HIRING AT DEAN CABINETRY

By Kevin Dean

We wanted to write this blog to talk about our hiring process at Dean Cabinetry and how to pursue a position with Dean Cabinetry.

A Sense of Who We Are

At Dean Cabinetry, our mission is to be an innovative and astonishingly great kitchen cabinet partner.

• We are a family business.
• We have a fun culture.
• We work hard.
• We help people create the heart of their homes.

At our daily morning meeting, we take turns sharing something we are grateful for.  

The other day our Warehouse manager Eric said: “I am grateful for the great team we have here at Dean”.

Our Beliefs About People

We really and truly believe the following:

Our employees are the most important part of Dean Cabinetry. Their personal and professional growth is what drives our company forward.  Our people and our unique culture are what make us different. It is each of you that makes our business exceptional. You bring our products and services to life and give us an edge over our competitors.

We believe the people we want to hire will self-select into our organization.  Meaning that they WANT to be here, and we want them here. And the people who aren’t a great fit will understand that and naturally weed themselves out of the process. We’re looking for people who are a really GREAT fit for our organization. Self-selecting into our family is important to us.

Most of all it is important that our employees LOVE what they do.  That they enjoy coming to work and they enjoy helping customers. We are really looking for longer term employees.

If you think you could be a long term employee, and that you could love working here, please follow the steps below.

These are the available roles at Dean Cabinetry (subject to change):

• Designer
• Shop Manager
• Cabinet Producer
• Cabinet Finisher
• Cabinet Assembler
• Cabinet Installer (contracted)
• Shipping and Receiving
• Shop Assistant
• Marketing Specialist
• Bookkeeper

View current open job descriptions here.

Our Hiring Process

We often receive calls from people looking for a position at Dean Cabinetry. If you are interested in a position, please read the following.

We are a growing company looking for people with specific characteristics.  Those characteristics are:

• Humble and curious.
• Punctual and dependable.
• Capable of the role.
• A willingness to improve and take pride in your work.

1. Video Resume
   1. Please email us a 2-3 minute video resume. This is the best way for us to get to know you.
      1. Here is an example: https://youtu.be/jqEvb5IG1LI
      2. This is not meant to be stressful.  Relax and be yourself. We will not share this video. We will be the only viewers. Do not worry about camera quality.
      3. Please email your video to hello@deancabinetry.com
   2. If you submit a video resume we will automatically invite you in for an interview. However, we are unwilling to invite you for an interview without a video resume.
   3. Why do we ask for a video resume? We do this because we are looking for all stars! A video resume is a unique and tough challenge. We’re a team of people who seek to go above and beyond. We hope you can be an all star too!
2. First Interview
   1. The first interview will take about 20 minutes to get to know each other. We’re looking to get a sense of your character and experience.  We are looking for the qualities of humility and curiosity. Please ask questions and listen well.
   1. Please follow up with us after the first interview.  We ask that the candidate follow up with us as part of the self selection process. We will not follow up with you.
3. Second interview
   1. The second interview will be a working day interview or trial day. We will invite you in for the opportunity to really get to know us and the position. You will come in at the start of the workday and follow alongside our team for the day, seeing the real tasks we complete.
   2. You will get a real sense of the position as well as our company culture. Please ask questions and listen well. Please bring a lunch and plan to spend lunch time with our team.
   3. At the end of the day the department managers will meet with you to get your feedback and to give our feedback.
   4. Please take some time to reflect on the day and really picture yourself contributing to the team. If you strongly feel that this is the position and environment for you, please follow up with us to continue with the self-selection process.
4. Offer of Employment
   1. If all the interviews go well and the candidate continues to express a strong desire to self-select into Dean Cabinetry, then we will extend an offer of employment.

Training Period

Once an offer of employment is made by Dean Cabinetry, and it is accepted by the candidate, the training period begins.

Your manager will be responsible for your schedule and training of the role. If at any time in the first three months, the new employee is found to not be performing within Dean Cabinetry, said employee will be dismissed.

Subsequently, if after three months of training, it is clear that the employee is a great fit for the Dean team, their training period will end, and they become a full employee.

Personal Development Interviews

The purpose of our performance management process is to develop our employees’ unique skills and talents while motivating them to live and breathe our company mission. It includes feedback, goals, encouragement, and clear expectations. We want to live by our company values and create well-being for our employees and their families.

Our department managers will conduct frequent 1 on 1s, to review your job progress within our company and help you set new development plans. Our performance review program provides the basis for better understanding between you and your supervisor regarding your job performance, potential, and development within the company. Our goal with these interviews are to: keep it simple, have frequent interaction, focus on the future, and get employees to self-track.

Our reviews are about improvement.  They’re not about pay.  There is no time table for pay increases.  Increases are based on personal improvement and there is no set time table for this.

Growing with Dean Cabinetry

We are deeply committed to growing our people and our business. Therefore, we plan to promote from within whenever possible. It is our goal to employ lifetime employees and create a place where prosperous lifetime careers are possible.

For example, Paul Kowal has been with us for over 11 years. He started installing for John and did that for many years.  About 5 years ago he transitioned into our office and is now a custom designer working with clients to create their dream kitchens.

Certainly, we hope all of our employees can grow with our company.  We want to provide the framework for growth and the pursuit of excellence.  Going back to our mission statement, our goal is to be an innovative and astonishingly great kitchen cabinet partner. This partnership starts with the commitment to our team.

In short, our employees are everything.  Their success is our success. Let’s grow together.