Join us on Reel Turf Techs for an exclusive episode featuring turf career expert Tyler Bloom. In this concise yet comprehensive guide, Tyler shares essential tips for aspiring equipment managers. Learn the art of crafting standout resumes and cover letters, and master the art of acing interviews with industry-specific techniques.
Tyler Bloom's insights go beyond the basics, exploring innovative ways to stand out in a competitive job market. Discover the power of networking, certifications, and continuous learning to enhance your profile. Don't miss this opportunity to transform your job search and secure your dream role in the turf industry. Tune in for a career-changing episode!
Join us on Reel Turf Techs for an exclusive episode featuring turf career expert Tyler Bloom. In this concise yet comprehensive guide, Tyler shares essential tips for aspiring equipment managers. Learn the art of crafting standout resumes and cover letters, and master the art of acing interviews with industry-specific techniques.
Tyler Bloom's insights go beyond the basics, exploring innovative ways to stand out in a competitive job market. Discover the power of networking, certifications, and continuous learning to enhance your profile. Don't miss this opportunity to transform your job search and secure your dream role in the turf industry. Tune in for a career-changing episode!
welcome to the reel turf techs podcast for the technician that wants to get reel follow along. As we talk to industry professionals and address hot topics that we all face along the way we'll learn tips and tricks. I'm your host, Trent. Manning let's have some welcome Tyler to the real turf text podcast for the second time. I'm really excited to have you back and get some more information out of you on how technicians or anybody else that's listening, superintendent, assistant superintendents can put together a better resume. Present themselves better for a job they're interested in. So welcome Tyler. How are you doing today?
Tyler Bloom:I'm doing well, thanks for having me despite our technical glitches here to get, get going, but I appreciate you having me back on.
Trent Manning:Oh, no, it's awesome. I'm looking forward to it. Where do you want to start with this? You want to go straight into some resumes do's and don'ts that you've seen recently
Tyler Bloom:Yeah, that's, uh,
Trent Manning:without calling anybody out.
Tyler Bloom:That that's it. Well, listen, I can call myself out for, uh, you know, some of our, some of our own challenges from the, uh, you know, recruiting, recruiting and interviewing side of things. So, I guess if it's okay, I'll just give a quick intro
Trent Manning:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do it.
Tyler Bloom:for listeners that don't know, but, I started my company. Actually, June 2020, so we're just over 3 years and, our, our primary focus is talent acquisition. So we, we typically are hired by clubs. Could be sports sports turf organizations, sometimes manufacturers, distributors. for talent needs, and typically we help them. So we're, we don't, we don't do placements. So candidates often call us and ask if we can help them, opportunities. We typically don't work that way. We always work for the client, for, for objectivity reasons, number 1, but we do, we do support candidates and in other ways, whether that's career development, interview preparation, resume and development, things of that nature. So, yeah. And a lot of education too. So that's kind of how I guess you could say I approach, side of the fence, that side of the coin. But, yeah, for the last 3 years, it's been a, it's been an interesting evolution, you know, really kind of starting fundamentally of how do we get people into the industry, from a recruitment standpoint. And I know we'll kind of probably touch on that a little bit today, but it's evolved to where I would say. Thank you. You know, on an average month, we're, we're typically picking up anywhere from 4 to 8, you know, new new positions a month all across the U. S. although I'm based in northeast Pennsylvania, our reach really is across the country and we've done some international work as well. So it's really evolved into something really. Really cool. Interesting. There's not really too many limitations, what we're on, what we're hitting, but, uh, superintendent searches, equipment manager searches has really picked up quite a bit. you know, our, our, I think our bread and butter for the most part was assistant superintendent searches, but, you know, it seems like things have really evolved to a little bit higher level with the EM search and the superintendent searches.
Trent Manning:No, that's awesome to hear. Yeah. And congratulations three years and you're still doing it. So that's a lot longer than a lot of other businesses that, uh, startup. So congratulations on that. Tell me a little bit about your, um, I know you had a, uh, assistant superintendent thing you were doing there for a while. How did that go?
Tyler Bloom:think you're probably talking about, like, our leadership development program.
Trent Manning:Yeah,
Tyler Bloom:Yeah, so we've done that every winter and, it's not anything I don't think too intensive, but more so career development focused, how do you set goals for yourself? What career, what career goals do you have? What, what's the trajectory and pathway, what are the steps you need to take, to climb the ladder? So we cover everything from resume development, portfolio development. Interviewing techniques, strategies, what are hiring committees looking for, in candidates and superintendents, what are they looking for in candidates? And so we really try to, like, help set the stage for those things. So, when they get into those interviews. They've got a plan. They got a strategy versus just, oh, I'm going to apply to this job because it's paying, you know, 80, 90, 000 and man, the top 100 level club. Sometimes those jobs aren't the right fit for candidates. And it's how do you strategize to set yourself up for the right steps? The right clubs with the right, mentor and the right kind of so, you know, we've done that for 3 years and, I'm really, proud to say that this last year's group, we've had over 30 candidates or 30 individuals that have moved on to. Either senior level assistant level roles or golf course superintendent roles, throughout the country. So it's something I take a lot of pride and something. I'm excited that we've, we've been able to help people and mostly they've done all the work. We're just helping polish. Maybe that last little bit and that tweak in their messaging and communication and how they present themselves to committees.
Trent Manning:no, that's awesome. And it's gotta be so rewarding for you to put in these. People out there and helping them out and letting them shine.
Tyler Bloom:Yeah, it is very rewarding and. Like I said, I mean, they've, they've done all the work. We're just giving them some fine tweaks and some last minute adjustments and how they're presenting themselves. things to think about, you know, when they're searching for jobs that maybe they never really thought about. And it's, the job search world is a really, can be very stressful, can be very frustrating, confusing. I mean, I, I was a candidate myself, you know, and was a bridesmaid and, and man, at least close to probably a dozen jobs. Thanks. So, I know the time, the time and effort people put into it and I take it really serious on our side of things now to try to, I think just have a form of respect for candidates and what in the efforts that they're putting in. We're not always perfect, but, you know, trying to be personalized with our communication and try to give them as much heads up. We can on what the timeline is. And sometimes those timelines get. Change just because of things going on in the golf course, you know, life happens, but,
Trent Manning:Mm hmm.
