I’ve posted this here , even though i am not a new driver , although i do feel as though i am ,
i have not used my class 1 license for 15 years or so , as i became a carer for my partner over those years , however things have now changed , so a few month back i decided to apply for my class 1 again , as i let it lapse , i’ve now got my license back , completed the CPC , and obtained a digicard .
To get back into it again , i’ve been contacting a few agencies , but the they all want a C.V. with two references from the last two employers , which unfortunately i cannot provide , as the companies are now defunct .
So i’m not sure what i can do , i’m beginning to think this was all a waste of time , is/has there been anyone else in the same sort of situation , any advice would be greatly appreciated , i’m no spring chicken either , 59 years old !!
muso:
I’ve posted this here , even though i am not a new driver , although i do feel as though i am ,
i have not used my class 1 license for 15 years or so , as i became a carer for my partner over those years , however things have now changed , so a few month back i decided to apply for my class 1 again , as i let it lapse , i’ve now got my license back , completed the CPC , and obtained a digicard .
To get back into it again , i’ve been contacting a few agencies , but the they all want a C.V. with two references from the last two employers , which unfortunately i cannot provide , as the companies are now defunct .
So i’m not sure what i can do , i’m beginning to think this was all a waste of time , is/has there been anyone else in the same sort of situation , any advice would be greatly appreciated , i’m no spring chicken either , 59 years old !!
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go and knock some doors in person and get a real job where you will be seen as an asset,not with some skanky agency where your dictated to by some gormless tart r snotty bottle of hair gel in a suit.
smaller family firms would likely be more keen to bite your hand off whereas the major tosco companies have you dealing with similar office staff before you get to see the tm…dont email,phoning is mostly also a waste of time though better than emails,but dress smart but casual,take your docs and kit in the boot of your clean car,and spend some time knocking on the door.
muso:
I’ve posted this here , even though i am not a new driver , although i do feel as though i am ,
i have not used my class 1 license for 15 years or so , as i became a carer for my partner over those years , however things have now changed , so a few month back i decided to apply for my class 1 again , as i let it lapse , i’ve now got my license back , completed the CPC , and obtained a digicard .
To get back into it again , i’ve been contacting a few agencies , but the they all want a C.V. with two references from the last two employers , which unfortunately i cannot provide , as the companies are now defunct .
So i’m not sure what i can do , i’m beginning to think this was all a waste of time , is/has there been anyone else in the same sort of situation , any advice would be greatly appreciated , i’m no spring chicken either , 59 years old !!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
go and knock some doors in person and get a real job where you will be seen as an asset,not with some skanky agency where your dictated to by some gormless tart r snotty bottle of hair gel in a suit.
smaller family firms would likely be more keen to bite your hand off whereas the major tosco companies have you dealing with similar office staff before you get to see the tm…dont email,phoning is mostly also a waste of time though better than emails,but dress smart but casual,take your docs and kit in the boot of your clean car,and spend some time knocking on the door.
Do as the dog says.
But if you insist on looking for agency work, agencies will never take up references so doesn’t matter if the firm’s aren’t around anymore. Be vague with the details, just tell them you’ve had your license 15 years, don’t say you’ve not been using it. If pushed say you’ve been doing work for other agencies but don’t want to break confidentiality so don’t give details.
Feel no shame about lying to an agency as it’s all they will do to you
muso:
I’ll give it a try next week , although don’t hold out much hope up here in the Northeast to be honest
Think positive mate,.Murray Hogg and Ramages spring to mind, they were always wanting drivers once over (may be a good reason for that btw).
Tell the agencies lies, they don’t give a toss about drivers in general, and usually show no respect, so return the compliment.
I was in the same position before I started back. It’s really a case of knocking on as many doors as possible and hopefully finding one that will offer the opportunity for you to do an assessment. If you get through that then previous references etc. mean diddly squat and it’s unlikely the employer will bother with them. From personal experience if you haven’t driven for a while you will hopefully find things easier with auto boxes, driver aids etc.
