December 12, 2024 • 31 mins
Discover the secret to not just filling positions but bringing joy to the hiring process. Join industry veterans John Kowalczyk, Keith Jeremiah, and Jordan Ringwald as they share their journey into the modular construction industry's world of recruitment. We explore how their company, Risis Talent Partners, is transforming the recruitment landscape with humor and human connection. Together, they uncover the market trends and candidate expectations that are shaping the future of modular construction and discuss strategies to enhance employer branding and attract top talent.
Keith Jeremiah then sheds light on his experience as part of MBI's Workforce and Professional Development Committee. He discusses the goals of the group and the potential of the MBI Learning Center’s new online courses designed to both attract fresh talent and upskill current employees.
Whether you're in construction or recruitment, this conversation offers a comprehensive look at how to stand out in this dynamic industry.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and welcome to Inside Modular, the podcast of
commercial modular constructionbrought to you by the Modular
Building Institute.
Welcome everyone.
My name is John McMullen.
I'm the marketing director hereat MBI.
Today I'm joined by JohnKowalczyk, keith Jeremiah and
Jordan Ringwald of Rice's TalentPartners.
John Keith and Jordan are hereto talk about how to find the
(00:24):
best candidates to fillpositions within the modular
construction industry.
John Keith, jordan welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hey, john, thanks for having us, john good to be here
my pleasure, so let's dive in.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Guys, can you tell me about yourselves, what are each
of your backgrounds, and howdid Rice's Talent Partners come
to be?
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Sure I can kick this off.
So this is Jordan.
I live in beautiful Syracuse,new York, where we experience
all four seasons sometimes in asingle day.
I've spent the last 15 yearsrecruiting, starting as an
agency recruiter, then movedinto the corporate recruiting
world for a large modularcompany.
That's where I met John andKeith.
(01:04):
It's been full circle back toagency recruiting, starting our
own company three and a halfyears ago.
But recruiting has been apassion of mine since college Go
Tigers, when my young18-year-old self had no idea
what I wanted to do.
When I grew up, I did some jobshadowing and my aunt was an HR
director.
She had three interviews linedup that day and I job shadowed
(01:27):
her.
And as soon as I learned thatyou could make a living talking
to people, I went all in onrecruiting.
So I'm grateful every day thatI can make a living doing what I
love with people I enjoyworking with.
I'll kick it over to Keith next.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Hi, this is Keith, Thanks, Jordan, and yeah, my
intro is I've been in therecruiting game now for over 15
years.
I moved down to Maryland,started at Aerotech and then
worked at a large modularprovider for over 11 years, had
different responsibilities,started their recruiting
(02:03):
function right out of the gate,then moved into HR and then
moved into more organizationalperformance.
That included talentacquisition.
You know love recruiting, lovebringing in good talent and love
working in the modular industry, Originally from Pennsylvania,
and I'm glad that I have anopportunity to work with John
(02:25):
and Jordan on a daily basis.
I also was able to, luckyenough, get my MBA in 2016 from
the University of Maryland andbeen able to put some of that to
use as we continue to grow outRice's Talent Partners All right
.
Speaker 4 (02:41):
And then I'm, john, happy to be here.
So my background is I startedout my career as an Air Force
intelligence officer At onepoint.
I knew stuff I couldn't tellyou, but I've forgotten all
about it, so don't try and ask.
I was an HR leader for a coupleof different companies.
(03:02):
The last company was a largemodular provider where I was
fortunate enough to meet Keithand Jordan.
We were on the same team andI'd love to tell a little story
about how we got this venturestarted.
So, as many people know, a lotof great ideas, some bad ideas,
start in a bar, and the idea forRice's Talent Partners started
(03:23):
in a bar.
So we had a conversation.
We realized we've been on thesame HR team for six years.
We've been working in themodular industry.
We know this industry reallywell and we think if we started
our own venture we could doreally well helping companies
across the industry and beyond.
So, started in a bar.
Eventually we made it a realityto break off and do our own
(03:43):
thing, and we'll tell you, john,we've been successful because
our vision is really simple it'sto bring joy to our clients.
That far exceeds recruiting.
So, yes, we fill roles,important roles.
That's how we make money.
But ultimately we just want topartner with good people, good
companies, and help them withtheir talent challenges.
(04:04):
And the last point I'll make isRISIS, by the way, and you
pronounced it right, john.
I appreciate it.
It's not RISIS.
It's not RISIS.
It's RISIS.
And we even put the long Isymbol over the I, but no one
pays attention to that, so theymess it up a lot, but anyway,
it's RISIS.
Risis is Latin for laughter,and we chose laughter because
(04:24):
really we believe it's thepurest form of human connection.
When you're laughing withsomeone, you're connected with
them, you keep things inperspective.
So through our careers we'vekind of worked with our partners
and clients through laughter.
We enjoy each other's companies, we laugh a lot.
So we believe when we connectwith our clients through
(04:44):
laughter, we keep their problemsin perspective and we help them
with their challenges right.
So we're excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Well, thank you so much.
I love that little story aboutthe meaning of RISIS.
I think that's a fantastic namefor a company.
I connect with that, so kudosto you.
Clearly, each of you, you havedeep roots in the modular
building industry.
Tell me a little bit more aboutwhat RISIS does and how you're
leveraging all your collectiveexperience now.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Thanks, john.
Yeah, we're excited to be here.
We appreciate this opportunityand I'll tell you just to
describe our company and thenI'll talk about how we leverage
our experience.
Simply put, we're a directplacement recruiting and HR
consulting firm, meaning we'llpartner with companies to
recruit the best talent fortheir openings and, with our
experience as part of that work,to fill positions.
We also provide much more inthe way of overall talent and HR
(05:35):
consulting.
So if you hire us to look forsomeone in the market, we'll
tell you, as we're searching forthe best candidates, what we're
seeing in the market where thetalent is, what are the
candidates' pay expectations,what types of opportunities
they're seeking.
So we want our clients reallyto consider them as consider us
as their resident experts forall things talent, not just
(05:57):
people who are here to fill openpositions.
But we're particularly excitedfor this podcast.
I mean and, john, we do a lotof podcasts.
I don't know if you've heard ofJoe Rogan, I have Pretty cool
but this podcast is moreimportant because we, unlike any
other firm, have come directlyout of the modular industry.
So when we started thisbusiness, we did our research
(06:19):
and there are about 20,000recruiting firms in the US.
But what makes us different isthat we have a combined 22 years
of doing this kind of work forthe modular industry directly.
So we're excited to bring thatexperience to bear for our
clients.
