Afternoon all.
I’d love to ask some advice from you all out there regarding the relevance CV’s play when changing careers into driving. How do you guys lay out yours or adapt them with new relevant experience, especially if your coming from a different industry?
not knowing at your previous carear was but im sure there are “skills” that you can transfer across.
as to past employment history i have always done alot of agency work even when i was in the warehouses. So my cv was 4 pages long i just used to put down warehosuing work x - y then list the majour duties and just give company names for the last 2 or 3 jobs
to be honest the only time anyone has looked at my cv sei seriously was when i got a position for morrisons rdc in thier warehouse direct with them. and then it was only to try and catch me out as he kept refering to it and then asking me questions like where were you working between x and y
hope this helps
Trucker Jimbob:
Afternoon all.I’d love to ask some advice from you all out there regarding the relevance CV’s play when changing careers into driving. How do you guys lay out yours or adapt them with new relevant experience, especially if your coming from a different industry?
I changed careers from self-employment to driving so I had never had a CV, so it was important to ME to get it right, because coming from a different industry, I didn’t have the benefit of mates to recommend me to their gaffers etc etc. I can’t tell you whether my CV has actually been read and appreciated but essentially it is your calling card, so you may as well make it worth reading. I didn’t know where to start so I did get some help from a friend who is a careers coach. PM me if you would like any more detailed help or examples than below.
Get it all onto 2 sides of A4
Make it visually appealing
Get your strengths to show up and your values to resonate
Make every word count
Tell your story - facts tell, stories sell
Side 1
Name at top
Personal profile - if your CV was a book, this would be the blurb, the bit that gets people to read on. Maximum 3 sentences.
Skills profile - 4 or 5 skills, bullet pointed. Give depth and content to the sentences in your personal profile
Employment
Most recent first - even more context and detail to back up your skills and personal profiles
Name, address, phone numbers, email in page footer
Side 2
Continue employment history - a brief chronology of what you were doing when
Education & training
Put your license / card info / check codes here
Other interests
Maximum 3 sentences
Name, address, phone numbers, email in page footer
You should now be at the bottom of the second page
CV’s for our game should be short concise to the point and honest.
Forget all the irrelevant ■■■■■■■■ such as team player or other pointless garbage, that’s for pen pushers.
What any switched on transport manager needs is someone reliable competent honest and loyal who isn’t going to be off sick every few weeks, show them you have those qualities and you’ve already wiped almost all the competition out before anyone has laid eyes on you.
IMO it’s most important to not have any significant gaps in employment or come across as ‘‘over qualified’’
Also I doubt large companies really care about the actual contents of the CV. They either need drivers or not. As long as you’re not 40 and looking for your first job
ETS:
IMO it’s most important to not have any significant gaps in employment or come across as ‘‘over qualified’’
Interesting point. I have a degree in Geography so I’d say it’s relevant to a driving job. Would you mention it?
driveress:
Trucker Jimbob:
Afternoon all.I’d love to ask some advice from you all out there regarding the relevance CV’s play when changing careers into driving. How do you guys lay out yours or adapt them with new relevant experience, especially if your coming from a different industry?
I changed careers from self-employment to driving so I had never had a CV, so it was important to ME to get it right, because coming from a different industry, I didn’t have the benefit of mates to recommend me to their gaffers etc etc. I can’t tell you whether my CV has actually been read and appreciated but essentially it is your calling card, so you may as well make it worth reading. I didn’t know where to start so I did get some help from a friend who is a careers coach. PM me if you would like any more detailed help or examples than below.
Get it all onto 2 sides of A4
Make it visually appealing
Get your strengths to show up and your values to resonate
Make every word count
Tell your story - facts tell, stories sell
Side 1
Name at top
Personal profile - if your CV was a book, this would be the blurb, the bit that gets people to read on. Maximum 3 sentences.
Skills profile - 4 or 5 skills, bullet pointed. Give depth and content to the sentences in your personal profile
Employment
Most recent first - even more context and detail to back up your skills and personal profilesName, address, phone numbers, email in page footer
Side 2
Continue employment history - a brief chronology of what you were doing whenEducation & training
Put your license / card info / check codes hereOther interests
Maximum 3 sentencesName, address, phone numbers, email in page footer
You should now be at the bottom of the second page
I need to do this. My CV is I think over 4 pages long, just listing all the jobs in my previous career. So far I’ve relied on my CV not being read past the first page [emoji848][emoji849]
See my problem lies within trying to fill out two pages of RELEVANT information on a CV. Even from a CV summary at the top with my work being unrelated it would look like I was totally unqualified for the positions. Do you advertise yourself as a HGV Class 2 driver even if you are yet to have driven one in a work situation?
Otherwise I’d be saying something along the lines of “I’m a efficient, safety oriented and organised builder” I could replace that with driver but is it strictly true. I’m lost as to whether it’s worth filling it up with construction work or simply make a statement saying I’m a new driver and looking for a complete change. Harder than I thought putting this together.
