New career for a middle aged lady ..truckin?

I cannot get WIA because I have a Masters Degree in Information Technology Management. The only problem is that companies don't want to hire older workers. I would be glad to work as an I.T. professional for 20k right now, but only ones that get hired are in their 20's. Also, I have not kept up with newer technologies, since I didn't need it at my last job, so I have become outdated. I was told that WIA is only for people that don't have other education to fall back on.

 

Central,Swift and a few others will take a newbie that has finished public or private cdl school .Get in 12 to 24 months then you can go to almost any firm.

 

"Options" is the key word!

When you go with a "company school", you typically only have ONE OPTION.

When you go to a for profit school, you have more, but they'll focus on trying to put you in a company that's going to reward them the most.

Community college - your options are only limited to the companies that hire student drivers and accept that training. And most that hire student drivers will accept your community college training as long as it provides a minimum of 160 hrs of training.

So to sum up the options tally:

Company school - 1
For Profit school - 3 to 5 realistically, maybe 10 if you're lucky
Community College - DOZENS!!

And if you're getting it paid for by the state, why not go with the school that provides you with the most options?

BTW, not only is CC usually better, it's also often far less expensive.

In my area it's CC for $3500 or TDI (for profit) for $4995. A WIA grant in my area will cover the full cost of the CC, but not the for profit school. A WIA student in the for profit school has to finance the rest.

 

When you're looking online, make sure that you're looking at the "Student Driver Opportunites" section of their websites.

If you're just looking at the "Company Driver or Experienced Driver Opportunities", they'll all have an experience requirement.

Your grant will be used to cover your driving school to get your CDL A.

Once you graduate, whichever company that hires you will send you through their orientation (usually a week or so), then you go out on the road with a "trainer" for as long as they require before you get your own truck.

So, make sure you're looking at Student Driver opportunities at these companies or you'll NEVER find one that doesn't require experience.

You're a "student driver" until you have at least a year under your belt, then you're an "experienced driver".

Lack of experience should not be a barrier to entry for a student driver position, because if you had current experience you wouldn't be a "student driver".

 

She doesn't have a CDL yet. So she needs to go to driving school first.

And no not even Swift will hire a driver with a CDL A with no experience that didn't attend a driving school.

 

I should have added fresh from school with cdl and no exp to the post.

I am attending a state owned votech program and have prehires from a few trucking firms.

 

Your "I hate Swift" panties are showing!

 

If you lost your previous job through no fault of your own and was eligible to draw unemployment and have exhausted those benefits then you are a "dislocated worker".

I know someone whose story is almost IDENTICAL to yours and they were able to get a WIA grant.

The reality is that your Masters Degree is not helping you to find a job and you're trying to get specific skills training to get a specific job.

Don't accept the first "no" you get from the WIA folks. Many will do so just to see if you will go away.

Educate yourself on the WIA program before you go to your job center and walk in knowing more about it than most of them do and you can get a grant if there's money available.

Also, if you have had to file for any other state assistance during your period of unemployment (food stamps, temporary assistance for needy families, etc.) and were approved and you're a "dislocated worker", then you not only qualify for WIA assistance, but you qualify for "Priority service under WIA".

And, of course, if you're a veteran, that further qualifies you!

Don't give up and settle for a CDL mill or company training until you explore all of your funding options.

 

Ha! Ha! Sorry about that! I don't have any personal knowledge of Swift or anything against them at all. And I know that there's good and bad in EVERY company that there are happy and unhappy drivers in EVERY company.

So, I've used the "preponderance of the evidence" scale, and I find FAR MORE negative info about some companies than I do positive.

They may be just great for some people, but it seems that they aren't great for even more people.

I was responding to a post specifically about Swift, that's why I named them specifically.

For the rest of my posts, I've tried to say "company school" or "for profit" schools without mentioning specific company names.

So for all of those happy Swiftees out there, I'm glad you're having a good experience with them!!

And I wish all of you all the best regardless of who you drive for or where you go/went to school!!

 

Thanks Gryphon, I am just tired of dealing with government programs. I have been doing that for 2 years. Swift offered me a chance to get my dignity back and get a job. So if they take advantage of me, that is OK. WIA is good. I am a veteran and could probably get something, but I am just tired of trying. I want to go to Swift training, get my CDL, work hard for them and in two years, I will look back and see where I am.

I would love to have a good job for then next ten years so that I can retire with a little dignity.