Hi,
I’ve read a few forum posts on here advising to go out with your CV and hand them to transport managers to get you face known in the hope of getting a job.
I’m quite happy to do this when my time comes (just starting out on my journey at the minute), but I have no relevant experience to put on my CV.
I’ve been in IT for the past 20+ years and I’m sure a transport manager will have no interest in the fact I can develop interactive web pages using PHP by interrogating a mysql database.
So other than the fact I’ve always been a long time employee with each of the companies I’ve worked for (proving reliability, trust worthiness and commitment) and the fact my license is clean, what else can I put on my CV?
Any help greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Gareth
I was in the same boat as you, passed my test, no practical job experience, but a couple of months after passing my test I have managed to land a full time job. You need to think about the skills you already have, the ability to work on your own or as part of a team, resilience, problem solving, working under pressure to tight deadlines, a willingness and wanting to learn, approachable. Then when you go visiting potential employers try to be as enthusiastic as possible. I applied for loads of vacancies through job sites and got nowhere, tried ringing after a few only to be told need a minimum one years experience, so one day when I saw a vacancy come up I went straight there with my cv and licence, was lucky enough to get an interview and to find they took on newbies, and the next day got a phone call offering me the job.
It’s just a case of being persistent and not letting the knock backs get you down.
Hope this helps!!!
Nice one, thanks for that.
G
Hey Gareth,
Exactly what Tiddyrobbo says is right. 
Don’t worry about the 2 year experience thing and just get on with promoting yourself once you’ve got your licence. As you pointed out yourself, your long service in itself proves that you are commited to a company and loyal to them. That’s a good sign not a bad one.
Any potential employer will take you on as a newbie. It all depends on how much they need somebody at the time and if you tick all the right boxes in the first place, they will give you a try. Just read around this forum and you will find many newbies getting a job without too much trouble. There are one or two that have had a moan about not getting a job straight away, but I reckon it’s probably down to their own commitment (or lack of it) or they could just be in a certain area where positions aren’t coming up as often (which means they should either travel further, or double their efforts!)
I reckon, given your previous experience, you’ve got a very good-looking CV which will show off your other skills. And don’t forget, any potential employer will know you’ve only just got your LGV licence, but along with being impressed with your attitude towards the job (and his company especially), your enthusiasm and other life skills, he will also know that you’ve been freshly trained and that most of the reles/regulations we need to know should still be freshly stored in your grey matter. 
So, think positive mate and get out there…err, once you get that licence of course! 
Keep it short and simple.No time to read a life story.With the experience thing you can stretch the truth a bit.I had never driven a truck in Europe and was asked at the interview if i had driven in Europe.
I said yes.But it was driving Dads caravan off the ferry to the camp site in Le Havre France.
What you write on the CV they can not verify.A few white lies is what everybody does to get ahead of the competition applying for the job.
good stuff, I wouldn’t have thought of that - I’ve driven in France, Germany and Holland a number of times going with that theory.
Cheers
G
toby1234abc:
Keep it short and simple.No time to read a life story.With the experience thing you can stretch the truth a bit.I had never driven a truck in Europe and was asked at the interview if i had driven in Europe.
I said yes.But it was driving Dads caravan off the ferry to the camp site in Le Havre France.
What you write on the CV they can not verify.A few white lies is what everybody does to get ahead of the competition applying for the job.
Hmmm…stretching the truth is done by most people on a CV (me included), you can also re-word things in a clever way to suit the job you are seeking, but I certainly wouldn’t recommend any outright lies… 
Hmmm, I’ve always been completely honest on my CV’s in the past, will see what I come up with first and see what happens I guess.
Cheers
G
My CV is short 1 page as I have condensed it down otherwise it could poss be several pages long
Keep it short & simple yep stretch the truth little but be careful but dont lie or you could be found out