Brian Drucks describes his musical style as classic rock with an R&B spin, almost like Al Green singing tunes by the Rolling Stones. But he also knows selling his band — which plays professionally on the weekends — requires hearing their sound, not just reading a description.
The same is true of recruiting. Reading a resume isn’t the same as seeing someone’s qualifications, especially when it comes to construction and the trades.
To that end, Drucks founded networking platform Where Trades Go, which announced a partnership with Passaic County Community College in New Jersey on May 14. With about 3,500 current users, Drucks says the app has plans to announce deals with three other schools in the Garden State with hopes to expand further.
Here, Drucks talks with Construction Dive on the platform’s dating app origins, the state of the emerging workforce and risk mitigation in hiring.
Editor’s note: The following has been edited for brevity and clarity.
CONSTRUCTION DIVE: What is Where Trades Go? How did the app get started?
Brian Drucks: Well, I started in construction at 14 in a family business and I’m still involved. I have a commercial painting company: We did Giants Stadium, the American Dream Mall. But, being in the various positions that I've been in, I realized the biggest problem we have is labor. Labor is anywhere from 60% to 80% of our billing. The labor shortage is just out of control.
Everybody is doing the same thing: “Send me your resume, send me your resume, and maybe we'll use AI to read your resume.” But resumes don't work for construction people, just like resumes don't work for musicians. You have to hear their sound. In construction, you have to see their work.
The concept actually came from a dating app. I went out in a town I was new to and saw all these people out on a Wednesday night. They were all in their fifties and most of them were single. And then the next night in a different place it was the same scenario. I asked, “How do you all know each other? Everybody seems to know each other.” They all met on dating apps.
I realized that was the future of old-school networking for business, and that’s what the app is. It's an old-school matchmaker, but using the technology of a dating app to connect all levels of people looking to get into the trades, already in the trades or wanting to retire and find a teaching position. And on the flip side, pairing them with educational facilities and job facilities.
How does the app work?
A school has all their students create profiles, just like a dating app. The difference is in our check boxes. Say you have an OSHA 30 card, say you've got any certification. You can check those boxes.
But on our platform, you then have to upload all those things so they're visible. You have to upload either pictures of your work or videos of your work. You have to verify your identity by using a government database and a photograph of you.
We’re reducing the risk and the hire, and then contractors can go to whatever local trade school they have in their area, and, for no cost to them, hire either those students or any of their alumni all through the school's website.
Are you seeing interest from the emerging workforce in construction?
There is certainly interest. Higher than ever because associations and not-for-profits are working to get people interested. The biggest disconnect is that the current youth coming into the trades have no experience in what the trades are about. They haven't built a tree fort, they haven't built a go-kart, they haven't worked with tools and hammers.
Let’s be honest, for most of them, families look at $250,000 for college and decide, “That is not doable, let's look at the trades.” So yes, that has generated interest, but the interest isn't based on anything other than saving money.
I think we're seeing like 35% retention. The balance is falling off. And that failure of about 70% is, I think, based on two things. One is unrealistic expectations for those coming in. They don't really know what construction's all about. And then two is that the mentoring process for the people that are already in the trades, they don't know how to talk the language of a 20-year-old, a 17-year-old. So there is a little friction, and that friction is hurting.
What sets this apart from any other recruiting platform?
You can think of the app as a connector, but also as a risk mitigator or vetting tool. If, during the onboarding process, I ask you to do 10 things and you only do five, imagine when I bring you on a construction site and you only do half the tasks or you did three of the 10 things wrong. That is the pain point we have hiring for construction.
It takes 90 days to actually understand that pain. That's why most benefits usually don't kick in for 90 days. If you hire somebody at $18 an hour and you mentor them for three months, you've got a minimum investment of $30,000. So if I'm a company hiring, I'm really avoiding risk by avoiding hiring newbies who haven’t been vetted in some way.
We're hearing a lot of resistance from companies that are willing to take a chance on new hires and going it alone. They want somebody in between the entry to the trades and those hiring them. That could be a union apprentice program. That could be a trade school.
Because if you're going to spend the money to go to a trade school or make it through the interviews and the apprentice programs of a union, by the time it gets to the hiring, you've removed 80% of the risk that's associated with that.
