我是怎样在“最佳雇主”找到工作的

    吉姆•巴顿

    • 所属公司：David Weekley Homes

    • 最佳雇主公司排名：第13位

    • 职位：销售顾问

    • 年龄：51岁

    吉姆•巴顿自打开始玩林肯积木（Lincoln Log）和乐高（Lego）时就喜欢上家装设计了。不过他不怎么具备当好一名建筑师所必需的数学才能。大学毕业后他先是进了广告圈，但有一次开车穿过新泽西州时，他对建筑和家装的热情又重新涌上了心头。经过一个新的住房建筑工地并和开发商聊了聊之后，巴顿突然心血来潮，决定买两块地，打算用自己的业余水平试着打造从小就有的家居梦想。

    这次冒险经历很值得。巴顿在其中一块地上造完自己第一座房子并在另一块地上开工后创办了自己的建筑公司，主要从事复古改造的业务。这是他实现设计创意的地方，当然数学就算了。他负责制订设计规划，一个建筑师负责执行。

    巴顿在东北部地区创业18年后，到了2006年，他觉得自己得离住在休斯顿的父母近些，于是他就关停公司搬了家。到了2013年，他又觉得手痒，想重返工作岗位。他的一位老朋友认为，巴顿很适合她的老东家，即住房开发商David Weekley Homes。巴顿后来回顾说：“这有点像被安排去相亲。你朋友跟你说对方有多好，但你根本不知道自己会不会也这么想。”谈了三个月后，巴顿和DWH公司觉得双方确实算是天作之合。

    2013年8月，DWH公司聘请巴顿担任“自家地上造房”部门的销售顾问。他所服务的客户是那些家里有很多地，想请DWH公司来造房子的人。这份工作还是让他有机会发挥一下创意天赋，按客户的特定要求定制家居装潢。

    Jim Barton

    • Company: David Weekley Homes

    • Best Companies rank: 13

    • Role: Sales consultant

    • Age: 51

    Jim Barton had loved home design for as long as he could remember, as far back as when he played with Lincoln Logs and Legos. But the math skills he'd need to be an architect weren't nearly as prevalent. He worked in advertising after college, but on a drive through New Jersey, his love of construction and home building resurfaced. After passing a site for new home construction and having a conversation with the developer, Barton decided on somewhat of a whim to purchase two lots and try his amateur hand at his life-long dream.

    The risk was worth it. After building his first home on one lot and flipping the other, Barton started his own home building company that specialized in historic reproductions. It was an outlet for his design ideas, minus the math. He'd draw up the plans; an architect would execute them.

    After 18 years of working for himself in the northeast, Barton decided in 2006 he needed to be closer to his parents in Houston, so he closed his business and moved. In 2013, Barton felt the itch to get back to work. A longtime friend said Barton would be a perfect fit at her former employer, home developer David Weekley Homes. "It was sort of like getting set up on a blind date. Your friend tells you how wonderful Sue is, but you never know if you're going to feel the same way," Barton says. After three months of interviews, Barton and DWH turned out to be a perfect match.

    DWH hired Barton as a sales consultant in August 2013 in its build-on-your-lot division. He works with customers who already own a lot of land and want David Weekley to build a home on it. And he still gets to tap his creative side by customizing a home's finishes to the customer's specifications.