Interviewing ?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Knife's Wife

Knife's Wife

Well-Known Member
Apr 16, 2005
1,297
1,829
113
124
DeWitt, New York, United States
www.colemanflorist.com
State / Prov
NY
I have had an ad out for a designer for 45 days... The ad is pretty descriptive in what is required for the position, 5+ years experience in a shop, wedding and funeral skills a must etc... Last week I scheduled 2 interviews with actual designers with experience, neither showed up, no calls, nothing! This week I had 3 people request interviews that all seem more than enthusiastic, but have never worked in a shop, but think that they can be a designer. I decided to set up interviews with them though I am not very optimistic. Do you all come across the same thing when searching for a designer. Designers that are no shows and enthusiast that think they are designers because they once put an arrangement together for their friend or mother and she loved it??

Off to interview in 15 minutes, wish me luck.

Joan
 
I've been looking for someone to deliver since June..........pickings are pretty poor.
My last three designers started as delivery and were quick enough and learned by watching first. Two of them earned awards in design contests. Yep, no experience isn't always bad.
 
Joan, I went through this all summer! It was like beating my head against the wall...daily.

I finally settled and hired someone who I thought was qualified...I had her make an arrangement, she had experience, went to symposium & was trying to do her AES, she was in the process of becoming an Master florist, blah, blah, blah. Well, fast forward 2 months and she is mediocre at best (but thinks she knows far more than I). It is too late to get someone trained in time for the Holidays, so I am paying too much money for a body. I SUCK at interviewing and furthermore, the talent pool SUCKS too! Sorry, I am off my soap box!

Good luck finding your diamond in the rough!!!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
I agree with Rhonda, I think people can be trained. I know it's kind of a pain in the butt to start from scratch, but I really believe that you can't teach a good attitude or good taste, but you can teach techniques.

I'm small potatoes though, and just need a helper once in a blue moon, not a full time person who knows what's what. I hope you find someone, Joan!
 
Even though it takes more effort in the beginning....hiring someone with a good attitude and enthusiasm (but lacking in skills) can be to your advantage. You get a clean slate to work with. You can mold that person and teach them the way YOU want things done, the way YOU want flowers designed...and they actually listen and do it. Often, when you hire an experienced person....you get the way THEY do things, and can be difficult to retrain...."I've ALWAYS designed this way," or "That is NOT how my last boss did it and he/she was AIFD." You get my drift.

PLUS, newbies can be hired for LESS money.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
We were extremely fortunate. We simply put "Hiring Designer" on our reader board, and the next day I interviewed a young woman who had worked in a nearby flower shop for a couple of years, and she has proved to be a God-send. Good luck to you also!
 
Good luck Joan - we have limited success hiring experienced, and are having better success hiring personalities, then training.

Either way, it ain't easy.

I've had four people come in for a job app in the past couple of weeks - we don't usually see that. Three had been laid off, one was looking for work closer to home.
 
Well,
this is what I know.

I know hiring people with no flower shop experience drives me crazy. It used to not, but after years and years of hiring personalities, then taking the time to train them just to decide that "floral isn't for them".......

I also know that there are a lot of very good designers out there. But what some people want to pay for an experienced well rounded designer is equally crazy. On the low side I mean. I know one shop in New Mexico that no matter how good you are AIFD or not (BTW no AIFD designer's there) They start their designers between $6.00 and $6.50 an hour. Give me a break. I know another shop who pays their designers between $9.00 and $11.00. How can people live on that??

I remember years ago before I move to Oklahoma City.... I was deciding where to move. I wanted to go to Los Angles, New Orleans, or Oklahoma City.

Well I heard they have big bugs in New Orleans, so scratch that idea...

I had a phone interview with a shop in Beverly Hills. Very nice guy. We went all through my experience, sent him a portfolio, blah blah blah. It all sounded great.
This was back in 1995. He tells me how he has a high end shop, celebrity clientele, etc. Sounds just what I want, plus how cool would it be to work in BH!!!
So we get to the end of the interview, I'm not shy so I asked him if he decided to hire me, what would I be making an hour? He says between $7 and $8/ hour. I ask him why so little, is it because of my age? I was only 23 at the time. Maybe he thought I didn't have enough experience???

No, He said he started off most of his designers less than that, but I had a great resume, so he felt that was fair.

What???? IN BEVERLY HILLS?

I asked how do people live off of that in BH? He tells me without skipping a beat
"Well here you get a job and make money and what ever you can't afford your parents pay the rest"

I told him that in New Mexico we all pay our own way.. Then I moved to Oklahoma.

So I really don't have a good answer for why people don't show up, But I do know training people is a pain.
I also think that a lot of designers have figured out they can make more money doing something else.

Good luck with your search Joan.
 
Sometimes I wonder this, and hate to say this, but I have started all my designers at miunium wage and that is to see if they are serious, about the job, and no one has ever got that ever on a pay check, and I can tell you any smart business person is going to start on the low end of things to see if the person is for real , and serious for the long term, and on the other spectrum, I have some that came to me that didn't know a mefew from a mallard, and I am being nice at saying that, So if you don't understand, but I am sure all will, and I can tell you, I have had some darn Queens come in my store thinking that I am to wait on there arse, and then kiss it an dmake it all better, well there is only room for one Queen in my house, and that is I, and If you aren't a team player ya need to hit the road, and it is hard in this business, because people love them flowers, and think it will be an easy job, Well, it is not, that is why I at home right now, and not on a wedding, the chicklets are with the King, because, I need a break, and probably a longer one than most, So when a person says they are designer, THen I want to know what that means, I know what it means to me,,,,next. Sometimes, I wonder about some, but that is my 2 cents..Joan ya know I'll be there if ya need help..

