AMBASSADOR UPDATES
TJ’s advice on the challenges and market changes relevant to SME construction companies searching for talent on the West Coast.
Frequency: every month or two.
Introduction: Why These Four Traits Matter in Hiring Hiring isn’t just about finding someone with the right experience—it’s about finding someone who can thrive in a healthy, high-performing culture. At Ambassador Group, we’ve worked with hundreds of hiring managers, candidates, and leadership teams, and time and again, we’ve seen that the difference between a great […]
🚧 Hiring Mistakes Are Costly—But So Is Over-Screening Hiring the wrong person can cost your construction company thousands in lost productivity, rework, and morale damage. But rejecting the right candidate because of a misunderstood red flag? That’s just as expensive. The key is knowing the difference between real warning signs and coachable quirks. Let’s break […]
Hiring great talent isn’t just about asking the right questions—it’s about asking the right questions at the right time. Too often, interviewers repeat the same questions across multiple rounds, wasting valuable time and missing the opportunity to build on previous discussions. The solution? A structured interview strategy that ensures every interviewer walks into their session […]
When most construction leaders think of recruiters, they picture a basic process:📥 Resumes arrive.📅 Interviews get scheduled.🤷♂️ The recruiter disappears. If the hire works out—great. If not—oh well. But here’s the truth: hiring is one of the most emotionally charged, high-stakes decisions a business makes. It impacts everything—project outcomes, culture, morale, reputation, and profit. And […]
Vague titles don’t just confuse candidates—they slow your search, waste recruiter time, and create avoidable hiring risk. Here’s how to fix it. 🚨 Assumptions About Titles Are Quietly Wrecking Your Hiring Process In construction, job titles are not standardized. They evolve inside each company based on culture, tenure, and history—not on clear market function. That’s […]
Too many recruiters get stuck trying to compensate for: And they burn out trying to “sell” something that isn’t ready to be sold. At Ambassador Group, we don’t do that. Because great recruiting isn’t about masking dysfunction—it’s about matching great candidates with clear, aligned, growth-ready teams. That’s why we’re selective. We partner with construction companies […]
The average American employee now stays just 4.1 years at a job—a number that keeps shrinking. In construction, it’s even shorter in many roles. And if you’ve tried hiring lately, you’ve probably felt it. This trend isn’t just a generational quirk or a symptom of job-hopping culture. It’s a signal. And smart construction leaders are […]
Imagine driving on a highway with no lane markers, no traffic signals, and no agreed-upon rules. 🚗 Cars weave unpredictably.🚦 Drivers hesitate, second-guessing every move.⚠️ Accidents happen because no one knows who has the right of way. Now, picture an interview process without structure: ❌ Everyone evaluates everything instead of focusing on specific areas.❌ Interviewers […]
Onboarding is more than just paperwork and training—it’s an emotional experience that can make or break a new hire’s success. The first few weeks on the job determine whether an employee feels valued, supported, and set up for success—or if they’re left feeling stressed, unprepared, and confused. Great leaders actively manage the emotional experience of […]
We analyzed 200+ construction hires over 7 years. The trends reveal both progress and risk. If you’re a construction leader, you’ve probably noticed that Project Manager and Superintendent compensation has climbed steadily. Our data confirms it: salaries have risen meaningfully in recent years. But there’s a second trend buried in the data—and it’s more dangerous. […]