And in addition to fill-inroles, we've done things like
strategic talent planning,employee communications and
(06:41):
change management training anddevelopment, employee
communications and changemanagement, training and
development.
So we have a full suite of HRconsulting and talent consulting
that we can bring to thispartnership in addition to
filling roles.
So together we bring thatexperience to bear and we're
excited to be able to deliverthat as much as possible.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Well, I appreciate that, John.
I think you came up with a newtagline for the podcast it's
more important than Joe RoganLove it.
So why has your combinedexperience been so important?
What difference does it makewhen you're working with your
clients?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
I'll take this one.
As you heard during our intros,we all came from different
paths and perspectives.
We're all very different.
We complement each other'sskill sets.
He's really our big picture guy.
He dreams in spreadsheets.
John's our negotiator, who cancharm anyone.
I'm kind of the organized chaoskeeping our partners happy.
(07:31):
But there is one unifier thatwe all share and it's a common
approach to how we connect withand put our clients first, and
that's really formed around thisidea of laughter.
So we'll mention that quite abit through this podcast.
But recruiting is absolutely arelationship game.
You need to gain trust first,then build credibility by
delivering results.
(07:52):
We think if you get that right,it's a winning formula for a
long-term, mutually beneficialpartnership.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Very good.
How do you work with clients?
I'm guessing they approach youwith a need and then they, you
know what's the process a lot ofthem have been through our
(08:25):
network.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Either they knew us already or we were referred to
them through our connections.
Many have approached usdirectly based on referrals, or
we've delivered for them in thepast.
It starts with clients having aneed for talent as well as a
partner to help them find talent.
So many of our clients don'thave an internal recruiting
resource.
They rely on us to fill thatgap.
(08:46):
In other instances, maybe theydo have an internal recruiting
team.
However, they need additionalsupport above and beyond what
their team can provide.
So our role is to do the heavylifting in recruiting, which can
be daunting and time consumingfor an organization, and then
our clients can place theirenergy and focus on what makes
(09:07):
their business successful.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Tell me about the process of working with a client
.
How do you get started, whatinformation are you after and
what questions do clients oftenhave for you?
Speaker 3 (09:19):
That's a good question, john.
This is Keith here.
You know, when we think aboutour recruiting approach, we look
at layers to kind of exceedexpectations from our customers
and there really isn't a uniqueapproach for the modular
industry.
I mean, really all searches,all GERD searchers, start off
with listening and it's gettingon the phone with our customers
and understanding their culture,their talent needs and the
(09:40):
challenges that they're facingas a business with our customers
and understanding their culture, their talent needs and the
challenges that they're facingas a business.
And then, once we're able to dothat and build a connection,
hopefully through laughter, wetruly try to understand their
need and expectations and wecreate an approach that will
hopefully exceed the client'sexpectations.
Our clients usually ask us tofind how we find our talent and
(10:02):
our approach.
Really it centers around thatconversation and then we go to
market, we use different tools,we use our network, we use our
connections and we're justreally persistent and really try
to drive our approach to makesure that we're finding talent
that is passive, that ourclients are unable to find,
because if we're able to findgood talent for our clients,
(10:23):
then they ultimately can growand we can continue to partner
with them and hopefully be asmall part of their success.
Other questions that come up ishow do we handle pay or fees?
And the simple answer there iswe're very flexible and we
handle the process.
We're willing to fill positions,you know, kind of on a more of
(10:46):
a direct placement terms, andthen we ultimately look at what
the market is, what the positionis, and then ultimately what
the guarantee period is.
And then, additionally, with theguarantee, we do it in two
different ways.
We either do a refund or we doa free replacement, and that
really depends on what kind ofthe contract is, what makes
sense for the customer, what therole is.
(11:07):
And then I guess the lastcouple of things I'd say about
it is we really want to be anextension of their team, be a
client ambassador and sell theircompany.
So we really need to understandthe company, to be an extension
.
And those are the partnershipsthat we have successfully put in
place with eight modularclients.
Now we feel like part of theirfamily and we hope to be able to
(11:29):
do that with more MBI membersin the future, because there's
just a true passion for allthree of us across the modular
space to continue to help growthis space and continue to bring
success and hopefully attractgreat talent as we continue to
do that.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
The industry has so many different opportunities,
you know, from the trades todesign, professionals to
business development.
How do you start when you'relooking to fill a particular
position?
Speaker 4 (11:59):
Good question, john.
So we have a broad range ofrecruiting capability.
We like to say we recruit fromthe shop floor to the boardroom
and when we set out we built ourcompany focusing on management
level roles.
But the foundation of ourbusiness and truly the reason
why we're here speaking to youtoday, is that we jumped right
into recruiting unskilled laborlike warehousing machine
(12:22):
operators.
We progressed to skilled labor,more technicians for our first
client and then it kind of tookoff from there.
So no job is really too big ortoo small for us.
We have quite a range.
But, as we said before, thewhole process starts by really
understanding the hiring profilewe're seeking.
Once we know that, we canconduct significant proactive
outreach, identify the rightcandidates.
(12:44):
Many of them are passive,they're happy in their jobs, but
our job is to convince them tothink about other opportunities
and sell our opportunities tothem.
And then we connect with themand see if we can get them hired
with our client.
But we typically start withcandidates in our immediate
network which we've built out inthe module industry over the
last 14 years.
And if people in our immediatenetwork which we've built out in
the module industry over thelast 14 years, and if people in
(13:06):
our network aren't fit for aparticular role, we'll ask them
for referrals candidates thatmay be a fit.
And then we'll also supplementthat network, that significant
network connections, by using arange of technology solutions to
really find and connect withthe right candidates that fit
that profile that the company isseeking to fill.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Are there any next steps for finding the right
candidate?
Speaker 2 (13:28):
In the modular industry in particular, we rely
heavily on our network.
So once we connect with acandidate who's typically
someone we know or was referredto us we have a thorough
conversation, evaluate theirskill sets through phone and
then a video to make surethey're interested, qualified
and, of course, within thecompensation range that our
(13:49):
client is willing to pay.
So if all of that is aligned,we'll send the candidate's
resume, an executive summary ofthe candidate's strengths, for
our client's review and if theylike what they see, we can then
facilitate the interview processand really manage our
candidates through the entireoffer and onboarding stage.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
As a recruiting and HR agency, I'm curious what
trends you're seeing amongstyour modular industry clients.
You said you had severalearlier in the conversation.
Are there any common needs thatyou're seeing?
Is hiring picking up?
Is it slowing down?
What are're seeing?
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Is hiring picking up?
Is it slowing down?
What are you seeing?
Yeah, john, you know, in ourexperience in the past year our
modular clients the hiring hasremained steady and it really
has, you know, depended upon youknow the needs and kind of
turnover.
