Typical Sheridan Business or Typical Business any state? (Laramie, Gillette: appointed, motels)
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I had a phone interview a while back, great conversation, nice gentleman, even emailed each other during that time, almost certainly felt like I got the job BUT after weeks of waiting, I heard nothing and finally just wanted to know about the job and was notified in email that it was filled...locally of course(I'm out of state). I was fine with that but instead of dragging my talks via email with the hiring person, it just would have been nice to know what direction the business was looking for. Yes, I was disappointed but I got over that.
My real beef was recently. My wife applied for a job in Sheridan, perfectly qualified, had a phone interview and the businessman said she is exactly what they are looking for since the area did not have the type of applicants they were looking for. She was told that by the end of the day on Monday(last week), he would let her know. He had to discuss the hiring with his partners. End of the day Monday came and went, same with the remainder of the week and by Friday, both of us were just wanting to know about the position so we could either start planning to move(mentally and physically) or just move on pass this(mentally). My wife decided to call on Friday, the receptionist answered the phone, said she would check to see if he was in but asked for her name of course, placed her on hold, came back and said "it looks like he stepped out". So that reply right there pretty much told my wife and I exactly what was going on and to me, between the interview I had and my wife had seems like bad business to me. Just a simple call back to my wife saying they decided to hire another candidate would have been fine, both of us can handle the rejection part, we are adults, we are both good people and anyone who works with us could tell you that. Personally I think it was bad business practice to drag it out like that. Typical Sheridan business practice or is this a common practice these days? I can tell you that my current employer does NOT do this. Is it because we are out of state and residents don't want others from out of state moving in? Again, we are not Californians, nor act like that(we are from Indiana). We are good, upstanding citizens, family first people, who are hardworking, skilled and experienced. I cannot portray the type of people we are in this message, but if either employer gave us a chance, we would prove we could have been the best fit and the best decision which I am very confident of. Just sad to know that my idea of Wyoming and these people within Wyoming have changed my perception of it. I know most of the ones on the Wyoming forum are very good people and I love your posts and threads, I'm trying to do my best to keep a positive attitude that not all businesses are like this there. I guess I had visions of something different, that Wyoming was different than most other states. But maybe I got hit with reality.
Same problem I had 3 years ago (although I am a Wyoming native) I concluded that if you have a street address in Sheridan and/or Wyoming, you are percieved as a resident. If not you are looked on as a transient. What I did was used Mom & dad's street address in Sheridan until I got a more permanant address. Once this was established getting a job was easy. I was on the ground here in my native state for 2.5 monthes and was blessed to get to go to work for one of the major CBM companies in the Powder river Basin. So far so good. One company in Sheridan (nameless at this point) called me for an interview, cancelled said interview, rescheduled and when I showed up for the interview asked me about my living arrangements first thing. At this point i had not figured out the local address thing and the interview was finished. I figure this company missed out on the best employee. Worked out for me though. My thoughts are most employers have seen thier fair share of transients and do not want to risk some of the consequenses(sp). Do not judge the employers around here on just this experience. If you have faith and have prayed about this, if it is right it will happen. Just one mans opinion.
Sad to say, Sheridan is good at that. And it's funny just how two faced they can be.
When I had my business (Post Frame Steel Buildings), buiding permits were commonly shot down, in the county, because they didn't want that type of building in the area. Rural, 5 miles from town, and they didn't want that type of building.
Later on, a wealthy party in Sheridan put in a sub division in that direction. Miracles happen I guess, but after shutting down Budweiser from building a plant in that direction, due to lack of water resources, a subdivision sprung up in the same area and water line was layed post haste.
Sheridan has always had the mentality to hire locally, if at all posible. But then the waterlines down town were replaced by an out of state company. We have plenty of companies in town that could have done it.
When some city entities wanted to hire from outside, due to no local talent, they were shut down and told to hire locally. However, when the police department needed a new police chief, they hired from out of state. We had a couple of the police officers that had the background and training, and even one police officer that temporarily held the job for several months, but when they applied, they were shot down and out of stater was hired.
So Sheridan has always held double standards when it comes to hiring. A very sad state of affairs.
It doesn't help to move here and get a local address and then hunt work, you'll be flipping burgers trying to get enough money set aside to return home.
I don't know a thing about Sheridan, other than it's awfully pretty around there. However, my husband job-looked out here for several years before we accepted this one in Cody. We never ran into the situation you've run into and we're from seriously out-of-state (1700 miles away) and always used our real address in Tennessee. He had offers in Rock Springs, Laramie, and Worland in addition to the one he accepted here in Cody. There never seemed to be a problem with him being from out of state. We were offered relocation expenses and such on each position. I suppose it may have to do with the type of job and such however.
