Neeljym Search Group

10/21/2026

10/20/2026

Would you pass on a qualified candidate because they showed up to an interview with a Starbucks coffee?

Some hiring managers wouldn't think twice about it. Others would wonder why someone couldn't leave their coffee in the car for an hour. Same goes for the phone that keeps dinging or the smartwatch they keep checking.

As the candidate, you'd never know.

You might think the interview went well, only to hear the company decided to go with someone else.

You can argue that judging someone over coffee or a glance at a smartwatch is ridiculous.

But if you're interviewing for a job you really want, why give someone a reason to question you over something so small?

Full article in the first comment.

10/19/2026

Can Bringing a Starbucks Coffee to a Job Interview Cost You the Job?

You can have the experience. The qualifications. Everything the company says it wants. And still lose the job because you walked in holding a Starbucks cup.

Sounds ridiculous. Maybe it is. But you don't get to decide what matters to the person across the table.

Workplaces have gotten more casual. Dress codes relaxed, video calls became the norm, and employees got comfortable. But what feels normal at your desk doesn't always make the right impression in an interview.

Just because employees wear jeans to work doesn't mean you should wear them to the interview. And just because people bring coffee to meetings doesn't mean the hiring manager wants you walking in sipping a venti iced caramel macchiato.

The job market has shifted. Employers can afford to be picky again, especially when they have several strong candidates to choose from.

A Harris Poll survey found that 53% of hiring managers identified inappropriate attire as a reason to disqualify a candidate. Another 44% cited unprofessional body language, and 41% cited answering calls or texting during an interview.

Different managers have different expectations. Some won't think twice about your coffee. Others may question how seriously you're taking the opportunity.

You have no way of knowing which one you're sitting across from.

When several candidates have similar qualifications, small impressions can carry real weight. Nobody's going to tell you that your smartwatch bothered them or that cracking open an energy drink made the wrong impression. You'll just hear they went with someone else.

If you're interviewing for a job you really want, leave the coffee in the car. Silence your phone. Stop checking your smartwatch. Research the company and dress appropriately.

None of this guarantees you'll get hired. It just keeps something unnecessary from working against you.

So, is it really coffee that costs people the job? Or are hiring managers taking professionalism too far?

10/16/2026

AI is helping manufacturers make more. That additional production still has to be sold.

Some of it may go to existing customers.

The rest may require new accounts, new territories or markets the company couldn't pursue before.

That can change more than the number of salespeople you need.

It can change who you need.

The salesperson who has spent years growing existing accounts may not be the person who can go out and open new ones.

If AI increases what your plant can produce, your sales team may need to change with it.

Full article in the first comment.

10/15/2026

AI Is Increasing Manufacturing Throughput. Is Your Sales Team Still Sized for the Old Capacity?

AI is helping manufacturers make more with the people and equipment they already have. But if you can make more product, can your sales team sell more product?

A manufacturer can spend millions increasing production capacity and still leave the commercial side staffed for the old capacity. A [2026 study of more than 140 manufacturers](https://www.deloitte.com/ch/en/Industries/industrial-construction/perspectives/ai-in-manufacturing.html) found that 84% were already generating measurable value from AI, with average improvement potential of around 20% across core operational measures, including production.

As AI increases manufacturing throughput, companies may need additional sales and business development capacity to create enough demand for the additional output. The salesperson needed for that growth may also be different from those already on the team.

Some of that additional output may go to existing customers. The rest has to be sold to new ones.

Someone who has spent years growing existing accounts may have very different experience from someone who has spent those years opening new ones.

Additional business could come from a new territory, a different application, or customers the company couldn't pursue before because the plant lacked the capacity to support them.

Each opportunity can change the person you're looking for. Someone may know your product extremely well but have few relationships in the market you want to enter. Another salesperson may already know those customers but need to learn your product.

Increasing production capacity can change the sales job before anyone changes the job description.

When additional production capacity is coming, companies have time to plan for the sales side before they need the additional business.

The people with the right experience may already be selling for a competitor, distributor, or company in an adjacent market. Finding them may take longer than bringing the additional production capacity online.

10/13/2026

A construction company hiring a Project Manager has a position to fill.

