How to respond to question at interview..

Certainly job hunting has changed a lot, even in just the last few years when I first became a Recuiter/Staffing agent... google has replaced the resume and nouns are currency... what does that mean.. simple, the first thing a recruiter or hiring manager does is google a candidates name, google your name along with city and state and find out what they are seeing before you ever get to meet them face to face.. Nouns as the new currency... most screening software uses nouns and keywords to find what they are looking for... so, your resume has to have the right combination of words, SEO.

But, here is the most important recent change and what is having a big impact on job seekers..
The most costly mistake a hiring manager can make is to give a job to the wrong person.... Some say that if a new hire leaves within three months... it costs the organization one and a half times that person’s annual salary....And with the economy as tight as it is, you can understand why hiring managers are so risk averse and why more and more companies are using Recruiters to screen applicants.

But, here is the thing, I know in the trucking industry drivers do not trust or like recruiters... however, a lot of that is do to the past when filling seats was the main role of inhouse and even some 3rd party recruiters.. that was then, and now, Recruiters are being used by companies to screen and weed through applicants for qualified drivers who are the right hire... since, if a driver leaves within 3 months it costs them one and a half time that drivers annual salary.. paying a recruiter a 15% to 35% of a drivers annual salary for a qualified good hire saves them money.

The problem is drivers are stuck in the past and have not yet figured out how to use recruiters to their benefit..

If I were you, I would go through an Independent Driver Recruiter,.. why, because they have a dual role.. for the companies they supply qualified drivers for potential hire... What can they do for you... well, as an Independent Recruiter I only get paid when a driver gets hired.. I also have to deliver hirable candidates to companies...

So, yes I screen candidates and weed out the ones with little to no chance of hire and to find good candidates that will most likely be hired... both of those only represent a small portion of the candidates and far fewer than what a driver recruiter needs.. so all those in the middle... just need polishing before being sent to the company for hire.

Example, someone like yourself, before you or your application even goes to a company, I check over it and verify things... so, for example, I may call your former employer.. they may not tell me you were fired, just that you drove for them from this date to that date.. or they may say you were fired and why.. but it doesn't end there.. I may be able to negotiate with them, Say something like, you know I am a recruiter staffing agent working with John, and it was long time ago when he did that, he has learned from it and changed would you be willing to just have in his file what dates he worked and no further information.. most of the times they are.. then I call you, I can not tell you to lie, but I can tell you what is or isn't showing, ask you to fill out an application with that information and then I will go ver it and submit it to the company, and give you interview tips on that company..

Now, the other thing that happens, is I have drivers that I need to get on with another company and have them drive for them for say 3 months or 6 months and then call me to get them on with a better company... remember that cashe of drivers I talked about in an earlier post..

Here is the thing, if you apply to a company and they don't hire you, your application with them stays on file for awhile.. a long while, and even months or a year later when you go to apply again, you may get screened out because your application has been previously marked DQ'd (disqualified)..

When you apply through an Independent Recruiter, the recruiter will go over, clean and polish your application before submitting it.... which gives you the best chance of getting hired..which again, when you get hired the Independent Recruiters get paid..

 

One more thing... not all recruiters are equal... and you need to be sure you are working with a good recruiter..

While for me, I see no value in lying to a driver about a company just to get them to go to orientation, that is not true of all recruiters..

First thing to know is what type of recruiter you are talking to.. in house, third party or independent... you can tell that generally from the job posting..

If there is a carrier named in the post, Schneider, Con-Way, John Smith Trucking, then it is an i house recruiter and they screen but do not clean or polish applicants, and only for the company listed in the posting.

Third Party Recruiting firms have their own name, which will be in the job posting... Trucking Jobs Now, Pro Driver, and such, but no specific carries named in posting... They may do some cleaning and polishing of applicants and work with a number of different companies, so you have more chances to get on somewhere...

Independent Recruiters like myself will usually state it in the posting, usually along with the contact or phone number. However, an Independent Recruiter may recruit for themselves, as well as with a couple 3rd party firms...
So an Independent may recruit for Trucking Jobs Now as well as Pro Driver, provided there is no conflict with the carriers.. meaning that Trucking Jobs Now has different carriers than Pro Drivers... It gives an Independent Recruiter more companies to work with...

No reason what so ever not to ask the recruiter you are working with bout themselves.. find out if they are only a recruiter for one company or how many companies they work with. You should ask them how they are paid, hourly, straight commissions, percentage of annual income.

