Interview Advice Needed

[Rookie]

In our plant, the vast majority of salaried workers make less than hourly. On top of that, they get treated like **** from upper management. Have plans tonight? Too bad, you're working a 16 hour shift.

I know a supervisor that is an excellent worker. Unfortunately, he did such a good job that his boss started looking bad. No problem, his boss gave him a terrible review. He can't argue it and is now on a 30 day probation. Guess who decides if he has improved? The same boss who gave him the bad review.

Hard pass.

 

[maxwelhse]

Very true. Healthcare is the main reason I've stuck it out. Zero monthly premiums, $25 copay for doctor's visits, $100 copay for emergency room, $0 for hospital stay, $6 for prescriptions.

Yeah, you may as well be telling me about a fantasy land. I don't think my insurance was even that good back in the day.

I am USW and anyone hired after 2008 has a smaller pension. 8 year vested. 401k match to a certain point. And not allowed to jump to salary and keep paying union dues, no coming back once you flip. It all depends on OP's situation. I myself had no problems turning down every salary offer. Seen to many get the old screwing.

Personally, I wouldn't touch a union shop again, period. My last go 'round was in a USW shop and I was "management" and the union acted like it. It wasn't horrible and the people themselves were fine, but it was more of a PITA than it was worth. The constant "us vs. them" feeling was also just massively toxic. I had that experience with both unions though I'm sure it can be different in different shops.

Anyhow... My whole thing here was about retirement and I don't believe that's something to put all your chips on when it comes to any system you don't control yourself. I would absolutely not count on anyone making me a promise today that they're going to fulfill 40 years from now.

 

[yote hunter]

I disagree. The company puts so much every week into the employee's 401k. If the employee is smart, they'll take advantage and have a lot more than less than $3,000/month to retire on.

That’s true .

 

[gungirl65]

I've been a manager for several years including 7+ years as a non-union manager in the office of a union plant for an oem supplier.

I've hired several non-union employees throughout the years.

If I were to ask you why I should give you the job, these are the types of answers I would be looking for;

First off, I want to see the fire and excitement in your eyes as you answer my questions.

Show me your company pride and enthusiasm.

Perhaps tell me how you understand what is expected of the process and how you know how to efficiently get it done.

If Lean manufacturing is still the rage and you're having some production issues, then maybe acknowledge current bottlenecks or issues you are aware of and how you look forward to helping solve them if given the opportunity.

Tell me how you can best lead the team to accomplish company goals.

If you have a natural gift to teach and nurture others tell me about it.

How can you lead the team better than someone else? What makes you special?

Are people drawn to you? Are you generally well liked? Do people respect you? Are you known to be fair? Start mentally building yourself up.

Start creating that list of all of the things that make you awesome.

If you have accomplished great things since you've been there share them. Remind them. Maybe tell them what it took to accomplish those things. Did you have to rally other team members to get these things accomplished?

Perhaps having been a part of the team you have a better understanding of roadblocks/ bottlenecks and can better address them and help solve issues before they become problems.

To be an effective manager it requires having exceptional people skills. How you work the people is just as important as how you work the machines.

I am one of these people that most people feel safe with and everybody pretty well tells me what's going on and other things they shouldn't. It helps me to be able to solve problems because I know what the problems are. Maybe you're like this too.

I don't care how much experience someone has. I'm much more impressed by personality and potential. The reason being is that people with experience have experience doing things someone else's way. Sometimes prior teachings can be hard to overcome.

Someone with potential may be more open-minded to do things the company way. Or better yet have innovative new ideas.

This is also where your youth comes in handy. You don't have 20 years worth of Hang-Ups to weigh you down.

Try to relax and have fun in the interview. A good sense of humor and pleasant personality is always a plus.

It would be useful to go through the job description and compare it to your resume and be prepared to offer experience or antidotes that correlate to the job description.

Maybe if you don't have one thing maybe you have a skill or experience that would make up for it. Focus on the positives and possibilities.

Good luck.

 

[Dean C.]

To clarify a few things , I would be going from a salaried position to a salaried position never been a part of the USW.

I have the recommendation of my current director, and he knows how much particular interest I have in this melt shop. The reason I want this particular position is it ties into my current position almost directly (providing chemical analysis of an alloy during real time melting operations).

I would be working more yes, but I have talked to the other supervisor for that shop and it sounds about like 50 hours a week (working 40 currently) plus compensated if weekends are needed.

Also as a millennial (born in 94) what is this pension thing people keep referring too?

 

[OkieGirl]

Re-read post #9 from FMJ, I can't top that; I would only add emphasis to thinking through those two or three questions that you have for the interviewer or panel that will be interviewing you. Knowing my candidate was growth focused, future focused, or a problem solver interested in helping us achieve our departments difficult tasks has always carried significant weight in decision making.

A bad habit of internal candidates is that they don't approach the interview with the same focus and drive that an external candidate does. Use the knowledge you have from your current role to build on; you know the organization and the realities of what to expect. Approach the prep as if you were an external candidate and first impressions matter (energetic, highly qualified external candidates will be doing exactly this), but use what you already know as an anchor for solid growth and established track record.

 

[maxwelhse]

To clarify a few things , I would be going from a salaried position to a salaried position never been a part of the USW.

I have the recommendation of my current director, and he knows how much particular interest I have in this melt shop. The reason I want this particular position is it ties into my current position almost directly (providing chemical analysis of an alloy during real time melting operations).

I would be working more yes, but I have talked to the other supervisor for that shop and it sounds about like 50 hours a week (working 40 currently) plus compensated if weekends are needed.

Also as a millennial (born in 94) what is this pension thing people keep referring too?

Sounds like you've already covered your bases way better than you led on. Having the blessing of the managers on both ends is a huge bonus. You're probably half way home already.

Good luck!

 

[yote hunter]

At the end of the day you have to do what your heart tells you ! Best of luck whatever you decide .