The Opportunity (PART I)

I wasn’t against taking the bus to Hilo. It just didn’t make a whole lot of sense. An eight hour round trip for 2.5 hours of training that most likely included a lunch break? Two days in a row? After all, I had been offered a job at the recycling redemption center. How difficult can that be? I’m sure I know the difference between plastic, aluminum and glass. Give me a pair of gloves and I’ll go to work.

When I saw the ad posted on Craig’s List it looked like the perfect job to make some spare cash. Let’s face it. Craig’s List? How “professional” can the job be? The company’s name wasn’t even posted with the ad. The posting said to email for an application. No link? I wrote a little cover letter and requested the application.

The reply came quickly. It was suggested I submit the application soon. Interviews were being scheduled in the near future. A couple days later I got a call for an interview at the recycling center in Kona. When I showed up, the place was closed. The sign out front said Out of Cash. Under a tarp, five people sat around a fold down banquet table. It was 12:15 pm so I assumed the employees were on their lunch break. Probably had a good game of dominoes going. I’ve seen them play when I’ve returned cans and bottles for redemption. But I discovered I stumbled on a four-on-one interview in progress. I returned to my scooter, listened and waited my turn.

I've utilized the team interview process many times as a manufacturing manager. I wasn’t expecting it here. Their methodical approach asked questions to assess qualities deemed important: team and social skills, conflict resolution and honesty. However, I almost laughed when first asked, “Tell me a little about yourself.” When I coach people for job interviews I told them to prepare a two minute pitch that doesn’t involve marital status, age, religion, ailments, weird hobbies or flat out denials of drug use and tendencies to fight. Pet peeves are also not a good idea.

To be honest,I didn’t reveal my entire work experience on my application. The fact that I once hired and fired hundreds of employees, made strategic decisions for large corporations, or owned a consulting business didn’t seem to be relevant to picking through a barrel of aluminum cans looking for rocks. I simple wrote I had been a security guard for the past three years. The honesty card. But at the end of the interview Shon asked if there was anything I wanted to share that wasn’t on my application. I sighed and quickly summarized: Director of Human Resources, Manufacturing Manager, Business Owner, Landlord. I stayed away from house painter, bathroom remodeler, and certainly I never told them I wrote some book.

I got the offer contingent upon passing the drug test. Okay, I can say no problem, but you'd be amazed at how many positive test results there are after people say, "no problem." Here's a Hawaiian statistic: One out of ten drivers coming toward you down the road is under the influence of something they shouldn't be.

My problem was that the training was in Hilo, the other side of the island and over a 100 miles away. I didn’t understand why I had to go to Hilo to learn how to sort cans. Sure the company had to make sure the chain of custody was not broken in handling the urine sample. Sure they got to verify employment status. Okay, issue uniforms and safety equipment. And review the handbook rules. And discuss customer service issue. And watch a safety video. And teach the best way to sort a barrel full of recyclables.

I arrived in Hilo and stepped off the bus at the last stop. Margaret was waiting. My assumption: she had tidied up the morning mail distribution, made the coffee for the guys in the office, completed the payroll and then she was sent to pick me up. On the ride to the plant I engaged in small chitchat.
“How long have you worked with Hawaii Business Services?”
“Oh, I don’t work for the company. I own it.”
“Then you work,” I quickly recovered.
She explained that 25 years ago her sister and she had a truck. Her sister drove. She picked up the trash. They had 40 customers. “And now,” she swept her hand out to the building coming up on the right, a huge warehouse without a visible scrap of rubbish in sight.

Inside a meeting room, 35 people were wedged around two long tables. All new hires. What I didn’t know was the company was doubling its workforce from 30 to 60. They had been awarded the redemption contract for the island of Hawaii. They needed to man ten sites. And the antiquated pencil and paper system used by the old company was being upgraded with a new computer/weight and tracking system.

If I were to get home that night, I had to catch the 1:10 pm bus, but I was able to stay longer when one of the other new hires volunteered to take me home along with another guy who had been on the bus. (Island Transportation PART II). Staying the afternoon gave me the opportunity to take a plant tour. I wished I had my camera when a truck load of plastic returnable bottles were dumped into a conveyor belt that herded them into the BADGER, a press that crunched them into a 1000 pound bale. Put me in a plant and I’m excited. That’s why I got into manufacturing.

At the end of the day we were assigned to one of the newly constructed portable offices. We assembled our glass topped desk. A team project. We finished first. I joked it was a Survivor exercise, except we were already in redemption. We split up and helped the other teams. The competition wasn’t even close.

At the end of the second day, the company staff (the same people who had interviewed me) made their assignments: cashiers, sorters or leads. I got lead. I get to operate the scales and computer and make sure the team functions as one cohesive unit. Oh, Boy! I thought I was sorting recyclables.