Tyler Bloom:So yeah, that, that assistant program has been something I've enjoyed doing. It's something we're continuing to refine. I'd love to see it more of a 12 month program, but, people's time and focus get shifted once the season hits. So we've really, we've kind of really catered it more towards, the winter off season months.
Trent Manning:Yeah, no, that makes sense. So what, what does that look like in the winter off season is an hour a week or what's the schedule like?
Tyler Bloom:Yeah. So the way we have it set up is there's a curriculum. Man, I tell you, if they go through it, soup to nuts. They probably will spend the 8 to 16 hours easily just just on the actual, like, exercises and workbook information that they have to go through. And then if you add on top of that, the different webinars and guest speakers we've had on that, you know, over the course of 3 years, I mean, there's easily. 40 hours worth of content whether that's learning how to set up presentations, PowerPoints, how to use drones how to work through different search firms and their processes for, interview processes. You know, resume critiques, resume development, portfolio development even outside of maybe the traditional pathway, you know, what do you do, what do you do as a candidate to position yourself, whether it's with sales, whether it's a distributor or manufacturer, how can you take your experience on the golf course and translate that into, maybe a slightly different trajectory in this industry. So there's a lot of great content. Thank you. But typically what we have found is try to do like, uh, somewhere between a 4 to 6 week live coaching
Trent Manning:Mm
Tyler Bloom:an hour a week you know, with a group of individuals via zoom and we found that to be, you know, good because they get to work with other people that are going through the same steps. I'm not sure we've really captured that group peer pressure essence yet, but I enjoy that because, you know, you get to. You get to meet people from, and especially for the, the individuals going through that program, they get to meet and network with other people going through the same headaches, the same frustrations, you know, they get to learn from other people. So, and then, of course, we try to introduce guest speakers, people that maybe they, they know of, or have heard of, but they've never been introduced to. And oftentimes I find those introductions typically is where, you know, somebody who's going to have influence on them 1 day and potentially in a job search.
Trent Manning:Yeah, yeah, no, that's awesome. Yeah. Have you found that these groups kind of stick together even after they're finished the program?
Tyler Bloom:Um,
Trent Manning:contact and.
Tyler Bloom:I have found, you know, because again, there's some regionalism to it to, you know, we might get a bunch of Canada or, you know, individuals from the Northeast or the mid Atlantic. So they. By default have a lot of similar friends interests. They go through a lot of the same challenges throughout the season. It's been fun for me because a lot of times those candidates could be, I say candidates because they were actually many of them started as candidates, for jobs that we all place. And then we follow up with here's a career development. Okay. Bye. Bye. Program that we put in place, because we want to see those people successful. Like, what's not good for us is if we have to replace those individuals, because they haven't improved on, you know, some of those soft skills. And so I take that, you know, very, I take that very seriously in trying to help develop that next generation.
Trent Manning:No, that's awesome. Very, very good stuff. You want to talk about resumes?
Tyler Bloom:So, so, yeah, I think that's kind of where we actually were. That's
Trent Manning:Yeah, that's, I guess, yeah, we, who knows which way we'll end up going, but we will, uh, come full circle at some point.
Tyler Bloom:yeah, so, um. You know, as we, uh, I think we're right now this year on our. At least our 7th or 8th equipment manager search and, as I told you, it seems like once a month, we're picking up. You know, something pretty good and something pretty special. So, you know, I've been fortunate to interact and engage with a lot of really high quality people, high qualified individuals and some individuals who just, you know, need some coaching. They need some, need some polish on their, on the way they're presenting themselves. because that, that is an important piece in this industry. Is that presentation people really look at that 1st sort of application material as, you know, checkpoint 1, does this person move forward and honestly, a lot of it is really fundamentals. It's, it's grammatical things. It's the way that the resumes are structured, making sure things are in alignment, your spacing's correct. Making sure in your cover letter that you're addressing it to the right club and the right hiring manager. Um, you know, these are things that, you know, these are things that they teach in, in high school. And we still find that to be things that trick people up as just some of the more grammatical, small, little mistakes, low hanging fruit, as I call it. And
Trent Manning:Well, you have to remember some of us hadn't been in high school for 25 years.
Tyler Bloom:That's it. That's it. Yeah. I've had some people tell me that and say, man, it's the first job I've applied for in, you know, 15, 20 years. So, I think that, you know, whether you look at somebody like the GCSA has a service for, for resumes, if it's someone like myself, have a, have a peer proofread it for you, have a, a family member, something proofread it for you. So at least you're covering the basis right out the get go. Okay. Don't just apply to a job 20, within the first 24 hours that it was posted, you know, typically not always, but typically I find that most superintendents probably won't even reach out to candidates 7, 10 days, maybe longer. So I think that you could do a little bit of homework in that first week and make sure that the basis basics are covered in your submission, your materials that you submit. I do find that some, at least in the equipment manager world, a lot of people just kind of put the name of the employer, the dates that they were employed, but they don't really give a ton of context. And so some differentiators that I would see would be, do you, like, what's your repair maintenance budget that you're responsible for? How do you. How do you go about developing that? Are you working with the superintendent? Are you doing historical record keeping? You know, being able to show that you're responsible for, you know, financially responsible for a certain area. I think that really stands out. If you've mentored or developed assistant technicians, you know, that should be a definite bullet point. Staff training, safety training, you know, what's your involvement in that really should be a highlight. You know, clearly some of the new certifications and education that's out there is something that is going to stand out to me. I mean, one thing that I've been really impressed and kudos to you for being a leader in this is just really how passionate people are about the CTM program and sort of the, you know, the equipment managers professionalism, you know, as an expert in their craft, I think has really been elevated, you know, thanks to people like you. So that for me has been really aspiring. And I think it's really taken some clubs by And superintendents by surprise and, you know, how much equipment managers really have put an emphasis on their professional development and growth. And, and that really has to shine through on a resume, you know, and I think that's an area people could concentrate on in those, in those skills and those areas of how they're trying to elevate their position just being, you know, bigger than just being a wrench head or, you know, the mechanic that, you know, sits behind the sits behind the desk and. Yeah. It's down at the maintenance facility. That role is elevated so much more. So I think even speaking to that, the equipment manager's role in the,
Trent Manning:let me interrupt you for just a second on the CTEM thing. I was talking to somebody at GCSA today. And she was trying to get a few different CTMs to teach and Phoenix. And she said, all these CTMs are legit, you know, they're, they're responsive, they're engaged, they're passionate. I mean, it's just amazing. So that title isn't just a title, you know, you don't just go through the motions and get that title. and I think it says a lot about your person. So I'm sorry to interrupt, but I had to throw in and shout out to my C10 brothers and sisters.
