And You Think Your Job Stinks

Wash Your Hands, Please Jennifer was a recruiter for a trucking company in Missouri. She worked hard at finding quality drivers. With the recent slowdown in the transportation industry, safe drivers with a stable work history had become more and more rare. She used all the marketing options she could think of, websites, local papers, online social networks, etc… You name it; she had tried it. The trick with truck drivers was to find where they go when they are looking for work. With such a diverse group of professionals she had to be creative. Some drivers were accustomed to using the computer to find employment while others relied solely on CB chatter to get the skinny on what companies were good to work for and what companies to avoid. Jennifer’s hard work paid off. Her company seldom had an empty truck. Everyday Jennifer came to the office her voice mail would be full of messages from drivers wanting to talk about job openings. She would promptly call them back. Some of the drivers turned out to be wonderful additions to the company, while others would have to politely be sent on their way. She made a point to call EVERY driver back. Phone calls and emails that did not get a requested response were Jennifer’s pet peeve. If someone took the time to call or send an email, then the receiver should take the time to respond. One typical, uneventful day Jennifer came to the office. She greeted everyone with her normal cherry smile. After getting a cup of coffee and checking the supply of paper in the copy machine, she sat down at her desk, got out her notepad and was prepared to take notes from the 23 messages left on her phone over the weekend. No doubt all 23 messages were responses from her recent job posting on a local job board. On the ninth message Jennifer wrote down the name the driver had given and patiently waited for the voice on the recording to give her his phone number. As she listened the driver went on about his work history and his safe driving record. He then said “...so call me back. I would like to know more about the truck driving job.” Jennifer thought she heard a small trickle of water in the background the entire time caller number nine was leaving his message. She then heard a toilet flush. Oh my goodness...did that driver leave the message asking about employment while he was relieving himself in the toilet? Needless to say – this driver did not get a call back. Jennifer also felt compelled to disinfect her phone.