But we just had dinner with oneof our modular clients
yesterday and we're reallyexcited to hear that they're
extremely bullish.
(14:46):
They in terms of 2025, seemslike the work is there.
They have a large amount ofsubcontractors there to support
their in-house.
So that seems a very good sign.
And I know they said thatthey've been able to continue to
look at you know ways to youknow continue to grow and
(15:06):
develop the modular business.
So that's, that's been music toour ears.
The role is that we continue tokind of get across the board.
It's really comes around salesand it seems like project
managers slash operationsmanagers, because I think where
we come into play for a lot ofthese modular providers are, you
know, companies need the rightpeople to bring in more work and
(15:29):
then, once they bring that workin, they need the right people
to manage the employee base anddeliver for the customer.
And I feel like that is oursweet spot when it comes to
modular.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
It's just really out there in the field helping our
modular clients really find theright people to deliver for the
In your experience, is thereanything that manufacturers or
contractors can do to get out infront of potential employees
and help attract the candidatesthat they want?
Speaker 2 (15:59):
Other than working with us.
Is there else?
Okay?
Well, when you do that, weobviously act as your employer
ambassador and we proactivelyspread the word to targeted
audiences about opportunitiesyour company is presenting.
But really, in addition to that, we recommend a heavy and
active presence on LinkedIn.
(16:19):
Everyone probably knows it'sthe largest professional
employment network on the planet.
So showing your accomplishmentsand you know your culture can
really help create interestamongst the right people to join
your company.
Employer branding is reallyimportant, especially in this
day and age.
You know everyone's looking onGoogle to see how your company
(16:40):
is rated.
So Glassdoor in particular.
I mean, have you ever ate at arestaurant with a two-star
review?
The concept with Glassdoor issimilar.
If your Glassdoor rating ispoor, many candidates won't even
entertain an interview with youor respond to us as recruiters.
So definitely recommendeveryone listening to this to
take a look at your companyGlassdoor rating and, you know,
(17:03):
ask yourself does it accuratelyreflect your company culture?
And if not, there's definitelysteps you can take and RISIS can
certainly help with that toimprove your rating.
We've done that for otherclients.
It's kind of the beyondrecruiting aspect that we
mentioned.
Other things you can do you canalso take, you know, creating a
(17:26):
company website that's jobseeker friendly.
So does it show your jobopenings?
Are they easy to find and applyfor?
Is your application processsimple Beyond that, once
candidates start coming in, isyour interview process concise?
Everyone knows post-COVIDthere's many more job openings
(17:47):
and there are qualifiedcandidates to fill them, and
that will continue for theforeseeable future.
So the more efficient you arewith your interview and hiring
process, the better chance youhave at beating out competition.
Companies that are slow ontheir candidate feedback or
their interview process candefinitely lose out on really
qualified job seekers.
(18:08):
I believe it was Google.
They published the golden rulefor interviewing.
So what they said after a lotof research is after four
interview steps, candidatesexperience diminishing, return
on their candidate experience,so kind of all of that.
Obviously we recommend keepingyour professional networks fresh
, staying active and industryfocused associations like MBI,
(18:30):
and the best hiring is reallydone through networking.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Keith, I'm going to switch gears here for a second.
You are a member of MBI'sWorkforce and Professional
Development Committee.
Thank you very much, and I waswondering what you could tell me
about the work that you'redoing as part of that group.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
Yeah, no, I'd love to and I'm honored to be part of
it.
I got to meet Heather earlierthis year at WAM and I expressed
interest and she asked me to beon it.
When I came on board it was inthe spring and there was already
a lot of work done by Heatherand her team and what I've kind
(19:09):
of picked up is Heatherconducted a survey in the fall
of 2023.
And from that she was able toidentify multiple challenges for
the modular industry that wereally wanted to focus on, and
that was attracting new workersin both labor and trade roles,
and many professionals are achallenge also for MBI members.
(19:31):
So supply shortage and alsojust getting the modular name
out there some more.
The second key find from thatsurvey was training, for both
onboarding new workers andprofessional development are
needs MBI members believe MBIcan help facilitate.
So that's kind of the rolemembers believe mbi can help
(19:53):
facilitate.
So that's kind of the role.
That was the kind of missionthat I kind of came into and
played a very, very small partin so far.
But so far year one we reallywanted to focus on developing
careers in modular campaign andthat's launching the lms system
that heather has spearheaded fora member, for training,
exploring workforcedevelopmental needs, especially
(20:15):
in trades.
It's kind of where we're kindof going.
The first course, proud toannounce, is going to be
launched soon, if it has notalready been launched, but it's
the introduction to commercialmodular construction and it's a
great tool and I think it'sreally cool, not just for people
that are doing it day to day.
But when I was in the modularindustry, it wasn't until I
(20:37):
really understood what themodular industry was, by walking
the yard, seeing the fleet,seeing what people do day in and
day out, that I reallyunderstood what the mission is
as a corporate employee and whatI was trying to do.
So I think we're not all ableto travel, but we all could
probably take a look at thiscourse and really understand
what we do as modular providers.
(20:58):
So I'm really excited aboutthat.
And, additionally, we've beenreally kicking around how to
incorporate workforcedevelopment into WAM.
Is it its own track, is itintegrated in other tracks?
And we're getting close.
We're not sure it's ready to beits own track yet in terms of
(21:22):
really just having specificcontent to workforce development
for all the different sessions.
So what we're going to reallytry to focus on this year going
into WAM is just reallyintegrating workforce
development as much as possibleinto other training sessions and
just really just talking aboutit more, because, at the end of
(21:42):
the day, I think most providers,most companies, most members of
MBI would agree that our youknow, our people are our biggest
assets and we just need tocontinue to develop them,
especially as we have shortages.
So that's what we're workingwith on workforce development.
It's been a great group.
I've learned a lot and everyoneis extremely passionate, so
(22:05):
it's been wonderful.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Well, I appreciate it , keith, and yes, we just
launched the MBI Learning Center.
Last week, we sent out a bunchof emails inviting people to
join the first course.
The Introduction to CommercialModular Construction is live now
, so thank you for all yourcontributions to that.
Speaking of and I'll takeadvantage of you being here what
(22:27):
potential do you see for theonline learning platform that
MBI just launched amongemployers who are seeking, you
know, not only to bringcandidates in and new employees
in, but for the employees thatthey've got?
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Well, that's really good.
I mean, you think about that,right?
You know, online learningplatform.
It's kind of a buzzword.
It's been now for about 10, 15years.
