From the hiring side: why a paper trail matters more than you think

Asked by haddad_mech · Sep 25

Here's what I look for when I hire, and it's not what most young guys expect. When someone tells me they have three years of experience and all of it was cash, I usually believe them. But I can't verify it, and on our public jobs everybody goes on certified payroll from day one, so I'm starting them at zero on paper whether I like it or not. The applicants who stand out walk in with something I can check: pay stubs or W-2s, a 608 card, a letter from a past employer, a log of jobs with dates and who they worked under. It doesn't have to be fancy. It has to exist. If you're getting paid cash right now, start that log tonight. Nobody's coming to build it for you later.