Hi
Asking this here because I’m getting conflicting advice from people. I thought it would be better to get advice from people actually in the industry.
I am soon to be looking for driving Jobs with a C licence for the first time. I had planned on doing this around 8 years ago but with the the recession there was no driving jobs going and everyone told me I would have to be 25 to have any hope anyway because of the insurance.
So I went down a totally different path and ended up with a Bsc(hons) in Marine Biology and 8 years work experience in fish farming instead.
Two different people, supposedly knowledgeable in these things, have given me different advice about including the BSc on my CV.
Ones says to take it off. Her reasons being
The degree would make employers wary of taking me on in case I decide to move on quickly due to being over qualified.
I have verifiable work experience to explain the 4 year gap anyway so they need never know.
The other says to leave it on since it shows that I can meet deadlines and handle stress etc, that most employers want an educated workforce no matter what the role and it shows that I have good communication skills.
I have no idea myself. I’d rather leave it on just for the sake of being honest and the fact that I’m fairly proud of it but don’t want to hurt my chances of getting a job either.
Any advice at all?
Thanks
somefeen:
Hi
Asking this here because I’m getting conflicting advice from people. I thought it would be better to get advice from people actually in the industry.
I am soon to be looking for driving Jobs with a C licence for the first time. I had planned on doing this around 8 years ago but with the the recession there was no driving jobs going and everyone told me I would have to be 25 to have any hope anyway because of the insurance.
So I went down a totally different path and ended up with a Bsc(hons) in Marine Biology and 8 years work experience in fish farming instead.
Two different people, supposedly knowledgeable in these things, have given me different advice about including the BSc on my CV.
Ones says to take it off. Her reasons being
The degree would make employers wary of taking me on in case I decide to move on quickly due to being over qualified.
I have verifiable work experience to explain the 4 year gap anyway so they need never know.
The other says to leave it on since it shows that I can meet deadlines and handle stress etc, that most employers want an educated workforce no matter what the role and it shows that I have good communication skills.
I have no idea myself. I’d rather leave it on just for the sake of being honest and the fact that I’m fairly proud of it but don’t want to hurt my chances of getting a job either.
Any advice at all?
Thanks
IMHO most companies won’t even read your cv they just want your licence, CPC card and digicard and they’ll usually get you to fill a form out with a brief employment history and they’ll want references. You’ll have a driving assessment to pass and thats about it. Well in my experience anyhow. Good luck.
apply in person to companies and leave them your contact details. No CV’s required no need to tell them you have a degree all they’ll worry about is whether you can drive.
somefeen:
Hi
Asking this here because I’m getting conflicting advice from people. I thought it would be better to get advice from people actually in the industry.
I am soon to be looking for driving Jobs with a C licence for the first time. I had planned on doing this around 8 years ago but with the the recession there was no driving jobs going and everyone told me I would have to be 25 to have any hope anyway because of the insurance.
So I went down a totally different path and ended up with a Bsc(hons) in Marine Biology and 8 years work experience in fish farming instead.
Two different people, supposedly knowledgeable in these things, have given me different advice about including the BSc on my CV.
Ones says to take it off. Her reasons being
The degree would make employers wary of taking me on in case I decide to move on quickly due to being over qualified.
I have verifiable work experience to explain the 4 year gap anyway so they need never know.
The other says to leave it on since it shows that I can meet deadlines and handle stress etc, that most employers want an educated workforce no matter what the role and it shows that I have good communication skills.
I have no idea myself. I’d rather leave it on just for the sake of being honest and the fact that I’m fairly proud of it but don’t want to hurt my chances of getting a job either.
Any advice at all?
Thanks
You’re CV gets you the interview, the interview gets you the job.
IMO if you’re going to put down 8 years working in marine biology(!) you may as well put down your degree because they’ll be wondering about the change in direction anyway.
I’d say leave it on there mate! I left mine on when I applied to a number of agencies - they all remember me for it (and the fact that I was a college lecturer for 17 years!). Anything that makes you standout from the crowd has to be an advantage.
somefeen:
Two different people, supposedly knowledgeable in these things, have given me different advice about including the BSc on my CV.
Ones says to take it off. Her reasons being
The degree would make employers wary of taking me on in case I decide to move on quickly due to being over qualified.
I have verifiable work experience to explain the 4 year gap anyway so they need never know.
Both are probably right, and either option could increase or reduce your chances of an interview, just depends on the company and the person reading it.
Some people will see a degree making you over qualified and probably will mean you won’t stay or they might be suspicious about your motives for applying for the job.
Other will see you being better educated than the average drivers as an advantage, although they’ll be curious as to why you want to drive trucks, so have those answers ready if you get to the interview. And if they are a major Logistics company, (which are the ones who’d probably ask for a CV anyway) they might see you as a potential management material.