Tyler Bloom:Well, and that's something that, you know, they should, if anybody is doing that, there's an opportunity if you aren't speaking at the national conference or your local association, that's another great way to demonstrate your skill set. And, and that's something that I think that today's club officials and their superintendents, that's going to turn their eyes. That's going to get their attention pretty quick. You know, again, we, we kind of spoke about the software about some of the positions we've been working with. And when you're comparing resumes and qualifications, man, there's a lot of really talented people. And so things that are going to differentiate someone is what you just described their, their involvement in their education, their certification, what their involvement is at the association level. Not to say that that should be the primary focus, you know, the day to day job is always needs to be your primary focus, but those are things that help differentiate your network and the value you bring being a problem solver. I mean, again, beyond just the day to day equipment side of it is. Are you involved in things in the, in the facilities areas, clubhouse, or you, are you somebody that they can count on to be a problem solver is something that I would be highlighting in a resume or references, you know, those are people you should consider references and other areas of the club, not just, not just at the assistant or the superintendent, you know, whether it's a GM, an executive chef, golf professional, those are things that are going to really shine through, you know, cause if, if I'm a superintendent and I'm looking for, You know, this position, they want to make sure they have somebody that they can trust somebody that they can rely on somebody who handles pressure, somebody who is a team player. And they're not going to, they're going to be approachable to come to, to say, Hey, I know you're going to be frustrated with this. The golf shop had a cart down on number 17. Can you go take it out? And I think more approachable people are and adaptive to those situations, the better off they're going to be. And they're going to, they're going to stand out. You know, in an interview process, so those are some key things. I think, you know, initially, I mean, you can get very specific to how many pieces of equipment you, you oversee your parts, inventory, your cost management practices, record keeping practices, but to me, it's going to be those intangibles on problem solving leadership. Adaptability that I think are going to differentiate people. Above just the technical side of things that that should be almost taken for granted that somebody has a technical skill sets. It's the, it's the other things that make you a part of a bigger picture type type candidate.
Trent Manning:Well, I'm really glad you brought that up too, because I wasn't even thinking about putting all the other things I do at the golf course on a resume. You know, I would have thought just the nuts and bolts, what I do day in, day out and not. All the extra stuff working on, you know, the pump house or helping out in the clubhouse on a grill or, you know, I mean, all the little things that we get tied up into building bridges on the course,
Tyler Bloom:Well,
Trent Manning:all EM work.
Tyler Bloom:absolutely. I mean, I can't tell you how many times I talked to a superintendent and we, and when we talk about what's going to make somebody successful in this job. And they'll often bring up different circumstances that they deal with on a day to day basis that they really need somebody that can adapt. And is, and is going to be front facing enough. They're going to present themselves very well in front of whether it's a member, a golf professional, a GM. And so being able to have that, that presentation and that adaptability, you know, those things are going to be critical, again, intangibles that's going to differentiate, you know, one person over the other.
Trent Manning:No, that's good stuff.
Tyler Bloom:So, you know, kind of moving past the resume cover letter. I would think, and again, this is just me, I've had a lot more time to think about these things and not, you know, growing grass in the middle of summer, but I would think technicians, equipment managers would have a lot of, like, should be taking a lot of photos of their work. You know, a lot of times they're sharing that information with manufacturers, distributors to kind of solve problems, whether it's the way you organize your shop, the records that you keep. Being a part of safety training meetings, management meetings, you know, those kind of daily huddles, you know, with the assistance and the superintendent training on the equipment, like, those are low hanging fruit things that I think EMS could do to take pictures of and document in a portfolio. That would that would separate them, you know, from just the resume and cover letter, even if it doesn't, even if it doesn't say, you know, submit a portfolio. I would consider, I would consider this off season specifically if I'm in the, um, starting to put that stuff together, you know, again, because you can, you can leverage that not only for your next job, but your current position to just kind of document all the things that you're doing to bring value to the operation. And again, beyond the, beyond the job description that most people sign up for, you know, you're, you're on that. So. And I say that I know every superintendent in America right now saying, great, now I have to deal with an EM coming at me for, for more money, but they do the same thing. Superintendents should be doing the same thing. You should be documenting the value and the things that you're doing to, to make the, make the facility better, make the facility safer. You know, in higher performing.
Trent Manning:Hmm. No, that's, yeah, it's all really, really good stuff. A good friend of mine just got hired as an EM at a really nice club. And I want to say he had maybe a 30 page portfolio that he sent with it and had, you know, a good interview in person for like a couple of days. He was there because he was out of town and obviously I know him well and he presents himself well, and I think he probably had the job before he even done the portfolio, but you know, he, he still went through those steps to assure that the, I guess the show. How much he wanted the job. So if you're really wanting a job, you're going to go through the extra steps and do whatever you can do to get the job. Just like you were saying, the, the people that just throw the resume out the day that the post hits, you know, more than likely, they don't really want the job. They might say, oh, that's. Would be nice maybe
Tyler Bloom:Yeah. I think even as well. Just being dressed appropriately, you know, have a suit and tie, how about a jacket and sport, you know, sport coat and tie, you're going to see just like in the superintendent world. And I think you're, you're starting to see it more in the assistant superintendent world. Clubs are taking these processes really seriously and, and it's because of what they represent and who they represent. You got to make sure that, you know, they're, they're bringing people into their culture that, uh, for yeah. And we're right or wrong just present themselves at a higher standard. Yeah, especially if they're going to be front facing with business owners, CEOs, very highly accomplished people, they're going to make sure that their key senior leadership team, you know, looks, dresses the part, communicates the part has the skill sets, you know, to commensurate with the, with the salary ranges that we're starting to see now, you know, climb much deservingly. So I think the industry as a whole has been behind the times on Uh, pay and that's not just at the world. That's the, you know, you up and down the food chain. There's every, every, every department, every, every position. So, you know, I think, I think that's a, again, another differentiator, how people present themselves. Clean shaven, well spoken, professionally dressed, I think are things that are going to really grab the attention and might elevate somebody over an individual who may just flat out have more technical experience and may be more technically proficient in the job, but, you know, it's, it's some of those other, those other things, those soft skills and those intangibles that are going to help people.
