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8 Secrets To A Successful Job Search

What i am about to share with you is something you will never hear about from perspective trucking companies or during a job search for truck driving jobs.

Why, you ask? If there is one common mistake that I have seen dedicated, hard working truck drivers make through the years, it is poor career decisions.

It happens all too often where a truck driver leaves a good company with a solid business model and a good record of taking care of their drivers to join another company who is offering an unrealisitic compensation package. Only to realize that they could have avoided making an incredibly bad career move, had they only thought through the career move process more carefully.

This article discusses a few of the most common career move mistakes made by truck drivers and how to avoid them.

Listen carefully....

If The Truck Driving Job You're Considering Sounds too ......

good to be true, It probably is!. It's not uncommon to think you just interviewed and perhaps might be offered what you would consider the best truck driving job in America! In most cases, these individuals are unable to see the forest through the trees and end up making incredibly bad career decisions based on a lack of knowledge and understanding the way that certain companies source and manage labor resouces to fill their truck driver job positons.

If you are a steady, relaible OTR owner operator, with a clean driving record, you can practically write your own contract. It is estimated that there are more than 80,000 truck driver jobs available nationwide. As with any career, the simple law of supply and demand comes into play. The bottom line is with this many truck driver jobs available right now, you can afford to be selective.

The key to a successful truck driving job search is to plan your work and work your plan. The first step in any considerable life changing move is to be realistic wit hyour expectations and create a list of objectives and strategies to achieve your short and long term goals.

Many professional truck drivers fail to set realistic career goals. If you were an olympic archery expert would you not agree with me that you would be highly focused on your target during your event. Of course you would. Then why is it many truck drivers fail to set realistic career goals? Setting career goal strategy has two major benefits. First, it helps you develop laser focus in establising career priorities. Second, it will dramtically improve your self esteem for this highly stressful process.

Prepare a list of short and long term goals. Before you start your career search process, spend some serious time laying oout on paper 1,3 and 5 year goals. Is you long term goal to become and independent owner operator, or are you more likely to work for a trucking company? There are positives and negatives with each opportunity. As an employee of a trucking company, you're more likely to be offered a compensation package that includes salary and a benefits package.

Most employers consider an employment package to include approximately 70% salary and 30% benefits. This may be more suited for someone with a young family with a wife who has decided stay at home with the children. Wheras and owner operator may make more money, they usually have to acquire beneifts on thier own which can be an enormous expense.  

Inadequate pre-employment research is the primary reason why professional truck drivers is unhappy 1-2 years following a job change from one company to another. The last thing you or your family wants to do is to accept a new truck driver job position by hastily jumping to a company that offers you $.50 more per hour or $.05 more a mile. Far too many times good truck drivers make a quick move from an established company that has treated you well to a company that offered you the sky for a small, short term economic gain. This can ruin your mine emotionally and reak havoc on your family. It is imperative that you take this process seriously and spend the necessary time researching all truck driver job opportunities. 

The first steps in the process are to:

	Make a list of potential trucking companies you would be most like to represent.
	What SPECIFICALLY do you want in your new positon that is not in your current position.
	Write these thoughts down on paper and discuss them with family members and professionals who will provide you with honest feedback.
	Do not pass go or collect $200 until you have identified 3-5 key objectives or goals that you must receive in your new position.
	Force rank your objectives in order of importance to you.
	If you are married, make sure you review them with your wife and family if you want to keep the peace at home.

Don't forget to consider which trucking companies overall culture and compensation package best match your priorities. Once you have forced ranked your top 5 fundamental priorities (and received the blessing from your better half!) it's time to create a preliminary list of companies that fit this profile. How is this accomplished? 

Use Google to search for the websites of 10 companies you would like to consider to make a truck driver job career move. On a scale of 1-10 list out on paper how close this company meets each objective. For example, if one of your priorities is benefits, give each company a grade based upon your research of their benefit package. If necessary, call the company's human resoure or recruiting department to clarify an issue you might have questions about.

In addition to ranking the perspective companies as far as how their compensation plan meets your needs, make sure you list out your skill sets and make a determination as to how well you fit the the needs of the company. The bottom line is that your objective is to find the company that best meets your needs and has strong demand for your skill sets. When you achieve this balance in your the truck driver job search process, you put yourself in a positon to leverage your skill sets and achieve the best possible overall job satisfaction

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