If they won't be open with you about themselves, why should you trust them with your career... I am upfront, open and honest with my candidates... because chances are they more than likely will not retire at the company I just placed them with... I intend to be a recruiter for years to come, so in 6 months, 1 year or 3 yrs, when they are looking for another job I want them to call me. That's why I stay in contact, send out Christmas cards, Birthday cards, hire anniversary cards, and industry cards, like driver appreciation week, Secretary Day, Nurses Day and such. I send out promotional Items as well, from key chains, stylus pens with a lights, multi tools, water bottles, koozies, with my firm, my name and my phone number, I send out desk calendars, wall calendars or dash calendars.. whatever fits their industry.

So, since you more than likely will need to go through a recruiter.. you might as well ask more from and of your recruiter.

 

This is a lot of good information but I'm wondering how many drivers actually have to interview for a driving job. So far I've been driving for two years and basically got hired with one phone call. Didn't even have to give them a resume.

 

Depends on the company... larger companies and Megan wait till orientation to hire...

Local companies will interview at the terminal.


While some smaller companies do an over the phone interview.

 

Google me and nothing will come up. Is that a hindrance these days?

edit...
there is someone with the same name as me who lives in the same town and is almost the same age and will show up in a search due to brushes with the law. How do you ensure that your google results are actually for the person you're checking up on?

 

That is common, where you google a name, city, state and there is more than one or two people that come up, fortunately there are also way to cross check and cross reference all that information..

For a simple example, I google someone's name, city and state and some arrests or whatever comes up, but there background check is clean. I can also find out how many people with that name live in the city and state.

When I first started as a recruiter and staffing agent, I sent a great looking candidate to an interview and felt pretty confident that he would get it. well, unfortunately, I did not do my due diligence and had not checked google or his Facebook.. turned out, he had posted a bunch of stupid posts and pictures which the company was not impressed with.

Now, I do go over all that with my candidate to clean up their Facebook and make it private, get rid of any old social media, like MySpace and to check their online fingerprint.

Now, I should say, that for the most part, the trucking industry hiring process is pretty straight forward...

But, at the same time I have had a tech savvy hiring manager sitting at his desk google search a candidate..

It is not an industry standard practice in trucking like it is in other industries..

 

Awesome.. that is good and I am certain things will work out for you...

Here is something I started doing a few years back.. it is something I have sort of done for most my life.. but, out of desperation I found a new way to do it..

It was when I was a new recruiter and just got on with the firm I am with now.. a major account needed 3 Qualified experienced technicians and I had been searching and calling and I was two days away from my deadline.. so, I had to find 3 techs the next day, even though I hadn't been able to in three weeks...

So, I was online searching for candidates and taking breaks by reading blogs and stuff on recruiting tips..
Well, I happened to land on one and the tips and advise was what I am about to share with you...

It was about expressing and giving gratitude for what you need or want... The writer likened it to saying prayer and giving thanks before you eat a meal..

Only, you said your prayers and gave thanks for finding the candidates you need, the client you need, or the job you are applying for..

Well, I searched for clients and sent out several more emails.. then did just what that blog writer had suggested.. I sat quietly at my desk, and gave thanks, thanks for finding the candidates to fulfill my obligations to the client... and I sat there in thanks and gratitude as if I had already found the candidates and allowed myself to feel good about it... not worried.. but grateful and glad I had found the clients and I went to bed..

Upon awakening in the morning, I again took a moment to be happy and grateful that I had found the candidates for my client... then I showered and all and went into my home office... It was hard to keep myself in that calm and happy place of gratitude while I searched online resumes. When I felt worry start to creep in.. I would breath and be grateful that I had already found the candidates.. and when calm and happy.. I would again search through resumes and profiles online...

Then it happened.. first, I got an email from the client and they only needed two candidates.. more gratitude.. then my phone rang.. a qualified candidate I had talked to more than two weeks ago.. he had a family emergency but wanted to know if the position was still available...
now more gratitude which was easier since I was now only halfway through my day and halfway there... well, the day was going long and I hadn't found that last candidate.. so I sat there and put all my thoughts and consternation on being grateful for finding all the candidates I needed... then I began to go back through all the online resumes and about an hour and a half later, a new resume from a candidate that was moving to the area, had the experience, the qualifications and I called and they answered and we talked for about 30 minutes.. I hung up just 15 minutes before the deadline... 15 minutes later I was on the phone with the client going over the candidates...

I can't tell you how it works or why it works.. only, that it does work..

So, spend sometime allowing yourself to be happy and grateful you got the job... especially right before you go into the interview.. in your car, just take a moment to imagine what it will feel like when you get the job, and then hold onto that feeling and be grateful for getting the job.. then go nail the interview because you already have the job!!!