Trent Manning:Well, that's one way I've kind of looked at it And I've seen plenty of people come in for interviews for the assistant superintendent Spot and most of them just wear, you know, maybe khakis and a golf shirt And that's okay, but the guys that look like they really want it, they dress nicer and you're like, okay, this guy's serious about coming in here for this interview. I don't, that's, that's been my two cents and you know, my first impressions and you know, just like they say, you only get one chance to make a first impression, right?
Tyler Bloom:We, uh, joke, we have a, uh, we have a, a team Slack channel. So we have three people that, that work with me and we have a team Slack channel. And one of our channels is, you know, it's like the highlight reels from interviews. So it can range from how people dress, how people interact on, on zooms or things they, questions they answer that you just scratch your head and say, man, that's probably not something I'd be. I'll be putting out there about myself, but, uh, you know, people volunteer some things, but, uh, maybe one, maybe one day when we're, when I'm far enough down the road, I'll release, release that book. And it's, it's, it's pretty comical. Some of the
Trent Manning:Oh, I bet I could only imagine.
Tyler Bloom:you know, and again, let's just talk about some of those things, like what not we talked about kind of what to do, what not to do. I think as zoom presents itself as more of a interviewing technique or strategy, make sure you got a clean background. You don't have, you know, condescending posters you know, things that are going to distract from the one to one conversation that needs to be had. Make sure your sound quality is good. If you're interviewing for another job, it's probably not a great idea to be doing the interview from your current employer's desk. That, that would be something I would, uh, really reconsider.
Trent Manning:I mean, even if the current employer's fine or cool with it, it still just doesn't have a good look.
Tyler Bloom:now. Not really, not really. Gosh, if you're doing it from home, make sure the family's aware, go to a quiet space as best as you can. Look, I've got two toddlers and sometimes. They're gonna, they're gonna, they're gonna bombard a zoom interview. It's just, unfortunately, that's life. I mean, I think I have a, you know, pretty even keel perspective on things and understand, but anything that would be a distraction, try to limit that as much as possible. Make sure you show up to the zoom interviews, 15 minutes early, 10 minutes early that you can, you can log in. Even if the other side's not there, just make sure your audio, your system updates are good. And then for the in person interviews, you got to really think about the context of how those are structured and we, we do things maybe a little bit differently, but, you know, from in person interviews, we like to have the, you know, the superintendent meet with the candidate and share and share that person with other key stakeholders, whether that's the assistance horticulturalists could be a GM could be H. R. So, really be thinking through the context of who you're going to be meeting with. And it's okay. If you ask that ahead of time, say, who all is going to be included in the interview process, just so you're well prepared because that dialogue you have with a superintendent and an assistant could be very differently like. Received than if an HR person or a general manager, you know, is in there and listen, we all like to have shop talk and that's, that's good. If you can get into that sort of comfortable rapport with somebody, but shop top may not resonate with the GM. Who's pretty buttoned up and polished up pretty has a pretty strong executive presence. They're probably not going to want to see a dip in. They're probably not going to want to hear F bombs dropping or, or talking about things that are totally inappropriate and including HR you know, so understanding that, that what that dialogue should be and shouldn't be, it doesn't mean you need to be super uptight, but I mean, I have, I've taken these calls or I've been in the rooms to hear some of that dialogue and I'm just thinking, uh, now's probably not the time to be having those kinds of conversations. Thank you.
Trent Manning:Right. No, that makes perfect sense. But, and it's one of those things you would think it would be common sense, but it probably, probably is not.
Tyler Bloom:It's easy at times, you know, you get into, you get into, you chase a rabbit hole about a conversation and it turns into something else, but just be, just be very cautious on that. So those are some things I think I think initially. You know, what we've been what we've seen from some of these search processes of what EMS can do how to handle themselves. In the, in the, in these situations,
Trent Manning:No, that's good. That's really, really good. Yeah, anything else do's and don'ts for EMS on the job that you can think of? I mean, I think we covered a lot of really good ones and definitely covered some don't do that.
Tyler Bloom:well, I think on the reference side, I would be very proactive in terms of. Understanding what this process is going to be and when a superintendent wants to reach out to references, you know, so many times, at least we try to, we're not always perfect, but we try to, like, talk with the candidates and say, hey, we're at that stage of the process. Is it okay if we reach out to, you know, the references you've listed? And if you don't list a current employer, you better have a pretty good reasoning as, as to why, and that doesn't mean that you can't have differences, or maybe the current situation you're in isn't the, isn't the best thing, but you should probably address it. Don't hide it, um, because that will often lead to, to doubt and your job is to, to remove as much doubt and friction in an interview process. So they say, yes. Oh,
Trent Manning:that's a good point.
Tyler Bloom:but, but there's, you know, there's circumstances, we've all had those challenges in our careers at times and maybe did things wrong or, you know, or embarrassed about something we've all done at some point in our life. I mean, we all make mistakes. I think it's different when you just own it and you're very forward with that versus like letting things play out and you don't really address the elephant in the room. And then it, it takes a narrative that you have no control over, you know?