A company hiring Talent Acquisition people is expecting a whole lot more positions to fill.

We're seeing more of those openings in commercial construction.

Interest rates are still high. Materials are expensive. Financing hasn't gotten much easier.

Those are the same problems that have kept projects on hold for years.

But at some point, you have to make money. You can't keep waiting for everything to line up perfectly.

How much construction work is getting ready to move forward while everyone is still talking about how difficult the market is?

Full article in the first comment.

10/12/2026

Why Is Commercial Construction Hiring When Conditions Haven't Improved?

For the last few years, there were plenty of reasons to put commercial construction projects on hold.

Interest rates were high, materials were expensive, and financing was difficult. Why move forward if the numbers might look better six months from now?

But six months came and went, and things didn't improve.

According to Associated Builders and Contractors, construction input prices were 8.9% higher in August than a year earlier. Nonresidential construction inputs were up 8.8%.

Those weren't the lower costs companies had been waiting for.

Yet projects are moving again. Private nonresidential construction spending increased 1% from July to August, and construction backlog climbed to 8.5 months.

By September, nonresidential contractors had added 142,000 employees over the previous 12 months, a 2.9% increase.

Companies have decided the wait is over. At some point, you have to make money. You can't wait forever for better conditions.

More and more Talent Acquisition openings are also popping up at construction companies.

If a general contractor hires a Project Manager, they need one Project Manager.

If they hire Talent Acquisition, they expect to hire many more.

AGC's 2026 Workforce Survey found that 82% of contractors had salaried openings, and nearly three-quarters expected to add employees over the next 12 months.

But the candidate pool didn't grow while projects waited.

Construction unemployment was just 3.5% in September. Among contractors with salaried openings, 87% said those positions were as hard or harder to fill than a year earlier.

Experienced Project Managers, Superintendents, Estimators, and Preconstruction professionals are still working somewhere. Many aren't looking for another job.

As more contractors start hiring, they'll be competing for many of the same people.

The reasons companies were waiting haven't disappeared. Materials are still expensive. Financing is still difficult.

But projects are moving, backlog is growing, and contractors are hiring.

Commercial construction isn't waiting for better conditions anymore. It's getting back to business.

10/10/2026

“I have a non-compete.”

For some companies, that's enough to cross a good industrial salesperson off the list.

But what does the non-compete prevent them from doing?

A salesperson coming out of hydraulics may be considering a job in motion control, pneumatics, automation or thermal management. The new position may involve different products, customers or territory.

Could the non-compete stop them from taking the job? Absolutely.

But do you know that it does?

When you're already looking for someone who knows the customers, understands the applications and can sell, that's a hard candidate to lose over an assumption.

Full article in the first comment.

10/08/2026

The Industrial Sales Candidate You’re Overlooking Because of a Non-Compete

A strong industrial salesperson comes across your desk. They know the customers. They understand the applications. Their background could transfer well into your market.

Then you hear, “I have a non-compete,” and everything comes to a screeching halt.

The agreement may prevent them from taking the position. But before crossing them off the list, it may be worth finding out what they're restricted from doing.

A salesperson selling hydraulics may know many of the same customers as someone selling motion control, pneumatics, automation, or thermal management. The products are different, but the applications, customers, and technical knowledge can overlap.

That can make someone from an adjacent market a very good candidate.

As hydraulic companies move into areas such as thermal management, some people with relevant experience may be working in adjacent markets. Some may have non-competes with their current employers.

But what does the agreement actually restrict?

A salesperson could have a non-compete with a hydraulics company and be considering a position selling a different product into a different territory or to different customers.

Is that prohibited? Maybe. Maybe not.

Non-compete laws vary by state, and what an agreement prevents someone from doing depends on its terms and applicable law. When there's doubt, the candidate and company should seek appropriate legal advice.

The question is whether the candidate should have been crossed off the list before anyone got that far.

Industrial sales searches can already have a small candidate pool, especially when companies want technical knowledge, customer familiarity, and a track record in a particular market.

Add product experience, geography, and compensation, then automatically eliminate anyone who mentions a non-compete, and that pool gets even smaller.

Some candidates will legitimately be off-limits. Others may not be.

A non-compete may eliminate a candidate. The assumption that it does shouldn't.