A Bright New Future!

A few days ago, I went on a calling spree. I called over 2 dozen contractors seeing if anyone was hiring. My very first positive response came from Haworth Homes. I was very surprised how chipper she was so that instantly was a good sign to me. (This happened Thursday). I asked if I would be able to come in Friday and hand in my resume' since I was coming to Charleston anyway. She said a very excited yes and we hung up the phone.

Friday came and I found myself very excited to go turn in my resume' and fill out an application. Before I left, I called once again just to double-check to see if my coming in would be ok. She said, "Definitely. I'm always here." So when I got there, I walked in the door and I saw this guy drawing blueprints by hand. It was really cool to see someone do that. I stood there a little bit and the lady on the phone came into the room. "Ryan?" "Yes, ma'am." "Great! Darin, this is the guy I was talking to you about! He's the one who is looking to be hired here. So Ryan, what kind of experience in building do you have?"

When I told here that I helped build three habitat for humanity houses, she asked me if I had done anything else. I told her that I worked on the Telluride Apartment complex in downtown Iowa City, she asked me who my employer was. "Mark Wagner." (Her reaction blew me away!) "Oh I know Mark! My fiance and I are close friends of his!" My jaw dropped to the floor. I asked if she was kidding but she wasn't. It was totally a God think that I came here just because I have a good feeling that she's a Christian, and we instantly had something in common. Then we went to do the interview.

We sat down and she started to ask me the standard questions as I started to fill out my application. I answered all of them completely and succinctly. After she asked her last question that was job related, we just started talking. An hour and a half passed and I was still in there just talking. As we were rapping things up, I said, "I'm sorry to ask this, but I've had some unfortunate occurrences with possible jobs calling me back so I'm just wondering when I could be expecting a call." She just smiled at me and she told me that I could expect a call later that afternoon. I was very surprised because she ACTUALLY meant what she said! (I've had that happen when people said they would call me and they didn't, so it wouldn't have been a surprise. lol)

Then Melody and I drove to Sullivan to look at a house. (Yes, we ACTUALLY looked at a house. lol.) While there, I received a call from Haworth. They told me that I was basically hired. When I asked them what they meant my "basically", she told me that the owner of the company was expected to come back later that evening but he ended up not coming in. So they are going to have a meeting on Monday to decide if I'm hired on with the company. I'm just praying that God can work through me and get on with the company which He wills.

Things go...but things also come

As far as the jobs go, I have yet to hear from Mundstock and Wolfer. I am not working from OE Schrock because they already filled the position they needed. I am still waiting on the other two but it just so happens that there are three more strong possibilities. RP Lumber (which I will talk about in a little bit), Prestige homes, and Trimble construction. I don't really know much about Prestige but I do know that they are going to be VERY busy in a couple months. I have already gone and interviewed at both RP Lumber and Trimble and I felt really good after each one.

I actually interviewed with RP this morning and Wendy (the lady in charge of hiring for the Decatur branch), we were just talking about what I would want to do there. I just said that "It would be a really good transitional job for a few reasons. It would get me better associated with the trade on this end (where to get the wood ordered from, etc.), it would make me better versed in the different things needed when building a house and how to work them, and I could even see who else to apply for judging by how much material is being sent out to a site.

Also during the interview she said that Prestige was going to be building 3 or 4 houses this summer/year and that they do a good job staying moderately busy. So I'm going to call them in a couple months and see what happens there.

Really when it comes down to it, my favorite choice is Trimble construction. The owner is very good to his employees, gets work done right, AND he does a little bit of everything. He said that if this new guy doesn't work out, then his son is willing to give me a try. It's kind of a family business. The father owns it and oversees much of the construction, the son runs the large team, and the daughter is the safety inspector. It's a pretty neat setup. The thing that really stands out with Trimble is that they work on a house from the foundation all the way up to the shingles on the roof. Basically, it's what I did in Iowa on the Habitat for Humanity projects. Trimble even does some concrete work. If I get the opportunity to work for them, I'll be very excited indeed!