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WELCOME LETTERS
A good way to get your relationship with a prospective employee off on the right foot is a welcome letter for job applicants. Such a letter answers the applicant’s basic questions and also establishes your basic expectations. Done right, it can give your store a highly professional appearance, making the applicant think, ?You know, I really want this job.?  

The letter reproduced at right comes from David Geller’s jewelry store, Jewelry Artisans in Atlanta. (Please note that to show you as much of the text as possible, this is not the actual letter layout.) It includes a capsule history of the store, some details on the store’s management and staff, and a very thorough and direct explanation of the interview process, expectations and benefits of working at the store.  

While this example is designed for a bench jeweler, Geller also had a separate version intended for salespeople. Revisions can be made each time you’re looking to fill a new position. 

One other key benefit of welcome letters for job applicants is that they make certain that each candidate receives the same information up front. (This could come in handy in case you are ever accused of discrimination in hiring practices.)  

And one final benefit is that it can save you time by weeding out obviously inappropriate applicants. 
Says Geller: ?I gave it to one jeweler and told him I’d be back in five minutes. I looked out into the showroom. He read the letter, placed the pencil on the counter and walked away. Saved me an interview.? 

Geller says that in his travels he has seen very few jewelers using such welcome letters, although he has shown his letter at his own seminars and has had many jewelers ask if they could copy the format.  

For a jeweler looking to create their own welcome letter, Geller has the following advice: ?Spell out the benefit package, what you offer and be very clear what you expect.? For instance, Geller says: ?It was important when Jewelry Artisans hired a sales person, they all had to work Saturdays. When a sales person who had just started said that they needed Saturdays off it was easy to point out that on the day they applied they knew what was expected of them.? 

Welcome To Jewelry Artisans

Jeweler:  
We would like to thank you for applying for a position with our company. All of us take pride in our work and enjoy working together as a team in one of Atlanta’s leading jewelry design stores. We would like to take a few minutes to tell you about our company, what we do, what we offer in a career at Jewelry Artisans and what we would expect from you if you are hired as a jeweler.  

Jewelry Artisans was started in 1974 as a trade shop, doing work for other Atlanta wholesalers and retail jewelry stores. Within a few years, our own retail trade increased so that we ceased doing trade work and concentrated purely on the public. Now in our fifth location in nearly 24 years, we are Atlanta’s largest design and repair store for the public. With over 15 employees we are very specialized.  

The sales floor has five designers who sell jewelry, design all of the custom work for the customers and take in all repairs. The shop area has four jewelers, one waxer and one polisher, along with a shop foreman, who oversees the manufacturing and repair process. Operations has a two-person staff, in addition to the president of the company, David Geller.  

We use a two interview process for hiring. At first we will have a casual interview with prospective employees and then invite people we feel that are qualified enough to work in our store to a second interview. The second interview is a deeper interview, along with a bench test, testing your ability to perform the type of work that we do here. If a perspective employee has shown good technical ability at this point, we will ask for a list of personal and professional references for us to contact in addition to performing a background check. After that phase, we will decide to whom we shall offer the position.  

A jeweler who works on our team will have many qualities, some which are listed below: Ability to set diamonds as well as colored gemstones. Gemstones refers to stones other than Amethyst and Blue Topaz. We set fragile emeralds, opals, and other stones here and you must be able to do so without damage to the stones. 

In setting, be able to Bead Set, Channel Set, Prong Set all shapes. Repair most all jewelry without leaving thin shanks and loose stones. Finish a piece, whether a casting or customer’s piece, with a smooth surface, so the polisher will be able to do a fine job without extra added pressure.  

In addition to personal jewelry skills, we are looking for a team player who can get along with others and doesn’t take personally any request by a customer. Some personal skills required are: Punctuality: You would be expected to arrive to work on time or before, not a few minutes later. This also applies to finishing your work as promised to the customer. Pleasing attitude when working with your fellow employees. Cleanness: Keeping a clean bench area is important, particularly that the customers can see the Jewelers Workroom. Non Smoker.  

Now that we’ve spelled out what we want from you, allow us to spell out what we can offer: A good group of people to work with. Team Players. Interesting work: We make and repair all types of wonderful pieces of jewelry. Good Pay: Jewelers are paid on commission. You can be very well compensated if your work diligently along with your scheduled hours. Jewelers in the past have earned from the low $30,000 to mid $50,000 range on a yearly basis. The pay program will be explained to you later. Good benefits: We offer paid Medical, Life, and Dental insurance for you. You may purchase the same insurance for your eligible dependents. After 30 days of service, you are entitled to six personal leave days and after one year of service, two (2) weeks paid vacation.