worked a few weeks on, I will increase that.
Another bottom of the barrel job with no benefits.. and probably seasonal work. Congrats on being a chore creator OP, well deserved pat on the back by creating this thread.
Another bottom of the barrel job with no benefits.. and probably seasonal work. Congrats on being a chore creator OP, well deserved pat on the back by creating this thread.
Nonsense, I was totally upfront about everything (well except for being specific about hourly pay) in my ad. And if you read my subsequent posts I started one person at $15 an hour. This is hardly bottom of the barrel, especially around here.
Of course it's seasonal with no benefits. It's construction, in Michigan. Helloooo. I think pretty much everyone understands that by nature this is seasonal and capricious work. I even pointed this out in the ad I posted, even though it's evident. Like lawn mowing or snow removal. Of COURSE it's seasonal.
Would you rather I not have created a job (hopefully two) at all? How about the guy I've been hiring for almost seven years at (now, he started at $12) $20 an hour? Apart from some occasional side jobs, I'm his only source of income. And he just bought a house with what I pay him. Ask him if he could have done that with an $8 per hour retail or food service job (most of which have no benefits BTW.)
And if by "chore creator" well I suppose that's your call. I have been in the skilled trades for 35 years and don't consider it a "chore"; I enjoy what I do. Nobody is forcing anyone to do it...I had the ad up for about 12 hours and got 14 responses. No more a chore than any other sort of work.
Jeez Sharecropper but that was a really silly post. Sorry if I sound peevish, but seriously?
No, I'm not offering a career or "real job" but this is a really economically depressed area and I am looking for 1-2 experienced housepainters. I do mostly very high-end custom work, including decorative paint and plaster and (although I didn't put it in the ad) will pay $15-20 per hour which is darn good blue-collar pay for this area. I have one guy who has worked for me for almost seven years and I pay him the upper limit. This is actually quite a bit more than what most experienced painters around here make; $12-15 is about the norm.
I just posted this because I see threads on here about how scammy CL is (and indeed it can be) but from my limited experience in looking for people to work, respondents, at least in my field and based on one day's worth of responses, are not necessarily putting forth much effort.
I lost my job Friday... and got a new one today. I'm making the same money... ($60k base + OT) with better benefits. The job was posted on Craigslist Sunday evening... and it was obviously a non-scam. I emailed yesterday morning... got a reply... set up an interview for today... and got the offer. I start in the morning.
I didn't include my phone number because I didn't want to be bothered at work with a bunch of calls and texts. After outlining the type of work and my expectations, I ended with:
Ad was posted this morning and I have had 13 emails in the last 12 hours or so.
Only two people actually *followed directions* and elaborated on experience and desired hourly wage.
One of them is coming to the current job tomorrow and we will see how it goes, the other sounded so good (but not that experienced) that I will probably try him out on an upcoming job.
If I'm off-base or my ad was poorly-worded, I'll take criticism too.
If I were a painter ( I'm not ), and a good one, I would not reply to your ad.
Here's why. The request for hourly wages is an instant red flag to me, that this person wants to eliminate you if you want to be paid decently, and will use your expectation as a means of paying less than going rate.
Or, that's how I'd read it. I would NEVER respond to such an ad, even if it sounded like the perfect job for me, because my first impression is that whoever wrote it is trying to screw over the person being hired - it feels like a "bad faith" means of negotiation.
Many years ago, I did some contract work for someone... I priced it low and got the work. I eventually learned that the guy did that a lot. Anyone who charged too much was never told, he just didn't give them any more. I call it bad faith negotiation.
I have no idea what you INTEND to do, or how you INTEND to pay. It's just that this telegraphs an impression that you, as an employer, aren't on the straight up when it comes to paying your people.
Another bottom of the barrel job with no benefits.. and probably seasonal work. Congrats on being a chore creator OP, well deserved pat on the back by creating this thread.
Jeez... Painters KNOW their work is mostly seasonal.
I'm sorry you think that housepainting is a "chore job" and not worthy of any respect, it's a sign of ignorance, really.
As for the issue of people not reading and not following instructions, I once posted a Craigslist ad in the "resume / jobs wanted" section. NOT offering employment, but looking for employment.
About 75 people sent me their resumes.
LOL! That's hilarious.
I wrote about my experiences when I was looking for a dog sitter this past winter. It was very clear what the instructions were. I got so many replies that said, "I'm good with dogs, call me".
No.
I had one person that told me he was interested in making money but still having some kind of a life. Ok, so if one day you decide you would rather "have a life" than take care of my dogs, my dogs suffer? NO!
It went on and on.
Only two people understood what I was asking for and followed directions. They also went in to more detail and one shared her photos of HER dogs.
Guess who got the job?
Some others responded later, about a week or two later. I guess that's my fault, I should have pulled the ad down. I felt bad that I had to tell them no because a couple of them I think would have been good.
But out of all of the responses I got initially, only two responded with the information I was asking for. Pretty sad.
"Hi, I'm Jake! I really like dogs. Call me, my phone number is xxx-xxx-xxxx" is not good enough. I had specific questions. If they can't take the time to answer the ad properly, how can I be assured that they will take care of my dogs properly?
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