Trent Manning:I mean, it makes sense. Just, yeah, to be. Upfront, you know, if you are having a situation at your current facility or whatever, just be upfront about what's going on, because I know just hearing my superintendent and the assistants, you know, when they're looking at these assistant applications, they say, why are they not putting their current employer down? And if they're not putting their current employer down, they're probably going to call and talk to him anyway.
Tyler Bloom:yeah.
Trent Manning:especially regionally where everybody knows everybody already, you know, they're, they're probably friends
Tyler Bloom:Yeah,
Trent Manning:or at least acquaintances and can call each other.
Tyler Bloom:it's a super small industry and it gets smaller by the day. So, you know, I think, I think transparency is always, always the right call. And you know, something I, at least I appreciate, I think maybe put a lot of, I, at least I put a lot of merit into is authenticity. So if somebody is trying to give me a bunch of BS and so a silver tongue answer, I'll see right through it. I mean, we, this is what we do every day. We interview people. I mean, one of our key interviews on average, 16 to 20 people a week. If not more
Trent Manning:Wow. Yeah.
Tyler Bloom:and I myself might have a direct outreach of anywhere from 50 to 100 people a week. So, I mean, I, I understand. I know when somebody's trying to be asked me, appreciate when somebody's up front and honest. And just says, here's something in my, my experience that I learned from here's what I wouldn't do again. Not necessarily defaulting to. Oh, it's their fault.
Trent Manning:Yeah. Yeah.
Tyler Bloom:Well, if there's a history of 3 or 4 jobs where it's their fault, there's a, there's a common denominator.
Trent Manning:Uh, yep. Yep.
Tyler Bloom:It's not the job.
Trent Manning:No, that's a very good point. Hmm. What I love about task tracker is they're constantly innovating and listening to their users. They've added dozens of updates to make our job easier. One new feature is the ability to upload manuals to the equipment. All you have to do is scan the equipment. QR code. And you have the manual and all other information at the tip of your fingers. You can even create links to those manuals and the work orders. And it goes directly to the page that you need. Make your life a lot easier and check them out at AASB task. tracker.com. Let's get back to the episode.
Tyler Bloom:I think, you know, some of the other things you get into, like, the negotiation side of it can be, uh, it can be a really sensitive, uh, very sensitive, you know, point if, if, if somebody's, if you're not on the same page, you're not in alignment on what the salary range is. And I think there's you know, negotiations a healthy thing. In general. Usually the first offer shouldn't be, I mean, if it's somebody accepts on the spot on that first offer, I mean, that's great, but typically there should be, there's probably some sort of dialogue. I think you got to do your homework up front, you know, you got to know what that standard is from a, from a compensation range. You have to look at other things that are, you know, sometimes they're more important than just the base salary. Could be performance measurements. Could be fuel tools. Vacation, you know, so some people get really fixated on a number and I, and I try to encourage people to look at the entire package and, and, and really explore what all is included. If you can't get to that, you know, base range on the salary, look for other things that you could build in incentives. You know, I think, I think performance pay for performance measurements are going to become more and more common, you know, as salaries need to rise. Clubs aren't really in a position in many cases to go from, you know, let's say they're paying an EM 70 to 80, 000 and now all of a sudden they got to go to 120. That's a, that's a huge difference, right? So
Trent Manning:Oh, yeah.
Tyler Bloom:I think having some pay for performance KPIs, key performance indicators to match that level of pay would probably benefit most, not just EMs, any, any person. as your success and have those benchmarks for yourself.
Trent Manning:Yeah. No, for sure. Back to the references, who do you put down? So I'm filling out or I'm doing my resume. Who do I put down as a reference?
Tyler Bloom:Well, certainly, I mean, a superintendent, somebody you reported to somebody who's reported to you could be an assistant manager, could be a staff member, could be an assistant technician. Certainly if you can add another club official, whether that's a member, a golf professional, a general manager, H. R. I mean, I think things are They're always, it's always going to compliment because now you're, you're given more of a global influence at the club, not just one department.
Trent Manning:Yeah. Yeah. Yep.
Tyler Bloom:I could certainly see a sales rep distributor rep, you know, from any of the, from any of the equipment lines. I think that would be good. But I think those kind of what I just said, somebody you've reported to somebody who reports to you. Another colleague. I mean, those three, those three things would be, you know, pretty, pretty good. But, uh, you know, again, I find in most of these searches is the candidates that get the job typically have some personal connection to that hiring manager or to that organization. So, you know, those references could be beyond what I just told you. I mean, in a simple tactic to do go on LinkedIn. Okay. Look at the hiring manager's connections that are, that you have connections with, scroll through that and see, Hey, is there somebody here that knows this hiring manager that, that could introduce me or would be, would, you know, would be happy to give a referral or a recommendation. I mean, that's, that's a pretty simple strategy. Most people don't do.
Trent Manning:Yeah, no, that's, uh, you're giving away all your secrets here. That's a really good one.
Tyler Bloom:Yeah. Yeah.
Trent Manning:it. That's awesome. Good stuff. Yeah. How do you market yourself? If you want to stay at your, your current situation and you feel like you're not receiving the right compensation.
Tyler Bloom:Oh, we might be on here for a couple hours, but to try to get it really pointed, I think self awareness. Is always a 1st step, like, before you engage in that conversation. I think, again, you need to do your homework on, you know, what are you, what value are you creating for your current employer? On a day to day basis, what kind of team player are you? What's the communication like? Are you consistent performer day in day out? I think you look at if, if your role and responsibility is tied to. You know, inventory and costs. I mean, I think having those sort of measurements. Would would certainly help that case, anything beyond the scope of the role and job description. A lot of times I find that most clubs don't even have the job description for not just their equipment manager, but a lot of key roles. So, you know, making sure that that job description is in alignment with your, your day to day and that, and that comp range. You know, again, have you, have you gotten the certificate and what, what does that bring to your facility by having that. You know, tying that certificate to performance or. Cost savings or value creation, I think that those are. Those are, those are key things that you should be documenting for yourself. Look, I think somebody that goes in today or tomorrow after they hear this and demands a 10 to 20 percent pay increase probably is going to get laughed at. And they're
Trent Manning:Yeah, yeah,
Tyler Bloom:that's really unrealistic. So a lot of it's just the tone of how you have that conversation. How can I help you? What can I do to help the organization more? And if I do that, and if I, if I do that. What does that do for for me? How am I going to be rewarded?
