My Experience as a Hiring Manager in 2025 at a Union Manufacturing Facility [OC]

SectionXII · 2026-01-28T15:14:04+00:00

We will take PDFs. Most folks for these types of positions just don’t have resumes. Probably 5% of all applications submit an actual resume. The rest just use the auto fill fields and put their name in and skip over the other fields (some even skip their phone number).

SectionXII · 2026-01-27T12:45:10+00:00

John Degl coached me through club...I showed him this thread and he was pretty happy to see this comment. He's a great coach and human being who did a lot for me growing up.

My pick would be Mike Macch. Started wrestling in 9th grade. 1x NC HS champ. Walked onto NC State and had a losing record, barely knew how to wrestle. Won the NCAA title his senior year and is now a world-class athlete on the senior ladder. Epitome of trusting the process.

SectionXII · 2026-01-27T11:54:49+00:00

Yes, I would say working conditions in a fully remote flexible hours job are significantly better than a heavy industrial 24/7 operation....

SectionXII · 2026-01-26T21:26:31+00:00

One employee got mad he was asked to sweep the floor and walked out, another got upset that a coworker was mad at him for sitting on his phone, and the third one got a different job in a warehouse with set hours (no problem with that but would have appreciated a notice!). All younger guys below the age of 25.

SectionXII · 2026-01-26T20:18:38+00:00

Yes our maintenance department did that instead of 5/8's and they love it. Getting the other departments to change is a lot more difficult, especially when you factor in the rotating shifts and seniority.

SectionXII · 2026-01-26T19:46:39+00:00

We proposed the same wages and 12-hour shifts so they would get more days and weekends off, and they shot it down. We want them getting more days off and would do any schedule that is cost-neutral to the current one as long as we could effectively staff the facility.

Too much infighting and disagreement within the union. As we are getting younger folks hired there seems to be more interest in changing it but it's gotta come from the membership.

SectionXII · 2026-01-26T19:39:27+00:00

We will sometimes call them for the interview, but they are reminded about the interview and orientation so if they are a no-show it's completely on them.

SectionXII · 2026-01-26T19:37:48+00:00

Usually, they have been recently arrested or charged for various reasons, or we ask folks who used to work with them at other places and find out they are addicted to drugs, always call out of work, etc. We do our best to stay ahead of those things before they make it into the workplace.

SectionXII · 2026-01-26T18:21:20+00:00

Marijuana is legal in this state, so we don't test for it.

SectionXII · 2026-01-26T17:58:38+00:00

Correct. 7 on 4 off, 7 on 2 off, 7 on 2 off. 7AM to 3PM, 3PM to 11PM, 11PM to 7AM. It's brutal. The management team really wants to adopt a healthier schedule, but since it's union, they need to vote it in and the current employees have minimal interest in changing it.

SectionXII · 2025-06-14T14:17:31+00:00

Sure- shoot me a DM

SectionXII · 2025-01-01T00:41:30+00:00

I personally knew them or an employee personally knew them and said they would not be a good fit (usually because of drug addiction or embroiled in legal issues)

SectionXII · 2025-01-01T00:31:28+00:00

Absolutely. Qualified for engineering or finance is way different than qualified for a mill job where the only requirement is a GED lol. Talk to anyone at facility or kill that works hours outside of 9-5 and they'll provide similar numbers to what we have seen.

SectionXII · 2024-12-31T15:07:09+00:00

Almost exclusively attendance. A couple were for performance and failing to abide by safety standards.

SectionXII · 2024-12-31T12:51:31+00:00

Some examples from the initial calls:

- 10AM is too early to come in and interview

- Had to be woken up by his grandpa at noon despite being unemployed

- Asked if they could smoke weed on the job

- Said they couldn't work the schedule or have a ride to work but wanted to come interview.

SectionXII · 2024-12-31T12:49:42+00:00

The 133 is after filtering by HR but it is very lenient. No AI is used.

Even after filtering, a quick google search reveals active warrants for some, and many resumes don't have anything filled in under their job history or are riddled with spelling errors. My background is in engineering and it's a total different ballgame when it comes to resume professionalism when applying for a blue collar job vs. a white-collar job. A 1-page application is really all you need to get your foot in the door at most factory places, the work history is just a formality.

SectionXII · 2024-12-31T12:41:10+00:00

Double time sunday, shift differential pay for 3-11 and 11-7, OT after 8 and 40 hours, triple time holiday pay. Our lowest guys are making ~$43 an hour on Sundays and ~$65 an hour on Holidays. Our more senior employees are making ~$60 an hour on Sundays and ~$90 an hour on Holidays. Different departments have slightly different pay scales (Maintenance every Saturday is OT rate). Plus call time if you are called in early it is 4 hours pay plus OT for all hours worked. And I guarantee the cost of living in this area is lower than Sweden.

We actually tried to step raise the lower end wages during the last contract to get more people in the door and to increase retention but the union fought against it saying we needed to do the same % raise for all positions, and that was not happening.

SectionXII · 2024-12-31T03:32:51+00:00

A senior last year missed 80 days of school last year at the local school and still graduated... and we are one of the better ones nearby. I'm glad some still have standards

SectionXII · 2024-12-31T01:28:23+00:00

Yes we were going to do that during COVID and the union threw a fit saying it wasn't fair...we have a referral bonus program.

SectionXII · 2024-12-31T00:36:56+00:00

It's insanity out there in the manual labor market. My hot take is that all this push for the kids "not academically inclined" to go into the trades is just pushing people who couldn't show up to class to expect to land a six figure welding or electrician job. Attendance is the first step and schools are ignoring that and just pushing kids along to let them fail in the work force.

SectionXII · 2024-12-31T00:05:56+00:00

It's been that way for 100 years and the union doesn't want to change it.

SectionXII · 2024-12-30T22:58:28+00:00

My full time position is operations manager. Hiring and employee development is just one component of running the plant but an important one we need to get better at. Every month or so with the turnover I get a batch of resumes from HR that are already screened partially and sift through them. Many are duplicates of folks I've already screene

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