Veterans Jobs – Employer Spotlight: 1-800-GOT-JUNK? (Franchise – Full Service Junk Removal Company)

Throughout the course of 2009 I am spotlighting companies large and small who understand the value that veterans bring to their organization. These are companies that are successfully utilizing the many skills and talents of military members. These organizations demonstrate sincere desire to bring more veterans into their companies by doing some or all of the following:

• Establishing a specific military hiring initiative as part of its overall HR strategy;
• Recruiting at military job fairs, through military job boards and on military installations;
• Preparing their recruiters and/or hiring managers on how to screen veteran resumes and interview service members; and/or
• Updating their marketing materials to attract the military.

1-800-GOT-JUNK? is a full service junk removal company headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. Founder and CEO Brian Scudamore developed the idea for a professional, customer-focused junk removal service as a young university student facing a tight summer job market in 1989. His vision has grown over the last 20 years to a $125+ million dollar business covering over 300 locations in three countries.

Shaye Hoobanoff, Public Relations Manager for 1-800-GOT-JUNK? says “our concept is simple: we aim to make the ordinary job of junk removal exceptional.

• We have very clear and simple systems that apply to all franchise owners which help them win over their customers;
• Customers always reach a real person within 60 seconds when they call our call center;
• The junk removal team always arrives on time and can often offer same day service
• We recycle and donate whatever we can and can use the items towards giving back to the communities we live in, either through yard sales for charity, donating household items to disaster centers or donating items to schools and non-governmental organizations.”

1-800-GOT-JUNK? attributes its success as a company to making a point of hiring the right kind of people. The company’s leadership believes that they don’t sell franchises, they award them. They discovered early on that people who have served in the military are exactly the type they wanted running franchises because they know how to follow processes and procedures and they believe in the franchise system.

1-800-GOT-JUNK? demonstrates its appreciation for the skills and attributes of service members in two key ways:

1. It has been awarding franchise territories to veterans through the International Franchise Association’s Veterans Transition Franchise Initiative (commonly known as VetFran) since 1999. 1-800-GOT-JUNK? offers service members an incentive of a 50% discount on the cost of every second territory they purchase, with a minimum of three territories.
2. Many veteran 1-800-GOT-JUNK? franchise owners make it a point to hire other military veterans to work on their junk removal teams and drive the trucks because they make great employees. Many of their locations are looking for enthusiastic, professional, team-oriented members who can operate independently and responsibly and who aren’t afraid of hard work and physical labor. It is a particularly good opportunity for those veterans who are just coming off deployment or who are between deployments.

1-800-GOT-JUNK? has awarded 15 franchises to veterans or current service members since 1999 and it has several dozen service members working as employees for franchise owners throughout the organization. Hoobanoff believes military members excel as business owners “because they are disciplined, motivated to succeed and recognize the advantage of being a part of a franchise system and they make the most of it.”  John Hedges, in Charlottesville, Virginia, one of 1-800-GOT-JUNK? veteran franchise owners agrees: “Franchises are fantastic for military personnel because franchises are like a business in a box. The military is highly organized, and veterans’ experience with strong systems transfers well to running a franchised business.”

To view employment opportunities visit their careers page. To learn more about 1-800-GOT-JUNK? franchise opportunities go to the VetFran page for 1-800-GOT-JUNK? Click here to see a list of available US territories (bonus: many happen to be in states with military installations). To learn more about the company, please send an email to pr@1800gotjunk.com.