I am currently stuck between a rock and a hard place with being unemployed and the latest tory pressures on the jobless.
Looking through the jobs in my area, there are jobs that are only asking for experienced drivers.
I have driven 7.5 tonne tippers, with only some occasional class 2 18 tonne work.
I have looked into other types of haulage… BUT again expereience is required and I also have no experience or skills in securing various types of load.
Seeing as I’m getting increasingly desperate to get off the dole… will I be taking too much of a chance by being economical with the truth to get a job in the larger tippers? or anything esle for that matter… e.g. skip driving
Get out and visit companies in person. If you sit and wait for a job to present itself you’re going to be waiting a while, especially at this time of year.
What DJC says. He’s a perfect example. Went from Class 2 curtains to Class 1 containers with little experience. It was knocking on doors which pays off.
For your safety and that of everyone around you, my advice would be: never lie, never exaggerate your experience. If you’re completely honest, you can ask for help and advice when you need it. If you pretend to know more than you do, everyone else will assume you know what you’re doing. Sooner or later you’ll find yourself in a situation that will go very badly wrong.
My recent experience has been that people in this industry are very willing to help, if you ask them.
well said major, i applied for boxes recently passed the drive etc and said to the guy i would need a week or so to get used to it, it did go against me as never got asked to work, though i would rather be honest best policy i think
Blagging does tend to come back and bite you on the backside in my experience.
A few years ago I was made redundant from a local farm. At the time I was on the waiting list for a new kidney. As soon as I mentioned this at interviews you could almost see their eyes glaze over.
So I thought sod this, next one I’m not going to say anything, do a week or so work for them and then mention it.
Yeah right! Started on the Monday, nice short run down to Bristol and back. Get back to the yard and boss asks if I’m ok to do a run down to London next day, fine by me. Off home, early night, plug into dialysis and off to sleep.
Then the phone goes, hospital have a kidney for me. So I now have to ring my boss of two days at two in the morning to explain why I wouldn’t be going to London that day. Or for a few weeks after that either.
Knock on doors and make a good impression, talk to anyone and everyone and make some contacts. There’s many a job that’ll go to people who were in the right place at the right time. The right attitude will sometimes get a job that you thought was out of your grasp because of experience.
For example.
I drive a Hiab beavertail delivering plant and generally anything else, it’s not easy to get a start in this job without experience. I was lucky and have largely learnt what I know from asking questions and watching others do things. I’d recently given some friendly advice to another TNUK member who was local and looking for work, one day he saw me on site and introduced himself and after a while persuaded me to take him along for a day out seeing what my job was all about as he fancied it but no experience. He came out a couple more times and had a go loading plant and seeing how it gets secured etc. He did a fair bit of door knocking and found someone who liked him and gave him a chance.
I saw him today at his yard, doing just fine. It’s not easy and he’s learning new stuff every day but a year ago he had no experience and no contacts. Because he had the determination to do so, he found a way in and got the job he was after with a basic understanding rather than experience.
If you end up with a job following your “blagging”. How do you intend on keeping it?
I mean no offence.
However if someone employed you as an experience class 2 tipper driver and you came upon a problem which an experienced man could deal with and god forbid you got hurt, no only would you be likely to sue them for your own lack of experience but HSE would have a baby and potentially close a business because you wanted to help yourself (and the firm) by doing your best.
Also keep in mind it’s far harder to impress if your gaffer already thinks you know what you’re doing and you’ll end up fed up when what are milestones for you are ignored.
Surely it’s better to be honest. Put the miles in to finding a job which suits you and which you suit. Then put the miles in gaining experience.
Well done for having the get up and go to do something about being on the dole and for thinking creatively.
DJC is a walking example of how putting the effort in pays off. Young lad next to no experience but full of getting it doneness and willing to learn. Working full time on boxes and learning more in a day than he would in a fortnight on agency.