� The Web isn’t the total recruiting solution, but itcan reveal industry-specific services.

“We’re getting people with specific ex-perience in a specific industry. We’renot going to push 100 résumés by youand get you three qualified people.”

Don’t call us, we’ll call you.As unfair as it may seem, the pro-ducer who wants to get out of a badsituation isn’t very marketable; re-cruiters are looking for producers ingood situations who might want tohear about better ones.

“I have a number of individualswho we keep at arm’s reach; they’revery happy in their positions, and theyexcel at what they do,” says Geb Bas-sett of Concrete Industry AssociatesEmployment Agency, Grand Haven,Mich. “They’re not interested in mak-ing a job change; however, we do de-velop a rapport with these individu-

als and maintaincontact with themover time.”

“The key to theindustry is net-working; everybodyknows somebody,”adds Linstead. “Youplace people in acompany and they’resatisfied, your namegets passed along,and you get a call:‘I’m a friend of afriend; I understandyou helped him find

BY DON TALEND

Several recruiters who specialize inthe concrete industries whom I’vetalked to would tell you that the

Internet is not your key to career suc-cess. Although all of the recruiterslisted here have an online presence,their Web sites give you just a tasteof the services they offer.

Unfortunately, several well-pub-licized Web sites have promised a tech-nological career fast track in the pastfew years as they’ve tried to dominatethe recruiting game. But longtimeindustry recruiters say that there’s nosubstitute for networking, especiallyin a close-knit industry such as ours.They’d tell you that they do the net-working for you.

I went into these conversationsthinking that these recruiters wouldindicate resentment toward sites thattry to be all things to all people (a.k.a.“mega sites”). Actually, these sites havemade their jobs easier. They think thefollowing concepts sum up their com-petitive advantages over mega sites:

Casual looking is a turnoff.Mega sites are “for passive job seekers;they’re dipping their toes in the water,”says Rick Linstead of Carnegie Re-sources, Charlotte, N.C. “There areplenty of people who are not seriousabout making a change unless a posi-tion is five minutes from home andthey’ll get a $10,000 raise.” MichaelStauffer of United Employment As-sociates, Allentown, Pa., says that thesesites may not save hiring managersmuch time during the recruiting process.If you go to a mega site and enter“plant manager” in an online search,“You’ll be lucky if one or two of thosehave any precast experience,” he says.

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a job.’” When Linstead does make coldcalls, he looks up companies by SIC code.“I call up and ask for the plant super-intendent. You find that most of themhave been in the business 20-plus years,and most are pretty happy where theyare, but they may know someone whohas left recently or someone who islooking for a job.”

Confidentiality is king. “The keyto the business is confidentiality,” saysLinstead. “I don’t disclose people toclients until such point as they’re readyto do a phone interview. I discuss thecandidate’s background and work his-tory and give them a summary of whoI’m working with.” The concrete pro-duction industry is trickier than most,he adds. Many times “You’re not awareof what the parent company is; one hasto be very cautious of that, so I’ve gotlists of all of the divisions and all ofthe names.” He adds that he’s alsocareful because many companies havereciprocal no-compete agreements.

Stauffer doesn’t call companiesthat candidates don’t want him to call.“We won’t release their names to any-body without their permission if that’sthe way they’d like it—that’s the waywe do probably 90% of our dealings,”he says. “We screen the position withthe candidate and make sure he’s OKwith it. There are no names; we eventry to pull off any geographic location.On the Web site you get a synopsis ofwho the person is.”

So there’s much more to indus-try-specific recruiters than just their Websites. Here are a few I’ve found:

■ Carnegie Resources. The 55-year-old firm specializes in the con-crete block and paver industry. Can-didates can apply for positions onlineand enter a database by filling out acomprehensive questionnaire.www.carnegieresources.com/concrete.htm

■ Concrete Industry AssociatesEmployment Agency. The more-than-25-year-old company’s stated missionis finding professionals who excel but

who are not actively seeking a change.www.concretejob.prodigybiz.com

■ ConcreteCareers.com. The firm,around since 1977, has recruiters whospecialize in different areas of the in-dustry such as ready-mix, precast, andeven materials sales. It conducts searchesfor employers, and its “Available Tal-ent” link describes anonymous candi-dates. www.concretecareers.com

■ United Employment Associ-ates. This firm has been in businesssince 1973 and also has recruiting spe-cialists, although its searches aren’t al-ways confined to the industry. Its sitelists available anonymous candidatesand allows employers to submit avail-able positions online. www.unitedemployment.com

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