It won’t be read through Stu in a transport office, you need to make yourself stand out as worth employing on page 1, it gets boring in no time reading the same cloned CVs which drone on page after page of team playing ■■■■■■■■ (not saying yours is like this, though Lord knows how you made it last 4 pages plus), same as when you cold approach an operator if someone with clout is good enough to give you a couple of minutes of their time, make those 2 minutes count so they are the ones asking for your CV, and if they do it’s sitting on their desk asap.
I’ve seen and experienced myself the successful and watched the slooow motion car wreck of unsuccessful applications for good jobs, poncing about having a chat with the mrs/think about it/etc, if someone isn’t keen enough to secure a job in the first place what does that tell them the attitude to work is going to be 6 months or 6 years down the line.
Jimbob, OK you haven’t got a trucking history, but what you have got, hopefully, is a rock solid history in your previous sucessful work…haven’t taken a sick day since before Moses was a lad? spell it out so they can’t miss it because any decent truck jobs that pay salary including full sick pay will already have enough lead swingers on the books.
That’s just one example, sell yourself as someone with a work ethic and general work competence (again spelled out that they are welcome to check up) that puts you out ahead of the usual applicants.
No your arn’t looking for a change (you might fancy another change or find it’s not for you), you’re looking to secure employment in an industry you’ve always wanted to be in but until now…think of a valid reason…couldn’t do, you spent a lot of time out and about with mates in their vehicles so already know a lot of what’s involved 
Trucker Jimbob:
See my problem lies within trying to fill out two pages of RELEVANT information on a CV. Even from a CV summary at the top with my work being unrelated it would look like I was totally unqualified for the positions. Do you advertise yourself as a HGV Class 2 driver even if you are yet to have driven one in a work situation?Otherwise I’d be saying something along the lines of “I’m a efficient, safety oriented and organised builder” I could replace that with driver but is it strictly true. I’m lost as to whether it’s worth filling it up with construction work or simply make a statement saying I’m a new driver and looking for a complete change. Harder than I thought putting this together.
The only mention of driving on my CV was in the training section. Go down the route of “I’m a(n) efficient, safety oriented and organised builder”. Efficiency, organisational skills and safety focused are all qualities desirable in a driver. Can you back that up with other evidence? Do you have any safety accreditation, are your clients always happy that you finish on time etc etc You’ve got to think about everything you have done that is relevant - it’s hard! Start by writing a list of qualities you think a transport manager looks for, plus a list of qualities you have then look back at your history to see when you demonstrated those qualities.
For example, I have a personal alcohol license (to manage licensed premises). Relevant? Not on the surface, what’s it got to do with driving? But it says that I am responsible and can be trusted, so it’s on there in the education and training section.
How do you tell them you have a great sickness record without actually writing that? After all, anyone can write it, and people do lie. You demonstrate through your skills and experience that you are reliable and that you like going to work, that you consistently meet deadlines, that you go above and beyond etc.
Goff118:
ETS:
IMO it’s most important to not have any significant gaps in employment or come across as ‘‘over qualified’’Interesting point. I have a degree in Geography so I’d say it’s relevant to a driving job. Would you mention it?
Yes, because if you don’t you’ll have a 3 or 4 year gap in your CV!
I need to do this. My CV is I think over 4 pages long, just listing all the jobs in my previous career. So far I’ve relied on my CV not being read past the first page
Just group similar jobs way back when into 10 year blocks or something and say something along the lines of “varied blah roles doing blah extremely well” etc
No driving job ever asked me for a CV, in fact it came as quite a surprise to be asked for a CV when I moved from driving to the more white collar side of the industry.
All a transport operator is truly interested in is your licence, DQC and what is written into your tacho card, and potentially (dependent on the type of work), whether or not you’ve got a documented criminal history.
No one is interested in your hobbies, or any job before the previous ten years, or where you went to school or your O-levels etc. You know, all the standard stuff that people who tell you how to create a CV are interested in.
As said, it’s sensible to play down any over-qualification aspects of a CV, it will just make you look as if you “won’t fit in”, though over-qualification isn’t usually an issue with most of the guys I’ve worked with 
Goff118:
ETS:
IMO it’s most important to not have any significant gaps in employment or come across as ‘‘over qualified’’Interesting point. I have a degree in Geography so I’d say it’s relevant to a driving job. Would you mention it?
I would. My point was more about someone coming from say a ‘‘higher tier’’ profession like a long time lawyer (unrealistic I know but there were some stories last year about investment bankers who were out of work getting into truck driving). Not saying it can’t be done but it will probably take longer to find a driving job
Zac_A:
No driving job ever asked me for a CV, in fact it came as quite a surprise to be asked for a CV when I moved from driving to the more white collar side of the industry.All a transport operator is truly interested in is your licence, DQC and what is written into your tacho card, and potentially (dependent on the type of work), whether or not you’ve got a documented criminal history.
