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Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2013 6:56 pm
by r896neo
Was trying out a new employee today, he had a few days of shifting stuff and was not great.
My major irk being that he would take a shovelful from a ton bag then walk 2 steps to deposit it in the barrow. I showed him the error of his ways relatively tactfully.
Then it was the turn of the mixer. He has no experience of sites or any kind of hard landscaping or building so i was gentle and showed him the order and demonstrated with the first gauge.
So as not to confuse him with ratios and him having to convert them from 3:2:1 to 12:8:4 (which is rocket science i know) I decided to tell him how many shovels of each.
My exact words were 12 shovels of stones 8 of sand and 4 cement.
I got something resembling grey porridge and I asked him how much cement he put in...
''Er just 4''
''4 shovels?''
''No 4 bags''...
Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2013 7:05 pm
by rab1
Wish him all the best, we go through loads of these idiots.
Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2013 7:28 pm
by bodgeitandscarper
Give him a chance! He's most probably nervous and trying to impress.
Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2013 7:34 pm
by Dave_L
Yeah....but 4 bags of cem?? That is just wanton stupidity
Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2013 7:49 pm
by r896neo
What concerns me is that he seems more absent minded than stupid.
The barrow thing really got on my wick because 1st time fair mistake. I mentioned to him to move the barrow so you can shovel without having to turn around or walk to it.
He was doing it again later so i briefly nodded to it and he moved it and acknowledged it. There was then a 3rd time after that.
Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2013 8:57 pm
by local patios and driveway
get rid, he will get on benifits in the end anyway.
Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2013 9:11 pm
by parishpaver
Got my latest young'un on the Work Incentive Scheme.
Local provider gave me a load of (mostly) suitable candidates to interview and an office to see them in.
Chose the one with the least experience but the most stable work history.
He's absolutely mustard... a proper grafter,keen to learn, listens to me and does what he's told.
And on Friday he's been on six months and I get a nice £2275 from the DWP put in the bank as a thank you.
A far better result than had from taking on some Charlie from the pubs brother who's "done it all".
Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2013 5:22 pm
by ilovesettsonmondays
You pay peanuts you get monkeys
Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2013 8:24 pm
by dig dug dan
how did he fit 4 bags in the mixer with the sand anyway??
Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2013 9:20 pm
by Carberry
r896neo wrote:What concerns me is that he seems more absent minded than stupid.
The barrow thing really got on my wick because 1st time fair mistake. I mentioned to him to move the barrow so you can shovel without having to turn around or walk to it.
He was doing it again later so i briefly nodded to it and he moved it and acknowledged it. There was then a 3rd time after that.
Sounds like my daft brother. PhD in physics, doing some mumbo jumbo about quantum mechanics that most physicists don't even understand and he tried to push a wheelbarrow full of concrete upstairs. Ended up with it all over recently laid slabs :laugh:
Worked with a moron who told lorry driver to tip a load of type 1 at bottom of a big hill, instead of the top, everyone wanted to kill him.
Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 5:33 pm
by London Stone Paving
Carberry wrote:Worked with a moron who told lorry driver to tip a load of type 1 at bottom of a big hill, instead of the top, everyone wanted to kill him.
There out there Stewart. Going back to the OP. This dude sounds like a WOS to me. In my experienece they either get it or they dont. Also you cant teach common sense
Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 5:54 pm
by r896neo
Thought i would get some good stories after posting mine.
He is finishing out the week and that will be the last of him.
He just has that i'm being 'paid to be here' mentality rather than paid to work.
Cheers
Simon
Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 6:13 pm
by peg basher
a couple of years ago i was working for the main contractor and the subbie foreman sent a lad to go and fill the dumper up with diesel... half hour later he came back at crawling pace with the skip full to the brim with cherry! 
Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 7:29 pm
by KLS
peg basher wrote:a couple of years ago i was working for the main contractor and the subbie foreman sent a lad to go and fill the dumper up with diesel... half hour later he came back at crawling pace with the skip full to the brim with cherry!
Thats amazing!
I dont think we have had anything particularly idiotic, just the usual inefficient stuff lads do when they start out.
Managed to get a lad to fall for glass hammer and getting a new level bubble in the same day before! Hes a mate who wanted a job, lasted 3 days, but still gets stick in the pub.
Had a lad who moved a foot pump so he could get his barrow past with a flat tire!
Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 7:36 pm
by rab1
We had a lad who was asked to get a box of bolts from the container, think 5-10min round trip at about 9am, turned up the next day as he just decided to go home as he was tired.