Hunting for a connection: social media site guiding connections in construction.

• Author: Kelly, Lindsay
• Position: Construction

A new social media platform geared toward the construction industry is generating buzz around the globe, and it all started after two men from North Bay were left stranded after experiencing truck trouble.

Hard Hat Hunter is an online construction-oriented forum that brings together employees, employers, job seekers, and industry and educational organizations to promote the sector.

Working in Cochrane about five years ago, Ed Goulais and Paul Robillard--the owner and operations manager at First North Construction --found themselves out of luck after experiencing trouble with their vehicle, explained Samantha Dyck, Hard Hat Hunter's communications director.

"It was a Sunday night and they needed to reach someone to help them, and it would have been nice if they'd had those connections in place beforehand," Dyck said.

"So (Hard Hat Hunter) is the idea of making those connections for people to collaborate and connect."

Launched last November, the website avoids the hodgepodge of birthday greetings, silly memes, and baby photos associated with mainstream social media and features only construction-related content.

Users can post photos of projects they're working on, view job postings, post their resumes for prospective employers, or make business connections with contractors and developers.

The website is free to use and is currently being accessed by users on every continent except Antarctica, Dyck said.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"Our reach is pretty far," she said. "We're obviously most popular in North America right now, specifically Canada, but with our partnerships that we have in place and going forward, I guess it's kind of limitless."

The website's blog offers safety tips, highlights different careers in construction, provides guidelines to enhancing a resume, and examines industry trends, among other topics. New content is uploaded to the blog daily

Businesses can create profiles, giving small businesses in particular a chance to have a web presence without paying big dollars for an exclusive website. Employers, meanwhile, can peruse the worker profiles to find skilled labourers.

Small businesses can also connect with each other for...