You need to have online, needto have online, and it's really
powerful though, because I thinkwe all learn differently and
have different ways of kind ofgathering that information, and
(23:01):
I kind of broke it down intofive different areas.
So it's first, I think it's theworkforce development, right.
I mean, that's really whatwe're trying to do there, and
the platform can address themodular constructions industry
talent shortages by offeringaccessible training for new
employees and existing staff.
I think that's where it firststarts.
It's also scalable.
You know, we can continue toadd more courses for new hires,
(23:22):
upskill current workers, helpmembers continue to kind of that
ongoing learning process.
I think the second out of thefive areas I kind of identified
was member engagement andretention.
By offering educational contentand certifications, we keep
people active in MBI, whichallows us to continue to kind of
(23:43):
learn, grow together as anindustry, and it also helps us
prioritize.
Our members have satisfactionand could become a key resource
for companies seeking to improvetheir workforce capabilities.
So I think the more we can talkabout it, the more powerful it
becomes.
We can also start collaboratingwith academic institutions, so
(24:05):
I think we can integrate withuniversities and students, and
what that means is we can startbridging the gap.
When we have kids that are inuniversities or community
colleges, like here's, modularhave you thought about that?
How can we start bringing inpeople earlier in their career
um, you know, as we have, andmaybe an older population that
is ultimately kind of retiringfrom modular, how can we bring
(24:27):
in new talent?
Uh, fourth area, I think, isrevenue potential and at the end
of the day, I think it is anopportunity for us to kind of
continue to grow the resourceswe can have and bring in revenue
from an MBI perspective, and Ithink it can also help with a
course catalog.
We can start thinking aboutways to advance topics in terms
of certifications,micro-credentials, and really
(24:50):
start bringing up the modularclient, a modular industry, to
be there with some otherindustries.
I mean, how cool would it besomeday if we had like a
certification where people wouldstudy and take a test for a
modular certification.
I think that'd be pretty cool.
And I think the last one is thisstandardization.
And then I think I've learnedso much since the time that I've
(25:11):
been involved with MBI is likehow many good best practices are
out there right now.
Our clients, our companies andall that are really doing a lot
of good things and I think if wecould start sharing some of
those, it would really help theindustry overall and it would
allow the industry to continueto grow and gain more market
share.
So I think those are the fivemain areas, but I'm really
(25:34):
excited and it's been a reallycool journey to see.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
What advice?
And I don't want to take awayclients from you guys at all,
but I feel like I should ask forthose who perhaps aren't ready
or aren't able to hire you guyswhat advice would you give
anyone listening to about how tobest interview candidates to
see if they're a good fit fortheir own company?
Are there any best practicesthat you can offer other people?
Speaker 2 (25:59):
You want us to share all our secrets.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Not all your secrets, maybe just one.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Okay, maybe some, I think.
To simplify it, just trust yourgut.
The way you do that, though, isfirst you need to understand
what you're seeking in an idealcandidate, so considering the
job requirements but as well asthe personality traits and
behaviors that will align withyour company culture.
So many companies kind ofoverlook that critical piece of
(26:23):
the culture fit.
While industry experience isgreat, we always recommend
opening up your requirements tohire, like the best athlete,
candidates who may not have thespecific modular experience
you're seeking.
We see many clients do adisservice to themselves by
being too narrow on theirexperience requirements and then
missing out on talent fromoutside the industry who could
(26:46):
maybe quickly learn the industryand make an immediate positive
impact.
When you are interviewing, it'salways best to get the candidate
to talk more than you.
They should be talking about70% of the time.
To get them talking, werecommend open-ended,
behavioral-based interviewquestions, so recommend looking
(27:07):
up.
The STAR method stands forSituation Task, action and
result, so asking the candidatesabout their past experience and
situations, how they handledthem, what the outcomes were.
This will give you a good senseof both their experience and
how they operate and think.
What's that old saying whensomeone shows you who they are,
(27:27):
believe them.
Same thing goes forinterviewing, but outside of
your core star interviewquestions, I think, keeping it
light and conversational so youcan get a good sense of how they
communicate and operate andwhat's their true motivation for
wanting to work for yourcompany.
That's really key tounderstanding whether they're a
good culture fit.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Do you guys have an outlook for 2025 in terms of
hiring and the demand for jobswithin the industry?
Are there any trends you seecontinuing into next year?
Speaker 4 (27:57):
around the country hopefully more in 2025.
But hirings remain strongthroughout 2024.
And it's really ranged acrossall the roles that we have
experienced working in VP, sales, ops, back office, service
(28:22):
techs so it's been strong andthis really makes us bullish for
2025.
As Keith was saying earlier, aswe visited one of our current
clients, hire remains strongthrough Q4.
So we think that'll lead into2025.
And your audience knows as wellas we do.
While the industry hasexperienced a lot of
consolidation in the past fewyears, we know the modular
(28:45):
customer base remains large anddiverse and is in need of
continuous products and servicesfrom a variety of local and
national level firms.
So, especially as the macroeconomy is hopefully going to
rebound here, really bullishabout strong hiring throughout
2025.
And really that's where we comein.
We want to make sure each ofour partners is enabled, with
(29:08):
the right talent, to deliver fortheir current workload as well
as their future workload.
And I'll just end with this,john.
While we do serve multipleindustries in our business,
modular really remains theclosest to our heart.
I mean not only because ourroots are there, but because the
industry is filled with good,smart salt of the earth, people
(29:28):
who know how to get things done,and they take pride in what
they do every day, and that'sreally special to us.
So it's also our hope thatsomeday one of our clients will
provide us with free modularspace.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
So that's something to look forward to Always
something to look forward to.
Keith mentioned this earlier.
I'll end with this.
He was able to meet Heather atthe 2024 World of Modular WOM.
Can we look forward to seeingyou guys in Las Vegas in April
for the 2025 World of Modular?
Speaker 4 (29:56):
John, I'm not sure you and everyone else will be
looking forward to it, but yes,we'll be there.
I'll look forward to it, if noone else.
I'll be honest, though, andthis is where it's a little
sensitive it was a little touchand go on the decision to go to
Vegas, because Jordan has beenbanned from most casinos in the
state of Nevada.
He's been categorized as what'scalled an advantage player.
(30:16):
I guess it has something to dowith counting cards, but we're
going to make it work.
We'll keep her out of thecasinos and you know our goal,
John, is really to become apremier talent partner for the
modular industry.
So we're going to engage inefforts like this the World of
Modular, the WorkforceDevelopment Committee and we're
really thankful for you invitingus on this podcast to tell our
(30:37):
story.
So we'll be there.
First round is on us.
Rounds maybe two to five, John,on you.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
If we're in a bar, all good decisions are good in a
bar right.
