Unemployed for 6 months!

Call your States Job Service Center to see if they will pay for your training. If they will you can get a better job from the start and not be beholden to a bad company.

 

I simply ask why...there are many good reasons for someone taking off a year, 10 years, or longer. Stayed home to raise the kids, care for an elderly family member, sick spouse, went back to school, went on a missions trip, traveling, or maybe just had to take a break because they were too stressed. My bookkeeper is a great lady, and fantastic employee, she had taken off about 13 years from working. A mechanic in my shop is a great guy and a great mechanic who didn't work for 3 years. A driver of mine who is simply an awesome person and a ####ing good driver, she took off 8 years between her last job and coming to me. An equipment operator for me who is a fabulous guy, he hadn't worked in a few years. He went and traveled the world while he was still young enough to do so in his 30s, came back to his home town, applied for a job and i hired him. Don't be too quick to judge someone.
I have an ex con who works for me and he has been with me a long time, worked his way up from the bottom and is now one of my most valued employees, runs a crusher crew for me. He made a mistake when he was young, he served his time, he came out of jail looking for a 2nd chance, hadn't worked in 6 years being in jail. I hired him must be at least 12 years ago maybe longer. If he ever quits it will be a sad day for me. Taking a break from work means nothing, it can actually be a positive thing. Some people are just a slave to their job, why I ask? Work hard while at work sure, but don't be a slave to it, that isn't healthy. I have two drivers that want 6 months off a year, so I give it to them. An excavator operator of mine worked for me for 4 or 5 years, he quit and took a few years off, then he came and asked me for a jog again. I hired him without hesitation, he was a good employee, he just wanted to spend some time with his kids while they were young, his wife took off 3 years, then she went back to work, and he took 3 years off...I was glad for him, he did the right thing in my opinion, his kids will only be young once, and he got to be a full time dad for 3 years.

 

What do you think of job hoppers? Like someone who only works for a few months then changes. I switched between a few jobs when I first started.

 

Exactly. When I got my pension to where I wanted it and left UPS I took a year off to go fishing and just decompress a lil. I was pretty burnt out and starting to get a poor attitude, not someone that somebody should hire. After the time off I'm refreshed, relaxed, and enjoying being back out on the road again. Life is too short to be miserable.

 

There is no way you can predict the future but I would say do your research....a lot of it. Ask a million questions and be prepared for idiots telling you there is no way you will make it. Try to fing the best fit for you. I recently got a new job and I was on here asking questions and there were people asking me why ask so many questions..just go work. Well I waited, talked to people, asked a lot of questions and out of about 15 job offers picked the one I feel has lasting power. Just do your research and remember every job no matter how good has horrible days you just got to work thru. Keep your eyes on the prize, you want to be able to get out of that truck one day and enjoy life so try to find a place you could see yourself retiring at.

 

Once or twice in a row is likely someone finding their job that fits, and not a big deal, more than three in a row all very short stints starts to raise a bit of a red flag for me, so i inquire why, depends a lot on the answer given. If they slag hard on the last employer and coworkers I think that they are probably some diva that cannot be pleased, and I am not going to hire them. If they have nothing to say about it likely they are a real screw up and had to be fired a lot because of it, and again I will pass on them. Now if its a reasonable conversation then it might not be a big deal deal at all. I've hired thos people who went through 6 jobs in 3 years, and they have been with me for years. There are no two situations exactly the same. But always be honest, and willing to offer an answer, do NOT go on a rant ever. It doesn't matter if your last employer drank your last jar of liquor, stole your car, and stepped on your blue suede shoes...do NOT go on a rant...nothing will get you shown the door quicker here than that. Even if someone has been here a year, and then they go on some whining little cry baby rant, very likely will be fired. I don't accept whining at work! Maybe your mom put up with that crap when you were 4, but at work i expect people to act maturely.
Now that said, I am old school in many ways, and sometimes men will get in scuffles. A few months ago a driver and mechanic swapped a few punches in the yard. It ended when the driver got knocked out, and I really didn't care why, or who started it. They are both in their 30s, and I suspended both for a week without pay. Told them to show up together at 6am a week later, and then the three of us would chat. If they are willing to work together amicably then fine I'll rehire them both, if not neither gets their job back. They showed up in the same pickup and getting along, had actually been fishing together on their week off even. I hired them both back on. Sometimes men are really just big boys, it happens. I knocked a loader man out cold when I was 22, and had a fist fight with my first wife's ( the deceased wife) brother and knocked him out to. I haven't thrown a punch in 20 years, but its crossed my mind a few times. Its boys being boys, they fight sometimes no biggie. The reason I mentioned this is because I hired a guy last year to run excavators for me. I said so your last job was a whole month in length. So what happened there ? "Well lets call it a personality clash with a coworker...that i knocked out cold...not proud of it but it happened ". Okay I said thanks for the honesty, and temper is a little more under control now? Yes it is and again not proud of it. I hired him in May 2018 and he is a great employee since day one. He didn't give me some lame excuse about it all being the other guys fault and he had no choice but to knock him out. And he wasn't bragging about it either. Its stupid, but it happens, put a few strong type A men in a room and eventually a couple will not see eye to eye on something. Drivers, mechanics, managers, equipment operators are all type A. They would mop floors or sit in a cubicle quietly if they weren't. Its not just ones past, its how they see their own past that matters. If you whine and make it seem it was everyone else who is always at fault, and you accept zero blame, i will not hire you. Using myself as an example, I sure didn't have to knock out the two guys I did. At least 50% of the blame is mine. Especially knocking out my BIL at my own wedding. He was drunk and mouthy, I should've been the bigger man and walked away from him. When he took a swing at me, I should have just blocked the punch and walked away. But I didn't take the high road, he swung at me so i felt some justification to punch him back ten times or whatever the number was. That is on me.
My mechanic and truck driver that had a little fight in the yard...both good guys...neither is a push over though...they disagreed about the length of time to do a job...it escalated to punches...they are fine now...really glad it worked out for me to hire both back.
Don't forget your past...but don't let it negatively impact your future either!

 

It will with Prime. They definitely require students to have had steady employment for the entire past 12 months. They will not include school in that (college).

 

In the future better sign up online for staffing agency it will help you easily in finding a good job.

 

He was offered a job with Swift and turned it down because he heard something bad about the company.
Why would anyone do that, that's been unemployed for 6 months?
He hasn't been on here since August of last year.

 

I’m sure if you wanted a job real bad it shouldn’t take more than a couple of weeks