Temping Jobs

Looking for a job? Have you considered driving a truck?

What is involved? Driving, early starts and maybe night driving, lots of fast food and little exercise.

What skills do I need?

· You need to have a full automobile driving licence.

· You need to be over 18, over 21 or even 25 in some cases. Check with the licensing people regarding the minimum age for driving a truck.

· The ability to speak English. Many companies will not let you onto their premises unless you can understand safety signs and directions written in English.

· Patience. You will meet a lot of stupidity as you drive around the country, largely from inexperienced drivers.

· The ability to work early mornings, or late evenings, without it affecting your body chemistry too much

Where do you start? There are several routes into the job.

· You can start as a driver’s assistant, sitting in the cab, helping to unload and blocking traffic when the driver is reversing the truck. The company will hopefully contribute towards the cost of your truck driving training.

· You can pay a truck driving school to teach you the ins and outs of handling different kinds of trucks.

Once you have a licence you can apply for driving jobs anywhere your licence is valid, or you can buy a truck and set up a transport company. Setting up as an owner-operator is best left until you have more experience of the business.

There are always going to be jobs for truck drivers. It’s just a matter of finding them. This is implicit in any distributed economy, where such a large proportion of end-users are only reachable by road transport.

Owner operators have to actively seek out loads to carry. The Internet makes this much easier. You can contact load brokers, who have access to information on loads to be moved from one part of the country to another. No longer will you have to factor into your quotes having to return empty, so you will get more jobs.

Trucking companies are always looking for employed drivers and all you have to do is to search the Internet, especially the specialist truck driving agency sites to find opportunities in your area.

You will be able to apply for more jobs if your licence covers a wider range of trucks and if you are prepared to travel longer distances or to consider night driving.

Main Content Body Chemistry, Different Kinds, Early Mornings, End Users, Evenings, Fast Food, Inexperienced Drivers, Ins And Outs, Load Brokers, Owner Operator, Owner Operators, Road Transport, Safety Signs, Signs And Directions, Stupidity, Transport Company, Truck Drivers, Truck Driving Jobs, Truck Driving School, Trucking Companies

When applying for a job, it is ideal that you identify your strengths and weaknesses and get prepared to address them. By knowing your advantage, the chances of getting the job that you want will surely get easier. But you should not get too confident since this is one of the common mistakes that plague job applicants. Appearing too confident or as somewhat of a know it all person will only get you labeled by your interviewer as unfit for the job.

Identifying your skills

First thing’s first. You should identify your skills. This is your ticket to get that job and you should be able to articulate your abilities and expertise as best as you can. Many people have a hard time telling their skills and abilities as this may seem to be bragging. But you should not be shy or afraid to discuss your skills. In fact, it is important that you convey to your potential employer what your talents are. You should be able to sell your abilities to your employer. That is how you will get the job that you want. It is important that you don’t appear arrogant or condescending but you should also avoid selling yourself short. If the interviewer asks you about your strengths or what separates you from the other applicants, you should be able to readily give a good answer. But before you even go to the interview part, your resume should highlight your skills and talents for your prospective employer to see.

Type of skills

There are two main types of skills, hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills are tangible in the sense that these are things that you do like: knowing how to operate different kinds of machinery, knowledge of a specialized computer program, ability to type fast, skills on using many types of tools, credentials regarding special crafts, etc. Soft skills are skills that are rather abstract in nature like personal qualities. This may include the folowing: being a good team player, having the ability to work on your own, being enthusiastic or organized and decisive.

The steps to follow

Making a list of your previous jobs and experience acquired

First thing to do is to make a list of all the companies that you had worked for and the things that you learned from these jobs. There will be a lot of things to list and you should be careful enough not to forget even the smallest things or activities that you were part of or organized. It is also a good idea to list the volunteer activities that you participated in.

Include a list of your hobbies

Although it might sound trivial at first, it is also very helpful to list all your hobbies. There are a lot of abilities that your prospective employer may get from your hobby list. This will also give an idea of your personality. For example, if you were part of the school’s debating team, then your employer may deduce that you have good analytical skills. If you were a champion chess player, then your employer will have the impression that you are good at making critical decisions.  Think of your daily routine and the things that you do and often take for granted. Are you an organized person who always keeps your things in proper order? Are you an extrovert that can easily make friends in a matter of minutes? These may seem ordinary to normal things to you, but your future boss might think otherwise.

Deciding what career you want

After listing all your skills and all the things that you do well, you may now decide what field or career you want to take a crack at. Select the skills contained from your list and partner it with the employment you are seeking. Always take time to consider if your skills are relevant to the job that you are aspiring for. Don’t be bothered if you have to cut out some of the skills from your list. It is also important to include in the list your skills that the prospective employer will probably value.