No one is interested in your hobbies, or any job before the previous ten years, or where you went to school or your O-levels etc. You know, all the standard stuff that people who tell you how to create a CV are interested in.As said, it’s sensible to play down any over-qualification aspects of a CV, it will just make you look as if you “won’t fit in”, though over-qualification isn’t usually an issue with most of the guys I’ve worked with [emoji38]
Good to hear!
What can be read from a tacho card? Besides infringements, how far back can be read? Overspeeds? Speed trace? Anything else you look for?
stu675:
Good to hear!
What can be read from a tacho card? Besides infringements, how far back can be read? Overspeeds? Speed trace? Anything else you look for?
There’s shed loads of data that can be had from a card download, not all of it I find useful. Basically, I look for “is this guy gonna give me increased stress”
I personally would only look at the previous 28 day history - because that’s the only danger he present to the company. Overspeeding does show, maximum speed and average speed and duration, an occasional blip is nothing, we’re all human, but multiple overspeeds in multiple weeks says that driver doesn’t care about that rule, what else will he not care about?
I’d be concerned about: exceeding 4.5 hours without a break, insufficient daily rest (weekly rests aren’t a problem for my drivers, we don’t work weekends) etc. The software actually gives you the potential penalities: £100, £200, or £300.
WTD infringements are less of an issue, but 90% of these are not taking a break before 6 hours of work, so I don’t know why these need to be cropping up, do these drivers not need to take a leak over a six hour period?
Zac_A:
stu675:
Good to hear!
What can be read from a tacho card? Besides infringements, how far back can be read? Overspeeds? Speed trace? Anything else you look for?There’s shed loads of data that can be had from a card download, not all of it I find useful. Basically, I look for “is this guy gonna give me increased stress” [emoji38]
I personally would only look at the previous 28 day history - because that’s the only danger he present to the company. Overspeeding does show, maximum speed and average speed and duration, an occasional blip is nothing, we’re all human, but multiple overspeeds in multiple weeks says that driver doesn’t care about that rule, what else will he not care about?
I’d be concerned about: exceeding 4.5 hours without a break, insufficient daily rest (weekly rests aren’t a problem for my drivers, we don’t work weekends) etc. The software actually gives you the potential penalities: £100, £200, or £300.WTD infringements are less of an issue, but 90% of these are not taking a break before 6 hours of work, so I don’t know why these need to be cropping up, do these drivers not need to take a leak over a six hour period?
A new employer can only see limited hours info and infringements possibly on a previous employers fleet. They won’t be able to see mileage or reg numbers and won’t be able to go into any detail on previous driving data from my experience with tachomaster.
They will be able to see if you have X number of driving days on your card and shift lengths and like I said infringements possibly but that is about it. GDPA would not allow them to access in depth detail from previous employments without consent from the previous employer.
At least from me using tachomaster I can’t only see limited info from my current employer before I started using it even though there is over a year’s worth of data on it.
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Actually just checking now, I can see all the info from my current employment on my downloads from even before I started to download my card myself. From my previous employer all I can see is drive/work elsewhere and infringements, nothing else.
Unless someone knows any different and how to make it show that relevant info, but as I said I would suspect GDPA would prevent that.
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simcor:
A new employer can only see limited hours info and infringements possibly on a previous employers fleet. They won’t be able to see mileage or reg numbers and won’t be able to go into any detail on previous driving data from my experience with tachomaster.
That’s quite interesting, RHA Xerxes client, based on TruTac, is very different.
Looking at our latest driver’s previous driving for non-fleet vehicles, I can see: reg numbers, mileage, infringements, including overspeeds, for two full months before he came to work for us, and I can generate a standard infringement report (D14) of this period.
ETS:
IMO it’s most important to not have any significant gaps in employment or come across as ‘‘over qualified’’Also I doubt large companies really care about the actual contents of the CV. They either need drivers or not. As long as you’re not 40 and looking for your first job
Can be camouflaged by…‘voluntary work’ if awol for some time maybe ? Can’t see an employer contacting,in my own 3 year sabbatical situation,‘Bird sanctuary’ work or ‘training disability dogs’ as in my own case for a reference. Most ‘modern’ hauliers l find these days seem to be geared for the more techno-adept-drone- demographics.If l ever do see fit to drop a mention to many of them ie… 3 year stint on Euro-fridges for example,covering most of the countries;when sat-navs weren’t a big feature.Tackling mountain ranges in all weather conditions,multi-dropping in Paris,Madrid,Athens and such they can’t seem to compute the realpolitik of those scenarios and the demands they can take a bod.They think it’s an ego thing.If this,means ‘over-qualified’ i consider it an honour.That experience of itself should be a plus to the old school of thought management but not alas to the contemporary corporate-Knob-shiner transport dweebs we all know and loathe.