In his book, Rich Habits, author Tom Corley examines the lifestyle differences between the rich and poor and it’s pretty interesting. Some things seem like common sense, others a bit more surprising. Will better habits make you more successful? Probably not. But it could be a start  70% of wealthy eat less than 300 junk food […]

A letter to the guy who called our office (twice) and screamed at us because we were offering a drywall job that paid $17 to $20 per hour.

When I talk to someone who is unemployed and I bring up a ten dollar an hour opportunity it’s really hard for me to not get upset when it is dismissed as “not worth someone’s time” because I know from experience how much trouble that attitude has cost me. When I finished college I was […]

A friend of mine told me a story of a lesson he learned from an old Jewish investor from NYC. Eli was an investor and owned a ton of properties in and around Buffalo.  Dorian had a small remodeling company that happened to be really good at drywall.   Eli and Dorian struck a deal […]

I was asked the question, “Is leaving a job on bad terms ever okay?” I believe that how a person leaves each and every relationship (professional or personal) is likely a measure of their character. And if not their character, then certainly their personality. The exception to this is if you leave during the initial […]

Out of frustration, one day, I posed a question on Craigslist.  I asked, “Why are people so negative about using a Recruiter”?  Michael M sent me an email.  In it, he said, A recruiter or temp agency are people who can’t or don’t want to do the tasks but get paid for the people actually […]

Keep your tools secure and dry this winter! If you’re familiar with Weatherguard, then I don’t really need to tell you that this is a solid way to organize your truck. Maybe seven years ago I took these as collateral for a loan to one of my employees. He’s long since gone but the boxes […]

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, […]

Should I go to college?  What is the true cost of college?  Is it a good investment?  What is the cost of opportunity lost?  On the whole college graduates make more money, but how much, and will it guarantee me a job that I love?  Clearly there is value, but is it something other than […]

According to CareerXRoads, in 2012 of the companies polled less than 1.2% of new hires came from the mega job boards Monster.com or CareerBuilder.  That means that 98.8% of those who uploaded all of their personal information wasted their time.  What does that mean for all of your personal information?  Who has it?  How is […]

The Niagara County Industrial Development Agency on Wednesday ordered that from now on, at least 90 percent of the construction jobs on any project it aids must go to Western New York workers. Reacting to a request from the County Legislature, the IDA board approved a new local hiring policy that puts incentives at risk […]

Estimator, Commercial Estimating for residential work often tends to include a generous amount of sales and relationship work.  Commercial estimating requires a different personality.  A commercial estimator had better like numbers.  This video is a really good overview of the job. HAZWOPER 8 Hour Refresher Certification Hazardous Waste Operations require trained and skilled technicians to […]

Who Are They? * They work full-time, permanent jobs * They come with resumes * They have solid, verifiable work histories * They have proven management skills * They have proven technical & mechanical skills * They are educated.  They have Diplomas, Bachelors, and Masters degrees.  Some have graduated from the school of hard knocks! In Western […]

Early in the morn, When the dew and the frost still linger in the air, We are up with hammer and tools in hand, To form and shape what we will from hill and land. We are the builders, The makers, The trenchers and roofers, Men and women who strike the forms and cap the […]

When I bought my 18 volt Milwaukee drill / driver I first scoured the pages of Tools of the Trade magazine.  Sure enough they did a great comparison write up (back a few years ago).  This latest issue compares the new brushless models.  Their assessment last time was dead on in my opinion.  I am […]