Job Applicants Should Think Small

KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ Veterinarian Patricia Stewart _ like many small business owners _ strives to keep customer-friendly hours, hire pleasant employees and offer training to her staff.

So what do some young job applicants at Rockhill Animal Clinic ask: Will they have their "own office"?

Private offices aren't a staple of small business, particularly not veterinarian clinics. To Stewart, the question illustrates how little-understood small business is to many new workers.

Labor experts and headlines say it often: Small businesses have the jobs. But small employers say young job hunters often aren't interested.

Recruiting challenges led Stewart to hire a hospital manager last August to handle hiring and clinic management for her eight employees. It allows her to concentrate on animal care.

Certainly, small businesses bring big wish lists for employees today. They want self-starters, dependability, excellent communication skills and commitment.

When work ethic lapses occur _ from too many personal calls to tardiness _ it's crushing for a small business. Without vastly increasing costs, little leeway exists for extra employee coverage.

Some small employers say colleges don't adequately present the small business story to students.

"We see a lot of college graduates without the kinds of experiences or capabilities needed for our company," said Chuck Vogt, chief executive officer of All Star Awards Ad Specialities Inc., a 25-person company.

In any size office, the employee who becomes "invaluable" will thrive. "The difference is it's easier to become invaluable in a small business than in a big business," Vogt said. "If you do that, you will have a cornerstone of your career."

Labor experts say small companies and college graduates are simply having a hard time finding each other.

"Our students have not been schooled in conducting a job search," said Peter Lemke, president and chief executive officer of EFL Associates, an executive recruitment and management consulting firm. "It's not their fault, they just don't realize there is a detailed process of looking for a first job."

Small employers, too, need to better explain their advantages, Lemke said.

Surely, some small offices can't compete on wages and benefits. But a growing number of small firms compete and beat the larger ones.

Vogt's employees, for instance, have medical benefits as well as monthly profit sharing. Everyone knows how to read a balance sheet, and teamwork is encouraged.

Veterinarian Stewart offers competitive wages, profit sharing and is now investigating adding health insurance. One of the biggest differences in a small business is in office atmosphere, she said.

"Any personal tension is amplified with fewer people around," Stewart said. "We have to have people with compatible personalities and whose energy levels are compatible. There are not enough others around to act as buffers."

In return, though, small offices don't endure big business-style management shakeups, massive cutbacks and impersonal directives from on-high.

Without private offices, "impersonal" isn't even possible. The so-called "corporate refugees"_ victims of corporate downsizings _ are looking to small businesses already. New graduates _ no doubt _ won't be far behind. The Kansas City Star

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