Slow career change/ side job

NEW AND WANNABE DRIVERS (INTERACTIVE)
1

Hi All,

I’m Dave, 50 yo ex navy Stoker. I work in the oil and gas industry and have done for 20 odd years after 9 years in RN.

I’ve had my HGV2 licence for 4 years but only done a couple of weeks work in that time. I’m thinking of doing my HGV 1 (C+E) in the near future.

I currently earn good money but hate coming offshore. I also get a good amount of time off in which I want to build contacts and drive say 2/3 times a week when home to maybe end up doing more of or getting permanent job. My issue is I’ve contacted firms direct to say I’m available etc and they don’t seem interested in having an adhoc driver as a contact, they seem to prefer to go to an agency.

I’d love a firm to say ‘great, ring us when you’re home and we will sort something’ but that’s not happened yet.

Am I being un realistic or should I keep plugging away? Maybe go agency although I’ve done that and not particularly enjoyed the jobs on offer.

I’m based in Exeter if any bosses read this!

Thanks in advance,

Dave.

2

Hi Dave

I’m with an agency in Exeter and I also scouted around more locally to me. At the time I thought the agency was struggling to find me decent work in my area and I would love a shorter commute. A lot of the more traditional firms in my area don’t use agencies. So I thought I could try becoming my own agency and pimp myself out on a zero hours contract to two or three firms and work for them on an ad hoc basis.

I didn’t get anywhere although I did have a good chat with a couple of transport managers who explained that hours were an issue. For example if they called me up offering 4 days but I had already done half my hours that week for someone else, I actually wouldn’t be able to do that job.
I decided to sit tight and be patient with the agency and it’s beginning to pay off.
Good luck with it all.

3

Welcome to the forum.

I would say agency is the way to go.