Lie on your CV! Everybody does it
Companies will often ask for a reference, but bothering to check is another matter!
Put a professional looking CV together in word and say you have been working for the last employer for 7 years, the owner is now retiring!
Or try honesty, it’s worked for me, never had to lie to get a job even without experience, just go and talk to the people face to face, they then don’t expect you to be something you’re not.
I was even honest with one employer that I was sacked from a previous job for getting into an altercation with another member of staff and he took me on.
containers_only:
Lie on your CV! Everybody does it
Some will check, most won’t!
Going back to the 80s industry round here was dying off at a alarming rate, coal,steel and all the support industry going with it. So like a lot of others i opted for a government training scheme to upgrade my existing skills. At the end of it we were handed two copies yellow pages for the North East ,a current one and one a couple of years old. And told to find a couple of employers in the older copy that weren’t in the new one and say you’ve been working on contract work on teem valley est . Worked back then would probably work now
containers_only:
Lie on your CV! Everybody does it
Some will check, most won’t!
Going back to the 80s industry round here was dying off at a alarming rate, coal,steel and all the support industry going with it. So like a lot of others i opted for a government training scheme to upgrade my existing skills. At the end of it we were handed two copies yellow pages for the North East ,a current one and one a couple of years old. And told to find a couple of employers in the older copy that weren’t in the new one and say you’ve been working on contract work on teem valley est . Worked back then would probably work now
I would just be honest and tell the truth, people have other things going on in their lives and employers expect that.
You don’t want to go in on your first day and have to pretend to be something you are not, 15 years away is a long time and things change a lot in that time, am guessing you’ve never even used a digi tacho, that alone could catch you out and possibly get you the sack somewhere along the line for lying.
Go knocking on some doors, tell the truth, tell them you have everything in order now and that you are really keen to get back driving, chances are if they do decide to take you on that they will pair you with another driver for a week until you have refreshed your memory and skills and got back up to speed a bit.
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I would go with the straight talking, be honest approach. Don’t lie yourself into a situation today, you may regret tomorrow.
Inexperienced drivers may find it harder to get a start, but every driver on the road started out like that. You have years of roadcraft behind you, although that may not have been in a truck. You are not a huge risk.
Get yourself a half day in a driving school vehicle to get relaxed about auto boxes and the size of the vehicle again. He honest about lack of recent experience during any assessment and a good assessor will take that into account. Tell them you’re a driving God and silly mistakes will make them suspicious.
And your age isn’t out of the norm today in this game.
You’ll be fine. [emoji5]
If you have already explained that you have been away from the job for a while and could be a little rusty for a while nobody is going to be expecting you to be a driving god and they will take that into consideration and allow for that.
Lie and say you’ve been doing it for years and you’ll have lack of skill that you can’t explain and look like a very bad and incompetent driver.
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I totally agree about the honest approach. Your lack of experience will be obvious the minute you walk up to a tractor unit; in fact even before that, when they give you your notes. Your age is an asset, not a liability.
muso:
I’ll give it a try next week , although don’t hold out much hope up here in the Northeast to be honest
Think positive mate,.Murray Hogg and Ramages spring to mind, they were always wanting drivers once over (may be a good reason for that btw).
A guy from Ramage was telling me recently I’d easily get a start with them on Class 1, even though I only passed my class 1 six months ago and haven’t driven one since then, apparently they’re totally ok with new passes.
Ramage, and Stiller as well, are not class 1 jobs I’d like to be doing.
They pretty much do multi drop but just in an artic, you’d be better off just staying with a class 2 licence or better still a C1 licence that way at least they can’t load as much onto you.
Moving up to class 1 is also about moving up the job ladder and getting easier work, but that’s not the case with them two, you are doimg multi drop but now you are going to have about double the drops that you’d have had on class 2.
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