I’ve had my class 2 for nearly two years now, but was lucky enough to start in a non agency job so I have two years of solid work experience.
Thing is, I want to do my class 1 and was wondering if I passed now would my 2 years experience of class 2 count as class 1 experience if I went down the agency route?
ie I could get class 2 work at an agency, but would I have to wait another 2 years to get class 1 work? And if I had my class 1 pass for two years, but had no actual work experience, would those two years count?
Seems blooming hard to get your foot on the first step of the ladder.
No, your two years Class 2 experience counts as absolutely nothing in the Class 1 world. Even if you hold your Class 1 license for 2 years and do nothing with it, your chances of getting work without the experience is still very slim.
I’m having the same problem, 3 months Class 2 experience (passed in Dec 11) and now I have Class 1 (passed in Apr 12) and the little experience I have counts for nothing.
It seems these days it’s even harder to find someone to give you that important chance. The saying is as popular as ever, “if no one will give me a start, how do I get experience?”
a mate of mine passed his class1 last year think he just turned 22 did the normal cv round everywhere emailed and took in person then week after he went to place where manager was most helpful and asked if he could do a shift there to get some experience and dident want payin he did a shift with someone who worked there at end day they asked him back to do a shift on his own again for no money he said ye so next mornin turned up half hr b4 was ment to and was asked to come into office and was asked to sign his full time perminant contract.
just got to keep tryin 1day u will get there just as someone hands there notice in
i know its couple of years away yet but, once DCPC kicks in and the old n bold drivers jack it in and retire, im sure there will be jobs that turn a blind eye to the 2 year thing, due to shortage of drivers. Hopefully!
I passed my class 1 in December, class 2 in October.
It’s taken me 6 months to find a full time class 1 job. I have had limited experience, doing a few ad hoc shifts from wherever I could.
Most of the agencies I spoke to had said I needed 2 years at least before they would consider me, others stated that if I got a year as class 2 they would be able to help me.
It all depends if you fancy the outlay of the money on class 1. I would say gofor it personally.
There are jobs out there for newbies, it just takes time and persistence.
This thing about experience has been an issue for at least 20 years because when I started out I was hitting the same brick wall.
Maybe I was lucky in that at my time the agencies would take you with no experience but the real secret is to get a few months experience wherever you can, even if it’s the dodgiest firm in the parish.
As a newby I tried every firm running trucks within a 30 mile radius of my house and was offered a couple of class 2 gigs but I was stubborn and stuck out for class 1 work.
One firm I really wanted to get on did European work and they were adamant about the two years experience.
Having scored my first full time job after a few months I was tipping near the above company so decided to try my hand again. Despite only havin around 6 months experience, and I was honest about it, this time my application was accepted and I started within a couple of weeks.
I know at the moment it’s harder with experienced drivers also competing for the odd oppotunity that does arise but you’d be surprised how many doors a few months experience will open. Also if a company run both class 1 and 2 kit take the offer of a class 2 job. Once you’ve proved yourself you can make it known that you want class 1 and at some point that chance will arrive.
Keep on trying and eventually someone will give you that break and from there on the skies the limit. Just don’t expect to fall straight into that cream job or to be a millionaire any time soon.