So really it’s your choice, my choice would be to put in on.
Although as I put in my previous post with many companies, especially the smaller ones, turning up in person is probably a better bet than sending a CV in.
I was always told to leave out any qualifications that are not relevant to the job.
I certainly won’t be leaving Drivers CPC on my CV once I get my degree and post grad courses done. From an employers perspective I would actually wonder why you would spent all that time and effort getting a degree then throw it away to drive a truck.
The bigger question is this mate, and I’m surprised nobody has adressed this ‘‘Elephant in the room’’ type thing.
If you have a degree with all the doors it can potentially open for you, including a career with presumably excellent rates of pay, which could secure for you a lucrative future.
robroy:
The bigger question is this mate, and I’m surprised nobody has adressed this ‘‘Elephant in the room’’ type thing.
If you have a degree with all the doors it can potentially open for you, including a career with presumably excellent rates of pay, which could secure for you a lucrative future.
WHY tf DO YOU WANT TO DRIVE A TRUCK INSTEAD ■■?
A degree guarantees nothing, and an awful lot of post graduate jobs don’t pay much more than a decent trucking gig. I have a masters degree and yet I earn more money, work shorter hours and have an awful lot less stress just pointing a lorry in the right direction and pressing the noisy pedal.
Edit: In fact, whilst I’m in rant mode, this is the outcome of another of Tony Blair’s lies. That everyone should get a degree and earn loads, encouraging people who weren’t academically qsuitable into worthless degrees and then putting up fees and removing grants. Leaving young people with huge debts that they’re not able to pay off ( I still owe over 10k from over twenty years ago) because the high end jobs just aren’t there.
I leave mine on, and I was offered the last two jobs I applied for. It made no difference really, and wasn’t mentioned at interview. I don’t even think it was noticed as they seemed interested only in my valid licence, CPC card, and years of experience, as they surely will with you.
I’d leave it on, I had the same predicament. Mines on, occasionally when I mess up as we all do time to time, lost late forgot Anderson lead etc etc, I get a remark with a degree too…
Leave it on pal. Chances are they will only realise you have one after you been working there a while as happened to me. I earn more driving then surveying which was my old job. Good luck.
Leave it on. I did the uni experience but found nothing good job wise after. Ended up truck driving and because of my qualifications and accent I’m known as ‘Posh’ or sometimes ‘Posh ■■■■■ depending on circumstances. It’s seen as just a novelty where I work as some guys don’t have any academic qualifications. Doesn’t change anything we are all drivers and my boss judges us on accident history instead of what we did at school.
robroy:
The bigger question is this mate, and I’m surprised nobody has adressed this ‘‘Elephant in the room’’ type thing.
If you have a degree with all the doors it can potentially open for you, including a career with presumably excellent rates of pay, which could secure for you a lucrative future.
WHY tf DO YOU WANT TO DRIVE A TRUCK INSTEAD ■■?
A degree guarantees nothing, and an awful lot of post graduate jobs don’t pay much more than a decent trucking gig. I have a masters degree and yet I earn more money, work shorter hours and have an awful lot less stress just pointing a lorry in the right direction and pressing the noisy pedal.
Edit: In fact, whilst I’m in rant mode, this is the outcome of another of Tony Blair’s lies. That everyone should get a degree and earn loads, encouraging people who weren’t academically qsuitable into worthless degrees and then putting up fees and removing grants. Leaving young people with huge debts that they’re not able to pay off ( I still owe over 10k from over twenty years ago) because the high end jobs just aren’t there.
I could not agree more CC, a whole bloody generation of youngsters conned for the vanity of one of the worse examples of human this country has ever produced.
Those who would have gone to university (side rant can they only spell the first three letters half the sods) mostly would end up there anyway, for so many others they’ve lost out on genuine groundings in real work and ended up with a bloody debt millstone round their necks for those wasted years, and arguably somehow get convinced that because they have a degree they are middle class liberals when as we all know the vast vast majority of all people are bloody working class, for the simple definition we get up and go to work to earn a bloody crust.
That bloody man and his cronies and cohorts should be doing time for many many reasons, not as his dishonourable replacement Dave of the tail between his legs quick resignation when he might have to do something right, was any better.
As for our OP, its part of your history mate, be proud of what you are and what you’ve done, with a bit of careful job selection its possible your previous could lead on to better things at the right company.
CV’s might not be the norm, but where i work, which is luckily for me class leading T’s & C’s, you won’t get a look in without presenting one.
When i landed the job the ops manager who interviewed me said no other applicant could touch my CV, so do not underestimate what a one page only to the point clearly written truthful CV can do for you, it can lead to very good things if it makes you stand out from the rest.
