Steps to Becoming Successful in Wood Flooring Career | Career Interview

hi everyone i'm reza i'm a junior at uva majoring in computer science and english and today i'm going to be interviewing matt casey matt is a bccp manager at bona and that stands for bonus certified craftsman program he's also a member of nwfa which stands for the national wood flooring association it's a not-for-profit trade association representing segments of the hardwood flooring industry including manufacturers distributors retailers installers importers exporters inspectors and consultants hi matt how you doing good rosa how are you doing pretty good um so my first question for you is could you describe what your typical workday entails um and what your first few years in your career was like yeah absolutely first off thanks for having me today definitely appreciate it um you know it's interesting a lot of tradesmen are from generations right there their dad did that specific trade their granddaddy did that specific trade and hardwood flooring uh is very similar to that however i had no uh no family background in the industry um kind of stumbled upon it so to speak which i think a lot of college graduates will find that that industry that you have passion for may line up in a different way than than initially thought and that that was definitely the way uh it happened for me at bonus so over the last 15 years you know a lot has changed with those passions but i think that day to day um that that you mentioned has changed as well but a lot of those goals still line up uh from when i initially got out of college and and joined on with bonus so i managed the bonus certified craftsman program so i i work with our professional side with the the sand and finish contractor or that install flooring contractor that you might think of but the bona brand a lot of consumers out there in the marketplace know bona for the hardwood flooring cleaners you know that's in a lot of the big box stores so we now have a network of professional contractors and that's who i work with on a daily basis uh typically from a sales platform but also that that marketing and training side definitely comes in with my particular role working with that hardwood flooring contractor so from that side from a day to day that that's definitely changed over the years but i think those goals have have remained pretty pretty similar okay great yeah what are like maybe what are some like activities that you do that you might do on a typical workday yeah absolutely so um you know a big part of what i what i do is working directly with the bonus certified craftsman so these are experienced install sand and finish flooring contractors that come to a specific training and meet certain requirements uh to earn the bonus certification and they're able to utilize that out in the field and say hey i'm a bonus certified craftsman i'm trained i'm trusted i'm using the high quality product and then as a consumer uh you know recognizing that bona brand that's really where that that connection uh can be made um and for me you know outside of that product training you know bona has a full system of products the equipment uh you might see a couple pieces behind me that the contractor is actually sanding floors with you know dustless uh sanding now so all that you know you picture kind of that big dusty room those days are long gone and long behind us so these contractors are using uh the correct equipment and uh the the right finishes stains uh all those products through that process for those solid hardwood floors so really my my main objective in working with not only our sales reps out in the field but also the contractors is to make sure they're they're trained you know they're using what we call best practices to get that best product down on your floor but they're also engaged in the program in the bonus certified craftsman program these meaning you know they're using some sales and marketing tools available to them uh and really they're bringing that that homeowner uh the best hardwood floor that they can get in the long run very cool okay that's yeah that's that's awesome that sounds really cool so um i guess my next question leading up to that is what are some of the high school courses that you've taken or maybe college courses that you've taken um that helped you in your occupation or maybe you know what are some of the courses that you wished you had taken right right again i didn't necessarily have that that hands that hands-on background um that a lot of you know when you think of hardwood flooring oftentimes you're thinking of the contractor right that guy that's buying a big machine he's sanding those fours changing the color of the look making them look new again but i quickly realized getting into the industry there there's a lot more to it than the contractor for example i work on the manufacturing side um and we work with a lot of the distributors and contractors that you might think of coming into your home or apartment to do the work on those hardwood floors so i wish i might have gotten a little bit more of that hands-on in high school that's as simple as a wood shop class or something to that effect because i was definitely pretty green when it came to that to that hands-on side but i was able to use a lot of the courses training internships that i had utilized in college to really now that it was kind of crazy to see that come full circle to be you know talking to folks twice my age that had been in the industry for essentially as long as i'd been it alive and really a lot of those social skills and a lot of the networking and professional side that i you know you can pick up that hands-on side and i learned that in this industry within those first few years with bona i was able to learn uh the the beginning side of the sand and finish in that install but interacting with uh folks within my own organization you know it's a global company so how am i interacting with folks from other countries than hardwood flooring contractors other manufacturers distribution they're really a diverse group of folks and i think for me in college it was about putting myself in situations to meet and talk to uh all types of people somewhere similar to what you're doing here reza yeah yeah that yeah that sounds right on um you mentioned that you did an internship in in college do you want to like expand on that what kind of experience was it and you know how was it helpful for your current job yeah yeah absolutely for me it was my first what i'd call professional experience you know i'd had plenty of jobs throughout high school and college but this was the first time i was throwing on a pair of slacks and and going to work five days a week right it was a summer internship down in denver downtown denver for a health insurance company so again it was more about getting outside of my comfort zone right meeting people i typically wouldn't and although the tasks at hand uh were very doable uh