Speaker 4 (30:47):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
Well done Well.
Thank you guys so much.
I really appreciate your timetoday.
John Keith Jordan, thank you somuch, and I really look forward
to meeting you all in Vegascome April.
Thank you, john.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
Look forward to it.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
My name is John McMullen and this has been
another episode of InsideModular, the podcast of
commercial modular construction.
Until next time.
Hello and welcome to Inside Modular, the podcast of
commercial modular constructionbrought to you by the Modular
Building Institute.
Welcome everyone.
My name is John McMullen.
I'm the marketing director hereat MBI.
Today I'm joined by JohnKowalczyk, keith Jeremiah and
Jordan Ringwald of Rice's TalentPartners.
John Keith and Jordan are hereto talk about how to find the
(00:24):
best candidates to fillpositions within the modular
construction industry.
John Keith, jordan welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hey, john, thanks for having us, john good to be here
my pleasure, so let's dive in.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Guys, can you tell me about yourselves, what are each
of your backgrounds, and howdid Rice's Talent Partners come
to be?
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Sure I can kick this off.
So this is Jordan.
I live in beautiful Syracuse,new York, where we experience
all four seasons sometimes in asingle day.
I've spent the last 15 yearsrecruiting, starting as an
agency recruiter, then movedinto the corporate recruiting
world for a large modularcompany.
That's where I met John andKeith.
(01:04):
It's been full circle back toagency recruiting, starting our
own company three and a halfyears ago.
But recruiting has been apassion of mine since college Go
Tigers, when my young18-year-old self had no idea
what I wanted to do.
When I grew up, I did some jobshadowing and my aunt was an HR
director.
She had three interviews linedup that day and I job shadowed
(01:27):
her.
And as soon as I learned thatyou could make a living talking
to people, I went all in onrecruiting.
So I'm grateful every day thatI can make a living doing what I
love with people I enjoyworking with.
I'll kick it over to Keith next.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Hi, this is Keith, Thanks, Jordan, and yeah, my
intro is I've been in therecruiting game now for over 15
years.
I moved down to Maryland,started at Aerotech and then
worked at a large modularprovider for over 11 years, had
different responsibilities,started their recruiting
(02:03):
function right out of the gate,then moved into HR and then
moved into more organizationalperformance.
That included talentacquisition.
You know love recruiting, lovebringing in good talent and love
working in the modular industry, Originally from Pennsylvania,
and I'm glad that I have anopportunity to work with John
(02:25):
and Jordan on a daily basis.
I also was able to, luckyenough, get my MBA in 2016 from
the University of Maryland andbeen able to put some of that to
use as we continue to grow outRice's Talent Partners All right
.
Speaker 4 (02:41):
And then I'm, john, happy to be here.
So my background is I startedout my career as an Air Force
intelligence officer At onepoint.
I knew stuff I couldn't tellyou, but I've forgotten all
about it, so don't try and ask.
I was an HR leader for a coupleof different companies.
(03:02):
The last company was a largemodular provider where I was
fortunate enough to meet Keithand Jordan.
We were on the same team andI'd love to tell a little story
about how we got this venturestarted.
So, as many people know, a lotof great ideas, some bad ideas,
start in a bar, and the idea forRice's Talent Partners started
(03:23):
in a bar.
So we had a conversation.
We realized we've been on thesame HR team for six years.
We've been working in themodular industry.
We know this industry reallywell and we think if we started
our own venture we could doreally well helping companies
across the industry and beyond.
So, started in a bar.
Eventually we made it a realityto break off and do our own
(03:43):
thing, and we'll tell you, john,we've been successful because
our vision is really simple it'sto bring joy to our clients.
That far exceeds recruiting.
So, yes, we fill roles,important roles.
That's how we make money.
But ultimately we just want topartner with good people, good
companies, and help them withtheir talent challenges.
(04:04):
And the last point I'll make isRISIS, by the way, and you
pronounced it right, john.
I appreciate it.
It's not RISIS.
It's not RISIS.
It's RISIS.
And we even put the long Isymbol over the I, but no one
pays attention to that, so theymess it up a lot, but anyway,
it's RISIS.
Risis is Latin for laughter,and we chose laughter because
(04:24):
really we believe it's thepurest form of human connection.
When you're laughing withsomeone, you're connected with
them, you keep things inperspective.
So through our careers we'vekind of worked with our partners
and clients through laughter.
We enjoy each other's companies, we laugh a lot.
So we believe when we connectwith our clients through
(04:44):
laughter, we keep their problemsin perspective and we help them
with their challenges right.
So we're excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Well, thank you so much.
I love that little story aboutthe meaning of RISIS.
I think that's a fantastic namefor a company.
I connect with that, so kudosto you.
Clearly, each of you, you havedeep roots in the modular
building industry.
Tell me a little bit more aboutwhat RISIS does and how you're
leveraging all your collectiveexperience now.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Thanks, john.
Yeah, we're excited to be here.
We appreciate this opportunityand I'll tell you just to
describe our company and thenI'll talk about how we leverage
our experience.
Simply put, we're a directplacement recruiting and HR
consulting firm, meaning we'llpartner with companies to
recruit the best talent fortheir openings and, with our
experience as part of that work,to fill positions.
We also provide much more inthe way of overall talent and HR
(05:35):
consulting.
So if you hire us to look forsomeone in the market, we'll
tell you, as we're searching forthe best candidates, what we're
seeing in the market where thetalent is, what are the
candidates' pay expectations,what types of opportunities
they're seeking.
So we want our clients reallyto consider them as consider us
as their resident experts forall things talent, not just
(05:57):
people who are here to fill openpositions.
But we're particularly excitedfor this podcast.
I mean and, john, we do a lotof podcasts.
I don't know if you've heard ofJoe Rogan, I have Pretty cool
but this podcast is moreimportant because we, unlike any
other firm, have come directlyout of the modular industry.
So when we started thisbusiness, we did our research
(06:19):
and there are about 20,000recruiting firms in the US.
But what makes us different isthat we have a combined 22 years
of doing this kind of work forthe modular industry directly.
So we're excited to bring thatexperience to bear for our
clients.
And in addition to fill-inroles, we've done things like
strategic talent planning,employee communications and
(06:41):
change management training anddevelopment, employee
communications and changemanagement, training and
development.
So we have a full suite of HRconsulting and talent consulting
that we can bring to thispartnership in addition to
filling roles.
So together we bring thatexperience to bear and we're
excited to be able to deliverthat as much as possible.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Well, I appreciate that, John.
I think you came up with a newtagline for the podcast it's
more important than Joe RoganLove it.