Stand by what you write

You should be realistic about your skills and the level of expertise that you have with it. For example, if you indicate that you are a very organized person, then you should be able to show this to the interviewer by being able to organize your thoughts and effectively use the time that was given for your interview.

It is important to know your skills every time you are job hunting. Always put your best foot forward and good luck!

Main Content Abstract, Applying For A Job, Computer Program, Crafts, Credentials, Different Kinds, Good Answer, Hard Time, Ideal, Interviewer, Job Applicants, Job Skills, Personal Qualities, Prospective Employer, Resume Skills, Skills And Abilities, Specialized Computer, Strengths And Weaknesses, Talents, Team Player

If you haven’t already starting using the internet to assist you in the job search, then you are missing out on a huge employment trend.  There are numerous reasons to take advantage of this powerful tool, the most important one being that employers are using the internet more than ever to find candidates.  If recent internet usage studies are accurate, nearly 48% of businesses do at least some of their recruiting online.  Not utilizing the internet in your job search means that you are flying under the radar for many potential job opportunities.

The internet is useful for a number of job search-related activities including:
– Searching for Jobs Online
– Posting your Resume Online
– Networking
– Company Research

Searching for Jobs Online

Million of job openings are posted online each year, many times more openings that you could possibly access on your own outside of the internet.  There are a number of general employment sites that allow postings in all professions, industries, and experience levels.  These sites are very large in both size and scope, but are popular with employers and job seekers alike.

If you are able to narrow your job search to a specific profession or industry, niche sites will be incredibly valuable.   Niche sites are those websites that specialize in a particular industry or profession, as opposed to allowing for the postings of any position imaginable.  The advantages of using a niche site are (1) that you will not need to sort through nearly as many job openings to find those that fit your qualifications, and (2) that traffic is much less at niche sites.  As a result, the competition for these positions is not nearly as fierce.  Examples of niche sites in particular fields include:
– For Human Resource Professionals: SHRM (http:www.shrm.org)
– For Teaching Professionals: Teaching Jobs (http:www.teachingjobs.com)
– For Medical Professionals: Med Search (http:www.medsearch.com)
– For Accounting Professionals: Accounting Job Search (http:www.accounting.com)

In addition to standard online job boards, many government agencies (from the local to federal level) now list all available positions online.   Companies with corporate websites also frequently post any job openings on the company’s job announcement board.  You can use any major internet search engine such as Google or Yahoo to find a specific government or company website.

A final note on online job searches: a large majority of newspapers with widespread circulation publish classified ads, including job openings, on the internet now.  These ads can be accessed for free in most cases, and will give you direct access to any local position openings.

Posting your Resume Online

Resume banks are large online databases that allow you to post your resume to be accessed by recruiters and potential employers.   The advantage to keeping a copy (or copies) of your resume online in a visible location is that allows employers actively seeking candidates to consider your credentials without you having to submit your resume directly to the company.  Individuals worried about confidentiality can opt to leave personal identifying information off of the resume and simply provide an anonymous email address at which interested employers can reach them.

Many job boards also have resume banks, so take the time to browse around your favorite job sites to determine your options for posting your resume.  Resumes can frequently be uploaded directly to the site or cut and pasted for quick posting.  In the event that the site does not support this technology (or if you only have a hard copy of your resume), you will need to manually enter your resume into the site by filling out a form or typing into a pre-designated text box.

Technically-savvy job seekers may also choose to post their resume on their own hosted website, on a free personal site provided by your Internet Service Provider, or on a company website (such as Careerhunters.com) for a small fee.

Networking

Networking is one of the most successful ways to find a new job, since personal relationships often lead to opportunities that you might have otherwise never knew existed.  The internet offers innumerable opportunities to network with other professionals in your field.  Online forums, newsgroups, and professional journalsblogs allow you to connect with professionals who may be able to point you (and your job search) in the right direction. You may even be able to find a mentor to help guide you in your career development.

Company Research

The internet is a powerful tool for conducting research on a specific company in which you are interested.  Using a major search engine to scour the web for information on a company will turn up a company’s corporate webpage (if they have one) as well as a variety of other web sources disclosing information that may be highly pertinent to your job search.  Use the internet, for example, to research the company’s products and services, industry, competitors, financial information, history, and reputation.

Main Content Employment Sites, Employment Trend, Flying Under The Radar, General Employment, Human Resource Professionals, Industry Niche, Internet Usage, Job Openings, Job Opportunities, Job Search, Job Seekers, Med Search, Medical Professionals, Networking Company, Niche Sites, Postings, Profession, Professions, Searching For Jobs, Teaching Jobs