My advice would be to not judge everyone on this company's practices, though it sounds as though this may be standard operating procedure in Sheridan.
Is more of Wyoming like this? I guess Sheridan isn't going to be for me and it is time to look elsewhere.
I don't know. I've worked construction through a lot of towns, so I went into town with a job and left shortly after.
In defense of Sheridan, the medical field such as the hospital, the clinics and such, along with the VA, is a little different. Good jobs can be had, no matter where you are coming from. But anything that is influenced by city gov, you are up the creek before you start.
Several years ago when I was running a fairly large business I hired most of my skilled and professional employees from out of town or out of state, simply because local talent wasn't available.
We paid their expenses for personal interviews (several hundred dollars) and, if hired, paid moving expenses (several thousand dollars).
Often when hiring we were in need of help immediately, but if they were moving across country it would take a month to get them on board.
Also, local references were easier to check and more accurate. (References I knew were more likely to give me the straight scoop if there was a problem, be it another employer or a college professor.)
And finally, we didn't have to wonder if the new employee and his/her family would like the area and not decide after a few months that they were homesick and leave.
So naturally I'd have preferred to hire locally when possible. It was cheaper and quicker, and the chances of them being a good, long-term employee were greater. Simple business decision. It had nothing to do with not wanting out-of-staters moving to Wyoming (which just isn't true). I was an out-of-stater when I was hired to move here, just as are the majority of "professionals" starting a new job in Wyoming.
For all the above reasons, for unskilled or low-skilled labor, I hired locally. If I could find the person I needed in town, who had a home here, friends and family ties here, references here, and who could start work next week, why would I consider hiring someone from 1000 miles away?
It's a shame that more employers/personnel departments don't follow-up with those who don't land the job. I imagine it's partly a matter of time but more often just not wanting to be the bearer of bad news. I'm sure I was sometimes guilty of it myself.
ElkHunter, are you sure your police chief was from out of state? Or maybe you're referring to an earlier chief. IIRC, Sheridan hired Gillette's police chief last year. But Gillette had originally hired him from Michigan (?).
As for Sheridan hiring an out-of-state company to install water lines, doesn't the city have to award jobs over a certain cost to the lowest qualified bidder? I think Wyoming contractors used to be given a 5% allowance in bids, but maybe that practice has been abolished. For Gillette projects we've had lots of out-of-state bidders since the recession hit. Many bids in the past couple years have come in below projected costs because of the increased competition.
ElkHunter, are you sure your police chief was from out of state? Or maybe you're referring to an earlier chief. IIRC, Sheridan hired Gillette's police chief last year. But Gillette had originally hired him from Michigan (?).
As for Sheridan hiring an out-of-state company to install water lines, doesn't the city have to award jobs over a certain cost to the lowest qualified bidder? I think Wyoming contractors used to be given a 5% allowance in bids, but maybe that practice has been abolished. For Gillette projects we've had lots of out-of-state bidders since the recession hit. Many bids in the past couple years have come in below projected costs because of the increased competition.
You are correct, the Police Chief came out of Gillette (after controversy), but was originally from elsewhere. The Mayor decided he needed an assistant. Because of that, the City Council cut the mayor's pay telling him that with an assistant, he wasn't doing but half of what he was elected for. Soon after, the assistant went away. The assistant was offered a rediculous amount of money. But not near as much as the Director with Volunteers of America, you know, that non-profit organization that paid the director 6 figures. When that new police chief come online, Sheridan lost about a half dozen, seasoned, police officers that left Sheridan with the highest number of officers, per capita, in the state, and also the youngest police force. If I remember correctly, at that time the average number of years as an officer, was less than 4 years.
As the the policy of the city, yes, they are supposed to hire the lowest bidder, however, it's sealed bids. It makes one wonder how a company out of Colorado can move equipment, and house personel in motels, pay perdieum, and come up as the lowest bidder. I know the owner of a company, locally, that bid it and he cut his price to the quick, just so he could keep his people busy. He said that if he had gotten the contract, he wouldn't even have made a dime.
Manners, in general and across the country, seem to be on the decline. In the last 5 years, I have hired people with masters and doctorate degrees in three geographically and culturally different states. One location is Wyoming and in Sheridan.
I have had people abuse company paid travel for interviews. I've had a lack of return calls from applicants deciding between another position and the one I offered. At the companies I've worked for, we've had people resign via text message.
Every time something like that happens I put the person on whatever company's "Do Not Hire" list. Way to burn bridges.
The first time, I thought it one case of bad manners. The second time, I called the person and asked from what university they graduated because I was going to call them and tell them what a poor job they did of teaching business communication and ethics. Wow, was I angry.
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