Talks like a Truck Driver (career search engines)

July 23rd, 2008 admin Posted in careers |

By Charles Henry

We have all heard the saying “He’s got a mouth like a truck driver”. Growing up we hear many things that steer us away or towards different jobs in life. No thanks to Hollywood, its portrayal of truck drivers, and the bad accidents we see on the evening news, it seems truck drivers get a bad rap.

Most believe truck drivers are low paid vagrant types that live on the road drifting in and out of trouble. These stereotypes I find to be humorous for I am a truck driver. I have many peers and none of them fit this profile. My peers all make $65,000-$100,000 dollars a year with trucking jobs and most of us are home everyday with our families. We live in above average homes with above average toys.

There is a truck driver shortage in this country that is growing larger every year. Every time I see someone working a menial job living paycheck to paycheck struggling to survive I scratch my head. I cant help but wonder if they have a drivers license. Because having a drivers license is all someone needs to get started and make the aforementioned money in a years time with a trucking job.

There is no need to spend hundreds of thousands on an college education only to graduate too make much less with massive debt. Most would believe that a college degree would enable you to earn more money than with a trucking job. I know many people with degrees whose salaries are not half of a truck driver.

There are many high paying trucking jobs in the trucking industry available with no need to be away from home or live on the road. I don’t believe that the general public is aware these trucking jobs even exist. I know this because of the shocked looks on faces when I explain what I make, and what I do.

The greatest thing about trucking jobs vs. a regular job is the amount of freedom you have. You can’t put a price on freedom of a trucking job, and you will find no other job that will give you as much of it. So the next time you see a truck driver remember this; his investment portfolio and his home are probably 3 times the size of the average American household. He has no student loans to pay back and he has the freedom to talk “like a truck driver” if he wants to!

www.MisterTruckDriver.com

Graduate Recruitment and the Credit Crunch
By Martha Franklin

It is an unwritten rule of job cutting that the most recently hired graduates should be the first ones to be let go when the financial sector is hurting. Some banks are steadfast in their efforts to hire new graduates while others, such as AIB, have eliminated programs of recruitment for the year. What kind of graduates do they seek out? How does a graduate make it to the top of the list in a job market with few jobs available? What can new arrivals hope to gain in the future?

Although bankers may be hesitant to agree, pundits note that there are not as many jobs available for graduates in the field of banking. Some positive things have started to come to light even with banks, such as AIB stopping thier recruiting. Still some graduates are feeling stressed. New graduate hires in 2008 are nearly identical to the previous year at Citi, a bank with large worldwide redundancie announcements. Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank are in full force with their graduate recruitment programs. Even UBS, with its announcement of 5,500 redundancies, plans to go forth with a recruitment season similar to that of last year’s.

Goldman Sachs is in the middle of one of its largest summer recruitment initiatives. This summer, over 400 interns will start their placements. In 2009, we believe approximately 75% will be offered permanent employment. The employment scene is really starting to look up, as far as the commercial banking field is concerned. Retail and commercial recruitment figures for Barclays are expected to rise by 48% globally this year. In 2009 they are looking to see another increase.

Graduates can find reassurance in the fact that banks have learned from the mistakes of the past. Several banks were forced to fill jobs from accountancy instead of hiring new graduates in 2001-2002 when financial sector recruiting was last so bad. In order to ensure that graduate jobs are available for the appropriate candidates, this error must not occur in the future.

Martha is a freelance journalist writing about Pareto Consulting

How to Make Your Resume Stand Out
By Ben Needles

Whether or not youre planning to look for a new job, you should always keep your resume updated. Get into the habit of updating your accomplishments and skills so that your resume is always ready.

Here are some tips:

1. Group your top skill sets into a summary.
2. Create a professional email address (using your name - no nicknames) to include with your contact information.
3. Use past tense - even when describing your current job.
4. If youre posting your resume online, dont encourage identity theft by including too much personal information.
5. Gear you resume towards the job you want, not the one you have now.
6. List your most recent job first.
7. Check spelling and grammar - dont depend on your spelling errors being caught by spell check.

Your resume should not include every task youve performed in every position; instead it should only include your strongest accomplishments. Though its tempting to add all the details about every job youve had, your resume is only a starting point. Use it to get your foot in the door so that you can get an interview. Once you have an opportunity to speak with the hiring manager, then you can go into more detail.

Since you have to catch the attention of the reader right away, stay away from passive-sounding words when describing your accomplishments and responsibilities. Passive sentences are indirect and dont make much of an impression.

Look at this example of a passive sentence: Participated on product development team. Compare that with this example of an active sentence: Created scripts and tested new product.

In addition to using active words and sentences in your descriptions, you also have to show results. Which description would appeal to you as a hiring manager?

Arranged new product development meetings, or Facilitated meetings for new product development team which led to cost savings due to reduced miscommunication between departments.

If you are a freelancer or temp worker, youll probably work for various companies and hold different positions. Even if you had different titles, the skills and accomplishments will show your versatility in different industries and company cultures.

Keep track of the projects youve worked on, articles and documentation youve written, etc. Set aside samples of your work so that you can include them with your resume, if requested.

When youre changing careers playing up your skills is very important. You may not have direct experience in the area youre changing to, but you can show how the skills youve acquired in the old career can be carried over to the new one. Pick accomplishments that show that you are versatile and can think out of the box. Play up training and learning experiences to show that you can adapt to new environments. The person reading your resume is focused on finding the right person for the job. They wont have the time to think about how to fit your skills into their requirements.

Not sure how to show that your skills can be transferred to a new profession? For instance, if youre a project manager and you want to become an event planner, you could play up your organization skills or your communications skills. You could also play up your ability to simultaneously manage different tasks. Look at the work youve done, then find ways to highlight your strongest accomplishments. The person reading your resume should see right away that you can perform the duties the position requires.

Of course if you know what type of job you want, itll be easier to create your resume. However, if youre not sure what you want to do next - or how to update your resume to reflect your varied skills - consider hiring a professional to help. These days you cant take a chance that your resume will be overlooked. If you present yourself to your best advantage, youll have a better chance of being hired for the job you want.

About the Author (text)

Deborah A. Bailey is a professional coach, writer and founder of Deb Bailey Coaching. She specializes in working with individuals as they move through transitions and experience a life beyond their expectations. Learn more now at http://www.dbaileycoach.com.

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