and simple in some ways it was about putting myself in that chair and meeting individuals that again have that industry experience that i didn't have and although that wasn't my passion and that's not the industry that i was going into i definitely wouldn't be sitting here today you know 15 years into the harvard flooring industry without those experiences from an internship that that again reached a little bit outside of that comfort zone yeah that makes sense yeah um going back to the nwfa how would you say the nwfa has impacted uh your work your career what are some of the benefits of being a member yeah well that definitely um you know the nwfa has uh many different legs many different membership styles and again i work for a manufacturer so i was introduced to the nwfa through that side and as a member it's really about support networking you know making sure you have the right connections with the industry but for me there are some parallels with bona and the nwfa mostly from the training side so i was in our technical department uh in training where you're getting all types of contractors whether they're brand new to the industry and they're learning how to you know lift and lower a handle on a sanding machine to those guys again that have literally 40 and 50 years of experience in the industry so the training support is big and that continued education i think you see it a lot in the trades especially within hardwood flooring you can learn how to you know send and finish a floor in a handful of months in a couple of different ways but over the years by continuing that education whether it's within networking with other professionals which the nwfa provides or within your own company or just the experiences you're having i mean that continued education is is really what it helps you excel not only personally but you know your company and the industry as a whole and i definitely see that a lot with hardware yeah uh are there any like specific conferences or as educational opportunities that you would say have impacted you the most from yeah and i think that also goes back to that comfort zone being in those scenarios for the first time was unique you know 12 and 15 years ago but again some parallels with nwfa and bona not only on that hands-on sand and finish training but also the annual convention so a trade convention here where all parts of the industry get together to not only share knowledge but meet one another see how we can work together again continue that education and of course be be profitable in whatever business we're doing and the program that i manage the bonus certified craftsman program we actually every couple years bring in bonus certified craftsman together so a couple hundred contractors and similar uh format and feel about education you know networking industry support that's all a part of the bonus certified craftsman convention as well so and there's a ton of overlap between those two we get a lot of the the same attendees and it's it's so positive to see what comes out of that again both both personally and professionally from the attendees yeah it seems really great to have uh access to such a good community um in your line of work yeah yeah and and now a lot of that's it's come virtual right you know if we had this conversation a year back it'd be a lot different but that e-learning aspect the nwfa has an excellent online university bona same for our bonus certified craftsman it's how can how can you continue that education and reach others and yeah we're finding some new ways to do that obviously yeah um so what what is something that most people would not expect from your job or what what surprised you the most about your job at bona oh well there's a couple things that i think first is really the diversity of the work i think when you know when i was 20 years old and hardwood flooring again i was thinking installation or standing and finish but but i realized um you know although i learned the trade throughout my my years with bona really the other side there's a lot to it whether it's sales and marketing product development product management the technical services and training side then that funnels all the way down to of course our customer service team accounts receivable the finance side i was very naive to the amount of hands and brains that come together for for any operation whether it's hardwood flooring or any other trade it's a lot more than just that final product that might be on a four a hardwood floor in my instance um there's a lot to go into into it you know i've done a lot of travel which was very surprising in the hardwood flooring industry but again there's all types of manufacturers and contractors and distributors within the industry and i've been lucky enough to to meet a lot of those different types of folks uh throughout the country and beyond wow yeah that sounds amazing yeah that's so cool um do you have i guess any final thoughts or any final words of advice for anyone who might be considering someone who might be considering uh your occupation or something adjacent to that any kind of trade uh job well yeah yeah i think again it really goes back to um the diversity of opportunity i'll say you know i'm really in a in more of a sales role now it started as customer service turned into training when i was hands-on showing individuals how to sand and finish and that's evolved now into a role where it's sales marketing management uh you know again that technical training side there's a lot to it regardless of of which industry and i think as a as a college student studying business you know i remember taking an international business class and thinking i i may never be overseas how does this apply to what i'm going to be doing in a couple years and sure enough it's the type of people you meet you know for example and i never thought i'd i'd have ties to but but again there's so many opportunities within trades more so than just the hands-on side which can uh you know bring a lot of uh you know joy and contentment and money as well and then there's again the other legs of it that they come into play too so it's been pretty exciting over the last 15 years awesome well thank you so much matt thank you for having us yeah thanks i appreciate it yeah okay well um everyone else who's watching this video thank you for joining us um yeah i hope you guys learned more about the nwfa if you want more information uh visit the q career website uh we have an nwfa page and find out how nwfa can maybe help you with your career development until next time have a good week bye [Music] you

Channel: Cue Career

Views: 6,310

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: cue career, cue career interviews, college career videos, how to get a job out of college, jobs after college, careers after college, woodflooring, tradeassociation, interview, collegecareer

Id: _DLXpILj9go

Length: 13min 45sec (825 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 19 2021