Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1185676
22 PCB007 MAGAZINE I NOVEMBER 2019 Feature Interview by Nolan Johnson I-CONNECT007 Sheri Kuretich, human resources manager, and Nancy Viter, VP of operations, of Sunstone Circuits speak with Nolan Johnson about what they see from the perspective of a prototyping shop, the current state of the hiring market, and how they have used ISO 9000 as an infor- mation repository to pass technical knowledge from experienced employees to newer ones. Nolan Johnson: What I wanted to talk to you both about is the passing of the guard, bring- ing in new people, recruiting your staff, etc. What are the current major trends? Sheri Kuretich: The biggest change over the past five years is how we hire. We used to have a lot of walk-ins. People would drop off their appli- cations often enough that we had a full folder, but now, we're lucky if we get two or three walk-ins each month. Today, the internet al- lows for online recruitment opportunities, and we receive a lot of responses that way from diverse candidates. We're currently hiring for a position where we're talking to people in com- pletely different areas, but they have relevant experience to the circuit board industry, so it's pretty exciting when those individuals become a part of our selection pool. There aren't many circuit board shops left in the Pacific North- west, so it's not that often that we have an ap- plicant with direct circuit board experience un- less we're open to looking into people in other geographical areas. Johnson: Sunstone is located in Mulino, Ore- gon, outside of a metro area. Were walk-ins primarily local people? Kuretich: Yes, or people that were in the indus- try in Portland, Beaverton, or further south and knew of us because they were in this in- dustry at some point, but that doesn't happen very often anymore. Nancy Viter: A lot of it is by word of mouth. Johnson: So, there's a shift in how the local community interacts, and that also seems to line up with a need for more specific skills. Sunstone Circuits on Staffing Trends in the Digital Age