Probably won’t make much difference if you leave it on there…
I left my 50 metre swimming badge qualification on mine and no one has ever mentioned it.
like i have a cv lol
I think that unless qualifications are relevant to the position you are applying for then employers are probably more interested in work experience, whether paid or voluntary. Uni. doesn’t prove you have a work ethic, practical experience does.
Fincham:
Where I worked it slipped out that I had an operators CPC and that didn’t go down too well.
Declaring having a national or international Opperator CPC might make you look smarter than the person who’s interviewing you, and might make you seem slightly threatening to their position.
peirre:
Fincham:
Where I worked it slipped out that I had an operators CPC and that didn’t go down too well.Declaring having a national or international Opperator CPC might make you look smarter than the person who’s interviewing you, and might make you seem slightly threatening to their position.
It slipped out because someone I had worked with years earlier, in a business that wasn’t transport related, worked there and mentioned it in the traffic office. One of the planners actually asked me when it expired?, he had failed his CPC exam.
Fincham:
One of the planners actually asked me when it expired?, he had failed his CPC exam.
Now why ain’t I surprised to read that 
I would say to leave it in, particularly if seeking employment with one of the larger companies which has an HR department. That lot live in a little world of their own, so should you have a disagreement with someone which ends up in a formal hearing, then you will have given them an excuse for dismissing you for failure to disclose information in your application form.
Captain Caveman 76:
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’m one of those. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my time at university. Loved the life and throughly enjoyed my degree. I got to do things I’d never dreamed of doing like doing all the big festivals in the summer of 2011. Being lead cameraman and a role model for the rest of the group/lower years. Being picked for the A team at Bestival, was told by the guy running the Big Top second stage that he wanted me to be part of that team! I was the go to guy for camera stuff.
But when I left uni, I couldn’t get a job anywhere. I don’t know why that was but every place I tried for didn’t get back to me even after multiple attempts to find out why. There were a few who were lucky and managed to get into the industry but its a small industry, its who you know not what you know. After uni I sat on the unemployment line for 6 months because getting so fed up I took the first job that came to me. I worked as a Barista in a Italian coffee shop for over a year. The pay was crap and the hours were long but it was work. Got into trucking after a recommendation or rather a shove by a guy I played online with. He works or used to work for Express Freight from Essex. He told me to get my lorry licence because I’d pretty much fall into a job. One thing led to another and here we are today. I don’t regret getting my tickets or choosing to stay in an industry such as this. Do I miss the stuff I did at uni? You’re dam right but at least I can wake up and know that I’m earning a good honest wage. Besides, who wants a cameraman who can’t edit?
As it stands today, I still have over £20,000 of debt to repay. I’m not bothered a jot by this.
Radar19:
As it stands today, I still have over £20,000 of debt to repay. I’m not bothered a jot by this.
The problem is you start work with £20,000 of debt, at a time when you could either be enjoying a bit of spare income or saving up for a house. Next thing is you’ll want a house so that a mortgage, more debt and so on.
A cynical person might think the establishment has planned to keep the workforce in perpetual debt, keeps them quiet and keeps them working to pay the debt off. 
Of course I’m not a cynical person. 
Juddian:
Captain Caveman 76:
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.
The whole idea was ludicrous and not only for those who were force fed the University dream, but those who didn’t go and were therefore branded as failures.
Schools didn’t help, they wanted to show how many of there pupils went to university, somebody going off to be a builder didn’t seem so good. Even though it would have probably suited more of those and many would have had better employment prospects.
There were loads of motorsport courses start up, the poor buggers who went on them thought it was going to give them a guarantied route into F1, it didn’t even get them a job in any race team. Most of them would have been better off knocking on doors and starting off as a gofor, seen plenty of lads do that and move on to better things, including some who were at university at the time.
We had one lad who was doing his degree and spending time in our workshop sweeping up, making tea etc, during his holiday. the next summer he went away with the team and by his last year he’d got a full-time job with us and was still able to finish his degree.
A team manger told me recently if put an ad in for a junior engineer he’d have 50 plus applications, if he was looking for an experienced mechanic or truckies he’d think he was doing well to get a couple of suitable applications.
Javiatrix:
Guy with degree and communication skills asks his question clearly, whilst using correct grammar, punctuation and sentence structure.And then we have -
truckerjimbo:
PMSLI rest my case.
Quite. It’s one of those posts that should be dragged up in the next round of ‘why are lorry drivers treated like idiots?’ hand-wringing.
muckles:
Radar19:
As it stands today, I still have over £20,000 of debt to repay. I’m not bothered a jot by this.The problem is you start work with £20,000 of debt, at a time when you could either be enjoying a bit of spare income or saving up for a house. Next thing is you’ll want a house so that a mortgage, more debt and so on.
