On the first day of trucking school the instructers made it seems like a flood of recruiters will come by, interview us on the spot and give us pre hire letters for when we graduate. No one in my class has received a pre hire letter yet and most recruiters that I speak to with a few companies just tell me to contact them when I graduate.
It's nothing to sweat, only a few will come in anyway and none of them may not be your fit...I didn't even go for any until I researched companies myself and found the recruiters are just "rosy picture painters"...Take what they say with a grain of salt...
How many companies have you personally applied to? My neighbor was in the class that graduated the week prior to your class, he got 5 offers and I do know that atleast 4 of his new friends from that class did get a job.......but again they were very agressive in their job search and all had spotless driving records and job history. My neighbor had worked for a local warehouse for over 12 years (his only job since he had graduated high school) and now that he is on his own, he told me he gotten about a 25% pay raise from the warehouse job........this is only his first few weeks. I know he will do well, I think he applied to 7 companies total. All of these guys had applications into companies and gotten pre-hires before they even started class, they were told to call when they had a CDL A in their hand, to set up Grey Dog tickets.
When I went to school we had recruiters come in last week. I applied to all the big names and Gordon had me doing a drive test the week I finished school, next day I was in orientation. The rest is history. Apply every were.
This just in: All hiring in the industry has ceased. This is due to the "driver shortage". Good luck in your future endeavors. j/k, man. Patience. And stay safe.
Pre hire letters are a gimmick to get you into class. They all say something like "Subject to availability and your passing a driving test." Start applying now. You'll have plenty of legitimate offers.
Max, This school mentioned is not a "for Profit" school, it a community college and not part of a recruitment method. Some of the larger companies do run a background check, DMV, and work history........giving the student a reasonable expectation of employment, but as you say no "Guarantee Of a Job". In my class we had a few self employed that could not prove employment, as their company never applied for a EIN number or recieved a business license......many were sub contractors without proper tax documenation, showing a schedual C and companion Profit and Loss Statement certified by a CPA.
Prehires don't mean anything so don't worry about. They basically want you to feel like you're guaranteed a job without guaranteeing you a job. Then when Carrier XYZ doesn't send you a prehire because they don't do them you're scared to go because you're afraid you'll get turned down once you get there. So you go to the one that gave you a prehire with a false sense of security. Like maxwelltie said, purely a gimmick, but on the part of the companies not the schools. Fact of the matter is you're in the same boat with or without one.