So why has your combinedexperience been so important?
What difference does it makewhen you're working with your
clients?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
I'll take this one.
As you heard during our intros,we all came from different
paths and perspectives.
We're all very different.
We complement each other'sskill sets.
He's really our big picture guy.
He dreams in spreadsheets.
John's our negotiator, who cancharm anyone.
I'm kind of the organized chaoskeeping our partners happy.
(07:31):
But there is one unifier thatwe all share and it's a common
approach to how we connect withand put our clients first, and
that's really formed around thisidea of laughter.
So we'll mention that quite abit through this podcast.
But recruiting is absolutely arelationship game.
You need to gain trust first,then build credibility by
delivering results.
(07:52):
We think if you get that right,it's a winning formula for a
long-term, mutually beneficialpartnership.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Very good.
How do you work with clients?
I'm guessing they approach youwith a need and then they, you
know what's the process a lot ofthem have been through our
(08:25):
network.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Either they knew us already or we were referred to
them through our connections.
Many have approached usdirectly based on referrals, or
we've delivered for them in thepast.
It starts with clients having aneed for talent as well as a
partner to help them find talent.
So many of our clients don'thave an internal recruiting
resource.
They rely on us to fill thatgap.
(08:46):
In other instances, maybe theydo have an internal recruiting
team.
However, they need additionalsupport above and beyond what
their team can provide.
So our role is to do the heavylifting in recruiting, which can
be daunting and time consumingfor an organization, and then
our clients can place theirenergy and focus on what makes
(09:07):
their business successful.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Tell me about the process of working with a client
.
How do you get started, whatinformation are you after and
what questions do clients oftenhave for you?
Speaker 3 (09:19):
That's a good question, john.
This is Keith here.
You know, when we think aboutour recruiting approach, we look
at layers to kind of exceedexpectations from our customers
and there really isn't a uniqueapproach for the modular
industry.
I mean, really all searches,all GERD searchers, start off
with listening and it's gettingon the phone with our customers
and understanding their culture,their talent needs and the
(09:40):
challenges that they're facingas a business with our customers
and understanding their culture, their talent needs and the
challenges that they're facingas a business.
And then, once we're able to dothat and build a connection,
hopefully through laughter, wetruly try to understand their
need and expectations and wecreate an approach that will
hopefully exceed the client'sexpectations.
Our clients usually ask us tofind how we find our talent and
(10:02):
our approach.
Really it centers around thatconversation and then we go to
market, we use different tools,we use our network, we use our
connections and we're justreally persistent and really try
to drive our approach to makesure that we're finding talent
that is passive, that ourclients are unable to find,
because if we're able to findgood talent for our clients,
(10:23):
then they ultimately can growand we can continue to partner
with them and hopefully be asmall part of their success.
Other questions that come up ishow do we handle pay or fees?
And the simple answer there iswe're very flexible and we
handle the process.
We're willing to fill positions,you know, kind of on a more of
(10:46):
a direct placement terms, andthen we ultimately look at what
the market is, what the positionis, and then ultimately what
the guarantee period is.
And then, additionally, with theguarantee, we do it in two
different ways.
We either do a refund or we doa free replacement, and that
really depends on what kind ofthe contract is, what makes
sense for the customer, what therole is.
(11:07):
And then I guess the lastcouple of things I'd say about
it is we really want to be anextension of their team, be a
client ambassador and sell theircompany.
So we really need to understandthe company, to be an extension
.
And those are the partnershipsthat we have successfully put in
place with eight modularclients.
Now we feel like part of theirfamily and we hope to be able to
(11:29):
do that with more MBI membersin the future, because there's
just a true passion for allthree of us across the modular
space to continue to help growthis space and continue to bring
success and hopefully attractgreat talent as we continue to
do that.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
The industry has so many different opportunities,
you know, from the trades todesign, professionals to
business development.
How do you start when you'relooking to fill a particular
position?
Speaker 4 (11:59):
Good question, john.
So we have a broad range ofrecruiting capability.
We like to say we recruit fromthe shop floor to the boardroom
and when we set out we built ourcompany focusing on management
level roles.
But the foundation of ourbusiness and truly the reason
why we're here speaking to youtoday, is that we jumped right
into recruiting unskilled laborlike warehousing machine
(12:22):
operators.
We progressed to skilled labor,more technicians for our first
client and then it kind of tookoff from there.
So no job is really too big ortoo small for us.
We have quite a range.
But, as we said before, thewhole process starts by really
understanding the hiring profilewe're seeking.
Once we know that, we canconduct significant proactive
outreach, identify the rightcandidates.
(12:44):
Many of them are passive,they're happy in their jobs, but
our job is to convince them tothink about other opportunities
and sell our opportunities tothem.
And then we connect with themand see if we can get them hired
with our client.
But we typically start withcandidates in our immediate
network which we've built out inthe module industry over the
last 14 years.
And if people in our immediatenetwork which we've built out in
the module industry over thelast 14 years, and if people in
(13:06):
our network aren't fit for aparticular role, we'll ask them
for referrals candidates thatmay be a fit.
And then we'll also supplementthat network, that significant
network connections, by using arange of technology solutions to
really find and connect withthe right candidates that fit
that profile that the company isseeking to fill.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Are there any next steps for finding the right
candidate?
Speaker 2 (13:28):
In the modular industry in particular, we rely
heavily on our network.
So once we connect with acandidate who's typically
someone we know or was referredto us we have a thorough
conversation, evaluate theirskill sets through phone and
then a video to make surethey're interested, qualified
and, of course, within thecompensation range that our
(13:49):
client is willing to pay.
So if all of that is aligned,we'll send the candidate's
resume, an executive summary ofthe candidate's strengths, for
our client's review and if theylike what they see, we can then
facilitate the interview processand really manage our
candidates through the entireoffer and onboarding stage.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
As a recruiting and HR agency, I'm curious what
trends you're seeing amongstyour modular industry clients.
You said you had severalearlier in the conversation.
Are there any common needs thatyou're seeing?
Is hiring picking up?
Is it slowing down?
What are're seeing?
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Is hiring picking up?
Is it slowing down?
What are you seeing?
Yeah, john, you know, in ourexperience in the past year our
modular clients the hiring hasremained steady and it really
has, you know, depended upon youknow the needs and kind of
turnover.
But we just had dinner with oneof our modular clients
yesterday and we're reallyexcited to hear that they're
extremely bullish.
(14:46):
They in terms of 2025, seemslike the work is there.
They have a large amount ofsubcontractors there to support
their in-house.
So that seems a very good sign.
And I know they said thatthey've been able to continue to
look at you know ways to youknow continue to grow and
(15:06):
develop the modular business.