A cynical person might think the establishment has planned to keep the workforce in perpetual debt, keeps them quiet and keeps them working to pay the debt off.Of course I’m not a cynical person.
I bloody am, its all designed, including the housing fad bubble once they managed the university debt so the establishment has a firm grip of enough people’s ■■■■■■■■ to keep enough in line, they know full well once they’ve got them on the good little credit consumer treadmill that most people will be a couple of wage packets off serious trouble…so don’t rock the boat sonny or we’ll have those ■■■■■■■■ off you.
Keep the working classes where they belong Claud, absolutely Rupert, another Krug? why not yah.
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 ■■?
Good question.
Its a bit of a long story so I won’t bore you. I actually wrote half it out and thought “■■■■ it nobody wants to read all that”.
Basically its something I always wanted to do. When I was kid I used to know every make and model of truck, I spent most of my time in school drawing them and when I originally left school truck and machine driving was the plan.
Didnt work out for a whole heap of reasons.
My Marine Biology career was pretty good, I had some great jobs out of it and managed to clear my debts. But I got left down at the last minute for a job offer back in february. The contract I was supposed to be working on was cancelled and by time they had another one for me my parents were Ill so I decided to look after them for a while instead. They’re back on their feet now and since I’ve been out of work for so long I got offered a place on a government run truck driving course for unemployed people. So I’m going to give it a go for a while and scratch the itch.
I like working on my own and spending time on my own and I don’t like going into work and being stuck in the same place all day so truck driving would probably suit me.
Thanks for all the advice guys.
I didn’t realise It’d get to two pages 
On the balance of the advice here I’m going to leave it on, if only to give the illusion of intelligence.
Many years ago,I mentioned my degree at interview.Then and since when I mentioned things like a current Operators Licence I was told I was overqualified and turned down.As pierre wrote above.some TMs don’t want a driver who may be better qualified than they are.Similarly,after working and living abroad for many years I was lucky enough to learn to speak 4 other languages.This too served no useful purpose when job seeking so I never mentioned it again.On another tack,when the revolution comes,I hope I have Juddian and RobRoy in my trench!
somefeen:
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 ■■?
Good question.
Its a bit of a long story so I won’t bore you. I actually wrote half it out and thought “[zb] it nobody wants to read all that”.
Basically its something I always wanted to do. When I was kid I used to know every make and model of truck, I spent most of my time in school drawing them and when I originally left school truck and machine driving was the plan.
Didnt work out for a whole heap of reasons.
My Marine Biology career was pretty good, I had some great jobs out of it and managed to clear my debts. But I got left down at the last minute for a job offer back in february. The contract I was supposed to be working on was cancelled and by time they had another one for me my parents were Ill so I decided to look after them for a while instead. They’re back on their feet now and since I’ve been out of work for so long I got offered a place on a government run truck driving course for unemployed people. So I’m going to give it a go for a while and scratch the itch.
I like working on my own and spending time on my own and I don’t like going into work and being stuck in the same place all day so truck driving would probably suit me.
Sounds like a good reason. I was like you as a kid, going away with my Dad, knowing every truck marque and all the rest of it.
Left school, ok I never made Uni, but I took an engineering apprenticeship.
I knew a lot of lads, mates who were truckers, and I used to skive work and college to go off with them for a week at a time.
As soon as I qualified, I left to try driving, and never ever went back to my trade.
I used to absolutely love this job at that time 79/early 80s.
Whether I would do the same now (given that the job is soooo different to what it was then) is another story, maybe I wouldn’t but don’t let me put you off if you are keen.
Good luck with it, but remember it can be as good or as bad as YOU make it, …and don’t comply to pressure when they try you out. . 
I have a degree, funnily enough in environmental biology. I’ve never mentioned it. In fact I don’t have a CV. In my experience I’ve never needed one. Job interviews tended to go…
“Can you drive that”
“Yes”
“Right you’re shipping out at 0600”
Sorted
You need to account for your time. Leaving your degree on there is better than a space in time which suggests the clink.
Juddian:
Captain Caveman 76:
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.
Yep, all of that! 
I’m willing to bet that a large percentage of call centre staff have a BA of some sort… 
Universities are now a business, and I believe as such they should ONLY be able to run degree’s based on their value to the user!
I’ll concur with the including it opinions. Something different that makes you stand out can get you past the first hurdle and to interview stage, even if it’s just out of curiosity for the employer.
Anyone who thinks your overqualified is probably not worth working for anyway.
I have a 10 year gap on mine that due to special ops has to be filled in as ‘self employed’, and other waffle to satisfy prospective employers.
If pushed I just call upon ‘The Official Secrets Act’, whatever that is.