Trent Manning:Yeah, no, I think that's excellent advice. And yeah, obviously we are not telling any listeners to go in and tell your boss you need a 10 to 20 percent increase tomorrow because like Tyler said, that ain't happening. Um, one thing that I've done and it was through my director of agronomies, uh, it was his idea because he did want to compensate me better. Um, and this has been, I don't know, it was probably seven, eight years ago. He said, asked all our peer clubs in our area and try to find out what they're paying those guys. And so I created a survey on Google drive. I've shared it with everybody. So you could be anonymous, you know, so we wouldn't know it, you know, exactly which one it was, but we did have the number of holes you were responsible for. So that, you know, kind of gave it away a little bit, but anyway, getting all that information and seeing across the board where all your peer clubs are at, help me to, uh, Get better compensated. Another thing that I always do is anytime I find a part and I'm saving a lot of money on just one part, I always make it a point to let my director of agronomy know, let my superintendent know, you know, this part is 500 from the manufacturer and we got it on Amazon for a hundred. It's the exact same thing, you know, just. You got to sell yourself and let the club know that you're saving the club money.
Tyler Bloom:yeah, I mean, I was going to put, I was going to suggest, I don't know, a commission plan would be the right thing, but kind of what you just said, procurement of equipment sale and part sales. And if you're generating, you know, significant cost savings, we're not talking about a couple of hundred bucks, but we're talking 10%, 20%, you know, legitimate numbers. Then I think something, something should be rewarded for, for doing that work. Right. It's the same thing in my business. If our team generates more placements or generates more sales, then I'm going to reward them more for, for doing that. And, uh, and I should, I mean, that's, this is going to be kind of a random thing to say, but. I want our team to feel like they're compensated more than anywhere, so they don't leave me, but I want to reward doing the right behaviors and doing the right things. So, you know, I think having those conversations, maybe it's beyond just, you know, the equipment world, maybe it's facilities, you know, a lot of clubs I know are really struggling on, on an HVAC technician, uh, facilities managers. So I think it, it's an, it's a. It's a natural organic growth for whether it's a superintendent or equipment manager to kind of take on those responsibilities and, and provide value in the, in other areas of the club. I also find sometimes depending on where somebody's at in the stage of their career, more money's not going to change things. It's going to be, it's going to be more time off less hours during the week, or could I train somebody to take over for me? In 5 years or 3 years, and so they've lessened their load, you know, from, from the day to day ops. So I think those are some other creative things that I've seen talking with different all over the country that they've done to, you know, make, make the work situation a little bit better for themselves. That that's beyond direct compensation and pay.
Trent Manning:Yeah. And I've heard several EMS taking a facility managers role on also. And yeah, if, if you're up for it, go for it.
Tyler Bloom:Um, and I think those are things, you know, again, you start thinking about how do you differentiate yourself from other candidates. That, that's something that's going to get the eyes of a GM super intended to compensate somebody more.
Trent Manning:Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, if you want to hire a person that can grind reels. You're going to hire a person that can ground reels, and you're going to pay a person to ground reels. If you want to hire a master technician that knows how to do everything, you're going to pay for a master technician.
Tyler Bloom:Yeah.
Trent Manning:So, and yeah, setting yourself apart from the competition. I think that's how.
Tyler Bloom:One of the things that, I know we kind of talked about before, uh, you know, before we jumped into this was the trends of the search, like, okay, we just talked to you about from the candidate side. Now, from the employer side of it, the issue is getting bigger and bigger that there's not enough qualified technicians. And, and it is a major typhoon catastrophe that is happening right now, and it's going to get worse and worse. And I, again, I commend you, the GCSAA and other groups that are really trying to spearhead this next generation of technicians and equipment managers, because it's, it's a major issue. I mean, we. I'm fortunate that we work with a lot of clubs that have a good amount of resources, but that's, that's the 1 percentile. 10 percentile, there's so many other facilities that are so far behind the times. In terms of compensation and, and, and the skill sets that they have. For for that role may not even have a true equipment manager. And that's scary to think about how many facilities are. Not creating succession planning and aren't going to have access to really qualified people. And, uh, it's going to make that position harder and harder to find good quality people. And I don't, I don't know what the direct answer is. I mean, like, you and your peer group can't can't solve the. The country's problems and, you know, but you're doing it 1 step at a time. So I commend you for that, but. Clubs, clubs are, are for sure hitting a reality check. At least when they, the ones that we engage with that, this is not, this is not a role where you just take an automotive service repair tech from, from the local lube and tire place and fit them in to this niche industry. I mean, now, as you look at some of the other technologies that are in GPS sprayers, autonomous mowers. And the, and the day to day expectation of the member and golfer expectations really puts a premium on the skill set that's needed in this role. So, so I think clubs as a whole, you know, as much as the focus a lot has been on the assistant superintendent track, which is important. To me, there's even equally important that the assistant equipment manager track. It needs to be a priority and needs to be fully funded and considered. By most clubs, because I don't know what the replacements are going to look like 5 to 10 years from now, because there's not a lot of young people getting into this sector.
Trent Manning:No, it's a fact. And I think as we go along the a level clubs, if should have more assistant technicians, just to, you know, put them out into the workforce, you know, um, everybody wants to run everything. So lean and only have minimum amount of staff and all that. But if there's any way in your budget that you can bring in. Another person to help train up the next generation. It's going to be better for, you know, the whole industry. And I know the C and D level courses, they don't have those resources to do something like that. They might, they're probably lucky if they have a full time mechanic on staff. You know, more likely he's mowing, he or she's mowing grass in the morning and then working in the shop in the afternoon or something. So it's, I don't know how else to do it other than that. You know, if we can do some more stuff at the grassroots level and going to high schools and trade schools and telling them about the career path. And I do think it helps that the pay has increased and hopefully that'll open some eyes when you're talking to young individuals saying, yeah, you can easily. You know, in a couple of years, be making 70 or 80, or do you want to go to college for four years and get out and make whatever you might make
Tyler Bloom:Yeah,
Trent Manning:after college?