So that's, that's been music toour ears.
The role is that we continue tokind of get across the board.
It's really comes around salesand it seems like project
managers slash operationsmanagers, because I think where
we come into play for a lot ofthese modular providers are, you
know, companies need the rightpeople to bring in more work and
(15:29):
then, once they bring that workin, they need the right people
to manage the employee base anddeliver for the customer.
And I feel like that is oursweet spot when it comes to
modular.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
It's just really out there in the field helping our
modular clients really find theright people to deliver for the
In your experience, is thereanything that manufacturers or
contractors can do to get out infront of potential employees
and help attract the candidatesthat they want?
Speaker 2 (15:59):
Other than working with us.
Is there else?
Okay?
Well, when you do that, weobviously act as your employer
ambassador and we proactivelyspread the word to targeted
audiences about opportunitiesyour company is presenting.
But really, in addition to that, we recommend a heavy and
active presence on LinkedIn.
(16:19):
Everyone probably knows it'sthe largest professional
employment network on the planet.
So showing your accomplishmentsand you know your culture can
really help create interestamongst the right people to join
your company.
Employer branding is reallyimportant, especially in this
day and age.
You know everyone's looking onGoogle to see how your company
(16:40):
is rated.
So Glassdoor in particular.
I mean, have you ever ate at arestaurant with a two-star
review?
The concept with Glassdoor issimilar.
If your Glassdoor rating ispoor, many candidates won't even
entertain an interview with youor respond to us as recruiters.
So definitely recommendeveryone listening to this to
take a look at your companyGlassdoor rating and, you know,
(17:03):
ask yourself does it accuratelyreflect your company culture?
And if not, there's definitelysteps you can take and RISIS can
certainly help with that toimprove your rating.
We've done that for otherclients.
It's kind of the beyondrecruiting aspect that we
mentioned.
Other things you can do you canalso take, you know, creating a
(17:26):
company website that's jobseeker friendly.
So does it show your jobopenings?
Are they easy to find and applyfor?
Is your application processsimple Beyond that, once
candidates start coming in, isyour interview process concise?
Everyone knows post-COVIDthere's many more job openings
(17:47):
and there are qualifiedcandidates to fill them, and
that will continue for theforeseeable future.
So the more efficient you arewith your interview and hiring
process, the better chance youhave at beating out competition.
Companies that are slow ontheir candidate feedback or
their interview process candefinitely lose out on really
qualified job seekers.
(18:08):
I believe it was Google.
They published the golden rulefor interviewing.
So what they said after a lotof research is after four
interview steps, candidatesexperience diminishing, return
on their candidate experience,so kind of all of that.
Obviously we recommend keepingyour professional networks fresh
, staying active and industryfocused associations like MBI,
(18:30):
and the best hiring is reallydone through networking.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Keith, I'm going to switch gears here for a second.
You are a member of MBI'sWorkforce and Professional
Development Committee.
Thank you very much, and I waswondering what you could tell me
about the work that you'redoing as part of that group.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
Yeah, no, I'd love to and I'm honored to be part of
it.
I got to meet Heather earlierthis year at WAM and I expressed
interest and she asked me to beon it.
When I came on board it was inthe spring and there was already
a lot of work done by Heatherand her team and what I've kind
(19:09):
of picked up is Heatherconducted a survey in the fall
of 2023.
And from that she was able toidentify multiple challenges for
the modular industry that wereally wanted to focus on, and
that was attracting new workersin both labor and trade roles,
and many professionals are achallenge also for MBI members.
(19:31):
So supply shortage and alsojust getting the modular name
out there some more.
The second key find from thatsurvey was training, for both
onboarding new workers andprofessional development are
needs MBI members believe MBIcan help facilitate.
So that's kind of the rolemembers believe mbi can help
(19:53):
facilitate.
So that's kind of the role.
That was the kind of missionthat I kind of came into and
played a very, very small partin so far.
But so far year one we reallywanted to focus on developing
careers in modular campaign andthat's launching the lms system
that heather has spearheaded fora member, for training,
exploring workforcedevelopmental needs, especially
(20:15):
in trades.
It's kind of where we're kindof going.
The first course, proud toannounce, is going to be
launched soon, if it has notalready been launched, but it's
the introduction to commercialmodular construction and it's a
great tool and I think it'sreally cool, not just for people
that are doing it day to day.
But when I was in the modularindustry, it wasn't until I
(20:37):
really understood what themodular industry was, by walking
the yard, seeing the fleet,seeing what people do day in and
day out, that I reallyunderstood what the mission is
as a corporate employee and whatI was trying to do.
So I think we're not all ableto travel, but we all could
probably take a look at thiscourse and really understand
what we do as modular providers.
(20:58):
So I'm really excited aboutthat.
And, additionally, we've beenreally kicking around how to
incorporate workforcedevelopment into WAM.
Is it its own track, is itintegrated in other tracks?
And we're getting close.
We're not sure it's ready to beits own track yet in terms of
(21:22):
really just having specificcontent to workforce development
for all the different sessions.
So what we're going to reallytry to focus on this year going
into WAM is just reallyintegrating workforce
development as much as possibleinto other training sessions and
just really just talking aboutit more, because, at the end of
(21:42):
the day, I think most providers,most companies, most members of
MBI would agree that our youknow, our people are our biggest
assets and we just need tocontinue to develop them,
especially as we have shortages.
So that's what we're workingwith on workforce development.
It's been a great group.
I've learned a lot and everyoneis extremely passionate, so
(22:05):
it's been wonderful.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Well, I appreciate it , keith, and yes, we just
launched the MBI Learning Center.
Last week, we sent out a bunchof emails inviting people to
join the first course.
The Introduction to CommercialModular Construction is live now
, so thank you for all yourcontributions to that.
Speaking of and I'll takeadvantage of you being here what
(22:27):
potential do you see for theonline learning platform that
MBI just launched amongemployers who are seeking, you
know, not only to bringcandidates in and new employees
in, but for the employees thatthey've got?
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Well, that's really good.
I mean, you think about that,right?
You know, online learningplatform.
It's kind of a buzzword.
It's been now for about 10, 15years.
You need to have online, needto have online, and it's really
powerful though, because I thinkwe all learn differently and
have different ways of kind ofgathering that information, and
(23:01):
I kind of broke it down intofive different areas.
So it's first, I think it's theworkforce development, right.
I mean, that's really whatwe're trying to do there, and
the platform can address themodular constructions industry
talent shortages by offeringaccessible training for new
employees and existing staff.
I think that's where it firststarts.
It's also scalable.
