Roofing is a Great Career

By Heidi J. Ellsworth, Partner RoofersCoffeeShop.

The first step is to get into the roofing industry.

When I graduated from University of Portland in 1986, I had no idea I would have the wonderful career in roofing that I have experienced.  In fact, if you talk to most roofing professionals who did not grow up in the roofing industry, they would say the same, “I never planned to be in roofing.”

But here we are and to a person, I know how proud we all are to be part of the roofing industry.  Vickie Sharples, who started RoofersCoffeeShop along with Roofers Exchange, saw the career opportunity in roofing at the age of 17.  She jumped in with both feet to be one of the best roof tile sales reps in Southern California and she never looked back.

That is why we are both so passionate about getting more people into roofing whether it is on the roof or in the office.  We have been working with the great people at Tremco and they have the same sentiments.  They are looking nationally for people to work with them in all types of positions.  In visiting with Mardee Billingsley, Global VP of WTI (service subsidiary of Tremco Roofing & Building Maintenance), she really wanted to express how important it is just to “get in.”

“I started out in an administrative position at Tremco handling a national account,” stated Billingsley.  “I took that job working from home and spent a lot of time reading specs, correcting specs, doing material takeoffs, and learning as I went. Before you knew it, I began running job meetings and that quickly turned into me becoming a construction manager, since the company needed one on the west coast.”

Under her leadership, Tremco’s Western service division was started and by the time she moved to a different role, she had built a department of 10 – 15 employees with $30 million in sales in every state west of the Mississippi River, including Hawaii and Alaska.

Today, Billingsley is the Global VP of WTI and leads close to 700 WTI employees worldwide to provide general contracting and maintenance services for some of the largest corporations and government agencies in the world.  “I tell potential employees everyday that you just need to get in, no matter what level, because when it is the right company you can go anywhere.”

Working with several companies in the roofing industry, I am seeing the same thing.  We need to encourage young people to apply for jobs both inside and outside, in roofing companies, distributors and manufacturers because the jobs are good, and the opportunities are great.

Some administrative jobs on the RoofersCoffeeShop classifieds right now include:

• Recruiting Coordinator This position is responsible for providing administrative support for all aspects of the recruiting department including but not limited to:  coordinating the interviewing process, scheduling interviews, handling incoming calls and maintaining & updating an applicant tracking system.
• Specification Writer  will assist the construction managers and business managers in the development of the general contracting specifications in CSI format. Also, responsible for prioritizing and developing all specifications and scopes of work for general contracting to meet the contract vehicle requirements. This would include capital roofing projects specification corporate account specification, and patch and repair proposals.

These type of positions are available across the country and currently there are openings nationwide.  We encourage all roofing professionals to share these classifieds with friends, family and their local communities to recruit more people into roofing, no matter what the job may be.

For more information on Tremco jobs and roofing career opportunities visit RoofersCoffeeShop classifieds.