Hugs
 
I am feeling for you Joan....good people are definately very hard to come by. I don't understand why - but when you have great people working for you...you definately appreciate them even more so.
I have not had the experience of no shows on interviews...but I can imagine how frustrating that is...and people who say they would love to be designers if they are given a chance unfortunately don't work in our store. We are far too busy to teach them and give them the proper care and instruction they need to become a great designer.
Fortunately when I need someone to come in ( I think God looks after me here ) they just walk in and ask for a job because they don't want to work where they are anymore...I take their name and number and within a week or two I have them on board - (because someone else working for us has decided they need to leave)....I also give them a months agreement that if we think thats its not working out then we can boot em...or if they think that they would not like to work here then they can skiddal too...that usually works for us really well.
Good luck....I hope you find someone great:)
 
I was lucky enough that someone took a chance on me...20 some odd years ago...lawdy...that makes me feel OLD !
If the person is a good fit and is willing to go the extra mile to learn...then yay all around..It's finding the people that understand the WORK part...we don't "play" with flowers all day!

My old trick when hiring was to make their 1st job...scrubbing the buckets...one gal was horrified and told me she couldn't possibly do that as it would wreck her nails..!!!!!! :) yaaa...oookay buh-bye now....buh-bye!

At the best of times it's not easy...good luck !!!
jeannie
 
jeannieballerini said:
I was lucky enough that someone took a chance on me...20 some odd years ago...lawdy...that makes me feel OLD !
If the person is a good fit and is willing to go the extra mile to learn...then yay all around..It's finding the people that understand the WORK part...we don't "play" with flowers all day!

My old trick when hiring was to make their 1st job...scrubbing the buckets...one gal was horrified and told me she couldn't possibly do that as it would wreck her nails..!!!!!! :) yaaa...oookay buh-bye now....buh-bye!

At the best of times it's not easy...good luck !!!
jeannie
Click to expand...
That reminds me a a woman who said she would not lift over 5 lbs to protect her womb...

The boss (this was a million years a go and I wasn't the boss) asked if she had a condition that would prevent her from lifting..
No, she just didn't want to take any chances... Guess she didn't really want to work in a flower shop either!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
I love (not) those ladies who come in and say "it would be so fun to work here" as if it's peaceful and easy.

I would think that grabbing people from the restaurant biz would be good. Those people know what hard work is! (ok not always but you get my point...more so than a lady who has never missed a manicure appt.)
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
I must admit that I wouldn't even look twice at a place offering minumun wage... particularly for someone with experience.

V
 
I feel like I am repeating my thoughts because I have said this before on the board.

I learned to hire only people that have had experience and a good resume' or if they were willing to invest a Month or whatever it takes to attend a certified floral school. It proves to me that they are serious if they will invest a few hundred dollars for a lifetime career.

If I have to take the time to train them.....when they leave, they take all the time and knowledge I have given them and leave me with nothing to show for it.

If they invest their own money in their career, then if they leave, I have lost nothing. Same reason you should never pay for a designer to become AIFD.

However, I have had almost no turn around in employees that I have hired. They all seem to stay for long periods and they usually win lots of design contests because of my encouragement.

Carol Bice
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
Carol, I would love to work with someone like you.

V
 
Ok a quick post to tell you all about the experience I had yesterday... I posted twice all the funny conversation and such but by the time I finished my post it had logged me off automatically ( I hate that new feature) and when I logged back on it did not display my post.

My first interview was a very self indulging person who spent most of an hour telling me everything about herself that I could not get only two questions asked of her. One was to explain the floral design experience she said she had. She craftily avoided answering that question. My second question was what questions she had pertaining to the job (I had told her nothing about the job at this point) she simply stated that it really did not matter what experience she had because she would have to learn it my way and she was capable of learning anything that was put to her so just hire me and tell me what to do. "Can I get that in writing"???

My second was a NO SHOW! Those piss me off so much especially when you go in on your day off to do the interviewing as I did.



I then received 2 more e-mails ...one from a gentlemen who had no sales experience, no customer service experience, no design experience, no computer experience.

The second e-mail was a 20 year designer... no resume was sent, no letter. Just a note that said I am interested have 20 design experience and used to own my own shop. Please send me all information about this job. I sent back an e-mail asking her what questions she had I would answer what I was willing to outside of an interview. Have not heard another word back.

Joan
 
Carol Bice said:
I feel like I am repeating my thoughts because I have said this before on the board.

I learned to hire only people that have had experience and a good resume' or if they were willing to invest a Month or whatever it takes to attend a certified floral school. It proves to me that they are serious if they will invest a few hundred dollars for a lifetime career.

If I have to take the time to train them.....when they leave, they take all the time and knowledge I have given them and leave me with nothing to show for it.

If they invest their own money in their career, then if they leave, I have lost nothing. Same reason you should never pay for a designer to become AIFD.
Click to expand...

This is sorta my feelings also. The newly hireds bring their experience with them, and I can learn from them. I make it very clear, however, that this is my shop, and my rules apply. I will listen to reason.

While I would not offer experienced designers minimum wage, I do start them lower than I expect to be paying them later. Salary increases are based on performance, and they start, usually on the first anniversary of their employment. Staff with no previous floral experience start above minimum wage, but not at the starting salary for experienced designers.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom
Back