How to respond to question at interview..

In my time buying alcohol was a rite of passage for newbie truckers. Ive had trainers stop by the store and we will pick up this and that. Usually a 6 pack of something lite. Lower percentage alcohol. The bad roads in the day was quite something else. Being able to drink the pain away for several hundred miles made for a good work day. They were replacing 81 to bare dirt along with 78 in PA as well as 8 in CT. With the exception of 8 being bare dirt and no bridge decking. Fortunately the bridge beams were steer tires wide just so. (Don't ask...)

I did not continue this behavior after 1994 when the CDL laws kicked in. Talking to people about employment happens inside the company itself. I never talk to third party recruiters. I don't mind sharing stories of the industry with such people but not for hiring on to anything. I don't hate recruiters personally, it's like dealing with a dispatcher or the devil. Take your pick. But someone has to interview drivers sometime. I rather it be a operations man inside the company office who has spent some time on the road with a actual 18 wheeler. Instead of someone hired just to talk.

Instead of trying to take on your question fired or not fired etc, I offer the following resource.

There is a specific method of interviewing and gathering facts from people who do not want to tell you a #### thing for a variety of reasons. This is called the Ried Technique. It's a form of questioning that will sort of paint the interviewee into a corner and cause information to come out even if the person said nothing. (Body language etc) I have forgotten most of the particulars, but it is a tool to get information out of people who do not always wish to talk to you.

https://www.reid.com/

 

I'm sure it's pretty common, especially with common names in larger centers. It's still something I'd be concerned about. I used to get extra attention from customs when crossing the border due to this person with the same name.

I was more curious about the first part of my post though. Do most people have an identifiable online presence now and if so does it hurt to not have one?

 

The internet and smart phones have changed everything.

If you have a Facebook page, you have an online presence... you are inviting your friends as well as everyone to have a window into your life..

For some careers an online presence is a must, for others not so much. But, anyone in just about any industry needs to be somewhat aware of their online presence and how it could affect their job.

For example, as a truck driver, chances are your online presence won't come into play in the hiring process.. but it could if the hiring manager decides to take a mere moment and google your name..

But, consider this, a truck driver gets a Facebook page to keep in touch with his family and friends. He is driving through a beautiful area and decides to just take a picture or a little video with his cell phone and posts it to show his family the beautiful scenery. He doesn't crash.

Now, a week later he his at a terminal cause his truck is do a maintenance check in the shop. While he is there he told to go see the safety manager. He goes and sees the safety manager, and the safety manager plays the Facebook video of him driving through the beautiful scenery.

That there is a no brainer. But, what about when it is more ambiguous... maybe the safety manager or Safety IT person read through his posts on Facebook. Maybe they don't like the political views he posts, or his rumblings about his company.. which, anyone looking at his Facebook page could see who he drives for...

Now, will they call him in and fire him.. NO, But, most business, even trucking companies are learning to protect their Brand.. so, they may not like this guy being one of the faces of their company out on Facebook..

What can they... simply put if a company doesn't want you working for them they can get rid you.. find something to fire you for or make it so you quit...

I am sure that some are thinking I am just being paranoid and need to get a new tinfoil hat... To that I would ask if you have ever heard of Nancy Flynn and the ePolicy Institute. Who advocates that employers not only have the right, but i is also their responsibility and obligation to monitor how their employees use social media at all times.

People have been fired for posts they made on Facebook, twitter, intstagram, YouTube, tumblr, vine or Reddit to name a few..

Doing a google search and getting insight to a candidate is becoming more common place and just a regular part of the hiring process.

 

I wear the same hat. Why some see a need to share everything online is beyond me.

 

Yeah... and so many unaware that it has affected them.. obviously if a hiring manager goes through your Facebook or twitter and doesn't like what they see.. they are not likely to tell you such..

The thing is.. the old saying of first impressions matter.. still holds true.. but often your first impression has been made through your Facebook or twitter before you even meet the manger face to face..

Awhile back a friends of mines husband was having a hard time finding a job.. I was over their house for grill out and he expressed his frustration and asked me what I thought... I said, "Well, maybe it is your Very Pro NRA, I shotgun first and ask questions later that makes them nervous" to which he snapped backed he had more sense than to wear one of his numerous pro gun T Shirts to an interview.. so I said, "actually, not really, your daily political pro gun posts on your Facebook which you don't have private to promote gun advocacy is the first impression they have... I am surprised the interviewer doesn't put on a bulletproof vest before the interview"

He said he had never thought about that.. and then later, said, that is why you only post funny animal videos and inspirational quotes isn't it... I said of course, watching funny videos especially of animals makes people feel good, dogs are unconditional love, cats Independence, and quotes to inspire... if someone checked me out on Facebook or twitter I want them to feel good and inspired.