You know, we can continue toadd more courses for new hires,
(23:22):
upskill current workers, helpmembers continue to kind of that
ongoing learning process.
I think the second out of thefive areas I kind of identified
was member engagement andretention.
By offering educational contentand certifications, we keep
people active in MBI, whichallows us to continue to kind of
(23:43):
learn, grow together as anindustry, and it also helps us
prioritize.
Our members have satisfactionand could become a key resource
for companies seeking to improvetheir workforce capabilities.
So I think the more we can talkabout it, the more powerful it
becomes.
We can also start collaboratingwith academic institutions, so
(24:05):
I think we can integrate withuniversities and students, and
what that means is we can startbridging the gap.
When we have kids that are inuniversities or community
colleges, like here's, modularhave you thought about that?
How can we start bringing inpeople earlier in their career
um, you know, as we have, andmaybe an older population that
is ultimately kind of retiringfrom modular, how can we bring
(24:27):
in new talent?
Uh, fourth area, I think, isrevenue potential and at the end
of the day, I think it is anopportunity for us to kind of
continue to grow the resourceswe can have and bring in revenue
from an MBI perspective, and Ithink it can also help with a
course catalog.
We can start thinking aboutways to advance topics in terms
of certifications,micro-credentials, and really
(24:50):
start bringing up the modularclient, a modular industry, to
be there with some otherindustries.
I mean, how cool would it besomeday if we had like a
certification where people wouldstudy and take a test for a
modular certification.
I think that'd be pretty cool.
And I think the last one is thisstandardization.
And then I think I've learnedso much since the time that I've
(25:11):
been involved with MBI is likehow many good best practices are
out there right now.
Our clients, our companies andall that are really doing a lot
of good things and I think if wecould start sharing some of
those, it would really help theindustry overall and it would
allow the industry to continueto grow and gain more market
share.
So I think those are the fivemain areas, but I'm really
(25:34):
excited and it's been a reallycool journey to see.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
What advice?
And I don't want to take awayclients from you guys at all,
but I feel like I should ask forthose who perhaps aren't ready
or aren't able to hire you guyswhat advice would you give
anyone listening to about how tobest interview candidates to
see if they're a good fit fortheir own company?
Are there any best practicesthat you can offer other people?
Speaker 2 (25:59):
You want us to share all our secrets.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Not all your secrets, maybe just one.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Okay, maybe some, I think.
To simplify it, just trust yourgut.
The way you do that, though, isfirst you need to understand
what you're seeking in an idealcandidate, so considering the
job requirements but as well asthe personality traits and
behaviors that will align withyour company culture.
So many companies kind ofoverlook that critical piece of
(26:23):
the culture fit.
While industry experience isgreat, we always recommend
opening up your requirements tohire, like the best athlete,
candidates who may not have thespecific modular experience
you're seeking.
We see many clients do adisservice to themselves by
being too narrow on theirexperience requirements and then
missing out on talent fromoutside the industry who could
(26:46):
maybe quickly learn the industryand make an immediate positive
impact.
When you are interviewing, it'salways best to get the candidate
to talk more than you.
They should be talking about70% of the time.
To get them talking, werecommend open-ended,
behavioral-based interviewquestions, so recommend looking
(27:07):
up.
The STAR method stands forSituation Task, action and
result, so asking the candidatesabout their past experience and
situations, how they handledthem, what the outcomes were.
This will give you a good senseof both their experience and
how they operate and think.
What's that old saying whensomeone shows you who they are,
(27:27):
believe them.
Same thing goes forinterviewing, but outside of
your core star interviewquestions, I think, keeping it
light and conversational so youcan get a good sense of how they
communicate and operate andwhat's their true motivation for
wanting to work for yourcompany.
That's really key tounderstanding whether they're a
good culture fit.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Do you guys have an outlook for 2025 in terms of
hiring and the demand for jobswithin the industry?
Are there any trends you seecontinuing into next year?
Speaker 4 (27:57):
around the country hopefully more in 2025.
But hirings remain strongthroughout 2024.
And it's really ranged acrossall the roles that we have
experienced working in VP, sales, ops, back office, service
(28:22):
techs so it's been strong andthis really makes us bullish for
2025.
As Keith was saying earlier, aswe visited one of our current
clients, hire remains strongthrough Q4.
So we think that'll lead into2025.
And your audience knows as wellas we do.
While the industry hasexperienced a lot of
consolidation in the past fewyears, we know the modular
(28:45):
customer base remains large anddiverse and is in need of
continuous products and servicesfrom a variety of local and
national level firms.
So, especially as the macroeconomy is hopefully going to
rebound here, really bullishabout strong hiring throughout
2025.
And really that's where we comein.
We want to make sure each ofour partners is enabled, with
(29:08):
the right talent, to deliver fortheir current workload as well
as their future workload.
And I'll just end with this,john.
While we do serve multipleindustries in our business,
modular really remains theclosest to our heart.
I mean not only because ourroots are there, but because the
industry is filled with good,smart salt of the earth, people
(29:28):
who know how to get things done,and they take pride in what
they do every day, and that'sreally special to us.
So it's also our hope thatsomeday one of our clients will
provide us with free modularspace.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
So that's something to look forward to Always
something to look forward to.
Keith mentioned this earlier.
I'll end with this.
He was able to meet Heather atthe 2024 World of Modular WOM.
Can we look forward to seeingyou guys in Las Vegas in April
for the 2025 World of Modular?
Speaker 4 (29:56):
John, I'm not sure you and everyone else will be
looking forward to it, but yes,we'll be there.
I'll look forward to it, if noone else.
I'll be honest, though, andthis is where it's a little
sensitive it was a little touchand go on the decision to go to
Vegas, because Jordan has beenbanned from most casinos in the
state of Nevada.
He's been categorized as what'scalled an advantage player.
(30:16):
I guess it has something to dowith counting cards, but we're
going to make it work.
We'll keep her out of thecasinos and you know our goal,
John, is really to become apremier talent partner for the
modular industry.
So we're going to engage inefforts like this the World of
Modular, the WorkforceDevelopment Committee and we're
really thankful for you invitingus on this podcast to tell our
(30:37):
story.
So we'll be there.
First round is on us.
Rounds maybe two to five, John,on you.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
If we're in a bar, all good decisions are good in a
bar right.
Speaker 4 (30:47):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
Well done Well.
Thank you guys so much.
I really appreciate your timetoday.
John Keith Jordan, thank you somuch, and I really look forward
to meeting you all in Vegascome April.
Thank you, john.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
Look forward to it.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
My name is John McMullen and this has been
another episode of InsideModular, the podcast of
commercial modular construction.
Until next time.
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