Last week, before the Pirate's Home Opener, three old high school buddies and avid Pittsburgh sports fans continued their annual tradition by meeting at the famous Triangle Bar and Grille for lunch before heading to PNC Park to watch the Pirates lose.

Marcus and Jimmy, two of the friends, live in Penn Hills, but Tom has moved to Swissvale. This is the first time since Big Ben Roethlisberger's last game that the boys have been together, and they have some catching up to do.

The boys are hungry and anxious for baseball season to begin. While they are waiting for lunch to arrive, Marcus reveals that after 18 years, he is leaving the Mill in Braddock and starting a new job next week.

After the shock wore off and a brief moment of silence, the questions poured in.

What made you want to look for a job?
Why did you leave the job if you were happy?
Did you have help, or did you do it on your own?
How did you find a new job that made sense for you?

Marcus let the boys know that he wasn't looking for a job and probably would have never left the Mill in Braddock if it weren't for a few things.

It all started when my buddies from work kept leaving to take higher-paying jobs with better benefits/bonuses.
The hardest thing for me to get over was job security. I could have stayed at the Mill until I retired. Then I realized if Tom Brady could leave New England with all his success, tenure, and job security, then there is no way I should be scared to leave the Mill.
I had help finding the new job. I used the same recruiter that my buddies did and ultimately went to Heinz to do quality control.
The process was interviewing at a few companies until we found the right fit.

Their conversation lasted from lunch through the 5th inning. Now, the Pirates are losing 1-0, and Jimmy and Tom could care less about the baseball game. At this moment, all the boys wanted to do was get on the phone with the recruiter/career advisor that hooked up Marcus and his buddies to see if the grass could be greener on the other side for them.

John Kuhel

Senior Engineering Recruiter at AllTek Staffing & Resource Group