Tyler Bloom:so, um. A couple of things that I've seen become more. It's not more common products, but what are creative things I've seen more clubs doing is. You know, that that that relationship with the, the equipment manager and the staff members. Is so critical and it's critical and that the, um, it's pretty good with identifying who could actually help them. For part part part of the day, 2, 3, 4 hours, right?
Trent Manning:Mm
Tyler Bloom:And so I think many superintendents should be really relying on their to help. Develop that relationship from the crew. You know, because they at least understand that the day to day ops, the workflow, kind of the environment. Versus somebody off the streets, they don't always understand the club culture, the day to day grind, and some of the nuances with the roles. So, you know, I would encourage anybody listening that if you really see a staff member who has potential, punctual, listens to direction, follows through, that that's somebody maybe you should entertain, you know, pushing forward on a pathway towards becoming an equipment manager.
Trent Manning:hmm. Mm hmm.
Tyler Bloom:I would say we are finding a lot of people who a lot of people and I say that in a, in such a small, you know, scope of the amount of searches we do, but, but I'm finding people who were former assistants, former superintendents decided to go a different pathway. I think those are viable sources and being beyond the school systems, the tech schools and things like that. I mean, that's like, right in your house. You know, so being able to identify that talent, I think is a skill set in of itself and it's something that needs to be nurtured and just part of, you know, the club's fabric every year from a talent development side. And I think it's a really easy thing for somebody like you. I mean, and I just say you cause we're talking, but I think it's easy for you to, to be able to pick that person you want to work with that you can teach them on the basics, right? And then over the course of 2 to 3 years, that person's now become pretty qualified that most likely they're going to be able to go get their 1st equipment manager role. Whether it's a public or private facility.
Trent Manning:Yeah. Yeah.
Tyler Bloom:Because they've actually had a mentor teaching them how to do
Trent Manning:Oh yeah. No, I mean it, it happens a lot. It's not happening enough, but I was fortunate enough and I've told the story several times, but I'll tell it again. I was fortunate enough to have a gentleman who had retired from the U S army 22 years of service and he just needed a job, you know, after he gets out of the military. So, and I knew his brother. So I hire him and he'd worked on a lot of his own stuff throughout the year. You know, he's familiar with the motorcade or whatever. And he worked with me three years. He went, uh, down the road to another club. Another friend of mine hired him down there to basically run his own shop. He worked there two years. And now he's in a top 10 club in Georgia as the equipment manager. And I mean, don't get it wrong. He, he deserved it and he had a good head on his shoulders and he was squared away and all these things, but he's making, you know, good money five year at a top club, five years later after entering the industry. And I think that can happen over and over and over again. And. Luckily, the same friend I was referring to turn me on to a young kid. His mom is their horticulturist and he goes to high school close to my course. And he's interested in being a mechanic and he didn't know what kind of mechanic. And I talked to my powers to be, and they let me hire him in the shop and he worked all summer in the shop. So he learned how to grind reels, grind bed knives, you know, basic mower set up. And that's all he done for three months. And I mean, he was a blessing. To have around the shop. I mean, great kid, great personality, and I'm so excited to see about, you know, where he's going to go from here. And he still comes in since school started back, he's still coming in on the weekends, working Saturday and Sunday, which helps us tremendously. And then that way I can give my other guys, they're needed time off. So they're not working every weekend. I mean, it's just great to have somebody like that. So if you can fit it in your budget, uh, higher, you know, highly encourage you. Bring somebody like that in and show them the ropes and they can take care of the stuff on the weekends and help, help the whole club out.
Tyler Bloom:it. It also takes a, it also takes an outside the box thinking superintendent. As well, to to see the value of doing that for the, for the rest of the club.
Trent Manning:I would agree. Yeah. I mean, he's got to think outside the box, but I mean, honestly, I would have rather hired this kid and have him work in the shop for the whole summer than me getting a personal race. I mean, it just, I mean, it was like me getting a personal raise because I didn't have to go as hard as I normally do in the summer because we had the extra help in the shop.
Tyler Bloom:Good. Good. Well, um, I don't know. We covered quite a bit. What else? What else you got for me?
Trent Manning:I do want to talk about mentorship program. I know we'll, we'll make it quick.
Tyler Bloom:Mom will be home in a couple minutes.
Trent Manning:All right. We got it. We got to wrap this up then.
Tyler Bloom:Yep. Let's talk mentorship. I love it.
Trent Manning:Yeah. I don't. So give me us the realtors text community, some advice on how we can start a mentorship.
Tyler Bloom:Well, we just talked about that. Number one is is that you need to start it with your existing crew. You need to have that sort of program in place. Before you try to bring somebody externally in is it already should be part of your DNA. It should be part of your day to day operations. So address the low hanging fruit from a safety perspective, equipment training, you know, how you're onboarding new staff members and their training process with equipment maybe get them involved a little bit on some of the PM tire tires, oil, gas you know, get, get into a routine of that. Yeah. Make sure you have you know, make sure you have all your manuals, your training manuals, parts, manuals, all those things sort of, you know, ready to go. So it's just so it's all, it's all there ready to go.
Trent Manning:Right. Right.
Tyler Bloom:I think once you have kind of that, like onboarding phase and you have some experience practicing it, my feeling is then. You really take a look at some of your local, whether it's high schools, tech schools, career centers, and try to network with those people, you know, and try to give them a vision for what the work environment's like, you know, so again, it kind of comes back to, is your place safe? Is it organized? Is it clean? I mean, because somebody coming into that shop that knows nothing about in that facility that knows nothing about golf, golf course, maintenance or equipment management, they're gonna be turned off pretty quick. If it's a pretty disorganized sloppy shop,
Trent Manning:Oh yeah. Yeah. For
Tyler Bloom:you know, so I think those housekeeping practices are, are critical that you would want to teach somebody right out the gate. You know, and and sometimes I get this question of like, well, how do you market to those people? Things like. Social media, whether it's LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, I mean, certainly you want to be in alignment with your, your club and your superintendent on that. So you're creating some sort of a, you know, a vision and, and, and discussing what the employee culture is like. And, and I think those kind of examples really work well and, you know, excuse me, resonate with, with job seekers in general,
Trent Manning:Hmm.