I see people post things that just astonishing me.. I had one candidate who spent time cleaning up his online presence, kept it clean and good while he was job hunting.. he went to an interview and did really was offered the job and was going to start that following Monday..

Gets a call early Monday morning to say they have rescinded the offer and not hiring him... I called the HR department who I have worked with to see what the deal was... She simply said to check his Facebook and twitter... I did, and he had made posts about how hot the interview was and other women he saw there, a video of him and his friends playing beer pong and numerous other idiot postings.. $40,000 plus and 4 years at college and yet, no common sense...

 

Your not paranoid.
If I where hiring anybody the first thing I would check
Would be their social media.
I want to see who they really are and not the fake
Person sitting in front of me telling me what I want to hear.

 

Not just potential employers either.. a friend of mine sells cars, and he is one of the top sales men consistently.. I asked why he thinks he is so good at it.. and he told me, that people give him their name and stuff to give the manager so he can run a credit check, while he is in the managers office he googles them uses the information he finds to connect with them and make a sale... so, if they like hunting, he will work that into the car pitch, if they like the Boston Red socks, he will work that in...

As a recruiter, I started doing it before I call my passive candidates or when I email them... and it has helped.

Here is the thing about google... unless you have taken steps through your settings or searching incognito... google knows everything you have searched.. and based on that what you see when you google something.. ice cream.. for example and what I see will be different.. because all our past searches get figured into what google shows us or doesn't show us...

Try it for yourself... next you are with a couple friends or co workers with smart phones.. each of you google the same thing.. and see what each of you get.... try it again for something of more meaning.. something like 2016 campaign, or gun control.. your past searches created your google profile, through that google will display for you what it determines will be most relevant to you...


the Electronic Frontier Foundation Warned in 2012 that this kind of data, all the google searches you have done, can tell extremely intimate things about you, from your sexual orientation to your health problems. All of that data can theoretically be subpoened from Google. (Or hacked, if it’s on your hard drive — so be careful.)

If you want, you can go check your own google history.. see all that you have ever google searched..

Crazy, but we kind of are living in the matrix... a google matrix..

 

When I was training, we were running flatbed, We were picking up a load and I was gonna do it all myself, as if I was solo, although my trainer was there if I needed..

Well, it was a hot, humid and windy day.. although I didn't realize it was windy until I started tarping.., it wasn't super windy, just enough to be an annoyance when tartping... add to it that I am only 5'3" and 130lbs and it was challenging.. but, I did it.. wasn't the prettiest tarp job.. but I did it and all on my own...
I climbed in the drivers seat and glad I only had to drive a little ways to the truck stop where we were gonna shower, eat and sleep and take off in the morning..
Well, I always took longer in showers, so our routine was he would save time and just order for me.. when he asked what I wanted.. I had no idea.. just something that didn't take too much energy to chew.. he laughed and we went off to our showers.. afterwards I joined him at the table where he was at and had already ordered for us.. as I sat he nodded to the waitress and shortly after she brought over a cold, frosty mug of beer.. I looked at him, he just winked and nodded.. which nodding is his general way of communicating,before riding with him for months I had no idea you could say so much by just nodding..

Anyway, I can not tell you the brand or whether it was a light beer or not.. but I can say it was the best tasting beer of my life..
We delivered the load, and were on on what to our next when he said he was gonna do the tarping and show me an easier way to do things..

We get loaded and I am watching him.. he rolls the big tarp, I assumed to show off, out of the boxes, gets all the bungies set out.. as he is getting the ladder a fork lift driver shows up and picks up the tarps, raises it and puts in on top of the load.. I am standing there with my jaw dropped watching, still soar from carrying the smaller tops up the ladder... he chuckles and sets up the ladder..

So, I learned a cold beer taste better after hard work, and I am not as wise as I thought, because I need to think through things first to find the best and easiest way to things.

He and I would have a couple of beers when we were out.. when we were stopped. Sometimes we would go to a bar and play pool, or go to a casino... we never drank it in the truck.. he had this qwerk.. to him, the truck was for driving or for sleeping, he didn't like to spend his off time in it.. unless we were grilling.. but, that was outside the truck... he taught me to work hard, enjoy my off time and enjoy trucking... he was old school.. and those like him will understand why he taught me that using a Road Atlas will make for a better experience than a gps... he taught me to prefer the highways than the interstates..

Today, it is different and while truck drivers then could keep beer in their fridge for when they were off.. today's drivers seem to mesh their work and off time together.. never really enjoying their off time, and affecting their work time...