For Hire!

It's over.

I found out about two weeks ago that my time at Fieldstone Homes was at an end.  12 years of sweat, of tears, and yes, blood too, gone.  They gave me a week to clean things up and pass of the critical information.  My department has now been completely eliminated.  

I'm okay though.  It's been a great run and I'm thankful for the 12 good years I had.  Now I'm excited for new opportunities. 

I've been on the hunt now for about a week and have seen some success.  Two good interviews and lots of support from friends. 

My biggest concern is that there are only about three or four jobs like mine in the market.  So I'll need to focus on my skills and abilities, my history and my potential more than what my job title has been for the last six years. 

Here's my resume. It's an odd post, but its what I'm focused on these days.

Clark Graff

  linkedin.com/in/clarkgraff

Summary

Construction Professional with extensive experience in residential home building and warranty management. 

Worked for several small to mid-sized, privately held, homebuilding companies.

Strengths include: problem solving, eye for detail, cost containment, and systems streamlining.

Experience

Fieldstone Homes

Warranty/Customer Service Manager 2004 to 2010

Responsible for win/win resolution of all homeowner complaints. Also responsible for department budgets.

• Reduced yearly cost per home from $620 to $280 in three years.
• Cut request for service cycle time from 14 to 8 working days.
• Improved customer satisfaction rating from 90% to 98%.
• Trained and developed strong warranty team over three year period.
• Introduced time and cost saving procedures later implemented by entire division.

Customer Service Representative 1998 to 2004

Responsible for maintaining customer satisfaction rating and keeping within allotted budget. Managed homeowner requests for service for multiple subdivisions. Scheduled and supervised subcontractors making repairs.

• Implemented computer and quality control systems.

Shadow Mountain Furniture Company

Co-owner / Production & Office Manager 1997 to 1998

Managed production, scheduling, quality control and delivery of furniture and wood railing products.

Responsible for bookkeeping, contract bidding, research, design and development of new ideas.

• Managed the construction and delivery of $900,000 in product over two years.
• Participated in business planning and forecasting.
• Supervised 10 craftsmen and 2 office staff.

Augusta WoodWorks

Owner/Operator 1996 to 1997

Managed company, bookkeeping and construction of custom furniture, as well as sales, estimating and bidding of contracts. Concentrated efforts directed toward craftsmanship and customer satisfaction.

McArthur Homes

Field Superintendent 1995 to 1996

Responsible for all scheduling related to subcontractors, suppliers, and inspectors. Supervised construction and quality control of new homes. Managed customer service related to neighborhood.

Education

Salt Lake Community College - Studied Business Administration & Construction Management. 1992 to 1996

Spencer Real Estate School - Passed State of Utah Real Estate Exam 1995

Other Interests

• Boy Scouts of America Woodbadge Certified 2010
• Recipient of the National Philanthropy Day Heart and Hands Award 2003
• LDS Church Service Missionary, Chicago, Illinois 1989 to 1991
• Interests: writing, photography, architecture, woodworking

Payday? Again? Already?

First Posted 05-01-09

Yesterday at work, I went back to the mail room and found an envelope in my inbox. I opened it and was surprised to find a check made out to me. Every two weeks or so, at least twice a month, this same thing happens. It’s the coolest thing and it amazes me every time.

So here’s how it works. I go to this place every day. Well, actually it starts earlier than that.

Other people working for this place send me emails all day, a lot of them, starting long before I get there. It’s my job to fix problems; I’m the Professional Problem Solver. So they email me questions or problems, sometimes before I even think about getting out of bed. Buzz-buzz . . . buzz-buzz. I read the emails and decide what to do. I give the person on the other end an answer and we go from there.

Sometimes I get so many emails in a morning that I end up getting to the office really late. I know it doesn’t make much sense, but that makes me feel bad. Maybe it’s because I kind of like hanging out there. Not so much in the office, but just the whole company in general. It’s a great place to be and I get to hang out with smart and cool people who are interesting and sometimes funny. When I’m not there, who knows what I might be missing?

I actually spend quite a bit of time away from there as well. A lot of what they ask me to do involves driving for thirty minutes or an hour, looking at something that’s broken, or talking to someone who’s frustrated, solving another problem, and then driving back again to the office. I enjoy this part quite a bit too.

On these drives, I will answer the phone, but I usually won’t check emails as they come in. That’s against the law, you know – and probably dangerous too. So to use the time wisely, I listen to a lot of recorded books. I’ve listened to more than a hundred of them in the 11 years I have been hanging out at this place: novels, self help, scriptures, business topics, and whatever else I’m into at that moment.

Maybe you can see why this regular paycheck in my inbox is such a treat. In this time of economic recession, when so many of my friends are out of work, I not only have a job, I have one that suits me well, and that, dare I say, I like.

So as long as I get things done every day, make people happy, and solve lots of problems, somebody at the office keeps putting checks in my inbox, month after month after month.

It’s such a cool system.