Tyler Bloom:you know, and, and then I think as you get them in, you've already got sort of that initial onboarding phase. housekeeping practices, you're integrating them on the golf course as well. I think you have to show people a vision and sort of a structured pathway. You know, you start here at the bottom, but these, this competencies, we're going to work on the first 90 days. Once you master them, we're going to go on these competencies, three or four or five key areas, you know, and over the course of two, three years, you're going to be in a pretty good spot. I mean, I can name a number of guys off the top of my head that, that do stuff like that. Robert Smith at Marion, uh, Terry Apple at Overbrook Golf Club, Homo, Homo at Aronamink. John, yours up at a country club in new cannon. You know, these are guys that have, that have done that and created sort of that mentorship program. Maybe not necessarily formally, but, those are, those are people. I think you could also reach out to, like, if, if you, J. R. I bet. No, Jack,
Trent Manning:Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tyler Bloom:another great example of somebody who's doing that that think,
Trent Manning:I guess the other thing I was thinking is if you're a golf course mechanic or whatever you want to call yourself, but you've only been in the industry for a short time, whatever that is, three months, a year, two years, could we put a network together to help those people out?
Tyler Bloom:yeah,
Trent Manning:I would think, you know, say you were an automotive tech your whole life and you go to a golf course. You don't know anything about reels and cutting units, and that could be very frustrating to you. So if you had somebody to help you. Get over that hurdle. The rest of the stuff's pretty easy. You know that, I mean, if you're an auto mechanic, you can work on anything that we work on. You just have to learn the cutting unit aspect.
Tyler Bloom:yeah.
Trent Manning:I mean, the only difference I mean, you know, there's subtle differences here or there, but I guess when I was thinking mentor or like an apprentice program or something like that, I guess that's kind of what I was thinking.
Tyler Bloom:Yeah, so I will speak to you in New York. We have created that apprenticeship program with New York State turf association for a formalized program that provides education, training, mentorship and so, um, you know, that's something we've worked really hard at and it's still, you know, in the kind of beginning phases of it, but it integrates some of that education training from the G. C. S. A. A. P. Foster is an online provider that has actually like an automotive services. Certificate program that they can go through. So those are, those are some key things that I think, you know, lead itself to that, you know, sort of formalized program. And how do you, how do you get that? Well, you need somebody that's going to centrally coordinate that on behalf of the employers. You know, whether that's an association executive director, whether that's a volunteer, a board member. Somebody's got to start that initiative, you know, more on the grassroots local level. And then, and then again, you've got to have sort of accountability measurements in place that they're going to follow through with it. It's a lot of work. It's a lot, a lot of work. We've, we've done that. I've worked with them on that and, and, and like I said, we've been on it for the last year, two years and, and we're still at almost like the infant stage of it, you know, because there's a lot of organization process, procedure, you know, things to make sure that there's a, there's a coordinated effort. And that it's successful, not just a piece of paper and we want to make sure that people are using it and it follows a guideline, you know, that that's industry, industry standard.
Trent Manning:did y'all put together the guideline?
Tyler Bloom:We did.
Trent Manning:That's awesome. So good. So good. I love it.
Tyler Bloom:Yeah, so, you know, if you're a, if you're an employer, you're a. You know, association and other parts of the country, and you want to learn more about, you know, what we're doing and how we're doing that, uh, you know, certainly not to tip my tip my hat, but I would say, be happy to have that conversation and, you know, is there, is there a national apprenticeship model available there could be but I, I, I find state to state. There's, there's some things that probably should be handled by the state associations, not. Okay. Not necessarily on the national level, but you know, the national level has got the CTM program, which to me is like the, is one of the key frameworks in the whole program. We want to be building candidates and apprentices towards that CTM certification.
Trent Manning:Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, that's really good stuff and good on you for starting that. I'll, uh, I'll tip my hat to you. That's awesome, man.
Tyler Bloom:Well, it's something
Trent Manning:really good.
Tyler Bloom:well, it's something at the core of what we do. I mean, clearly the, the search and placement side is, uh, our primary business, but really what's near and dear to me is that because. This industry is in a really fragile state, uh, both the assistant superintendent level and the equipment manager level, and, and something's got to be done here. Uh, it's going to be some major pain, growing pains from, from paying customers in the next five to 10 years, if not, if not sooner, I mean, I'm sure there's a lot of facilities that are dealing with those challenges right now.
Trent Manning:Oh yeah, I'm sure. I'm sure. Well, thank you Tyler for being on. This is a great as always. Are we going to see you in Phoenix this year?
Tyler Bloom:You're going to see me in Phoenix and I might see you in Georgia in a couple months, I
Trent Manning:Oh, that's right. You're coming down in November, right?
Tyler Bloom:That's it. That's it. I was there. I was in Georgia two months ago. It was fortunately, it was not that it was not that hot and hot, hot Atlanta.
Trent Manning:Well, nice.
Tyler Bloom:it was pretty chill in June or July. I can't remember which month I was there, but, yeah, excited to get down to the assistant program. And, you know, that's part of our education too, is the assistants need to, They need to be participating in the equipment manager, manager world too. They need to dive in and develop those skill sets too. So, but yeah, no, that's, I'll be there. I'll be in Phoenix and you can follow along on our social media channels or go to my website, tylerbloomconsulting. com and you know, there'll be some good educational content coming out here in the next few months for, you know, equipment manager specifically.
Trent Manning:Awesome. Well, thank you so much. And if you are ever back in Georgia, look me up. You got my number. Come by, give me a visit. Love to see you. All right. Thank you.
Tyler Bloom:appreciate your time..
Trent Manning:thank you so much for listening to the Reel turf techs podcast. I hope you learned something today. Don't forget to subscribe. If you have any topics you'd like to discuss, or you'd like to be a guest, find us on Twitter at Reel turf techs.