Aim, Fire…Ready! Want a New Job? Plan Ahead

The one sure thing in life is change. But that could change.

So maybe you're happy with the job you have-but that could change. The decision to get a new job can be made for you if your employer lets you go of course, but most of you change jobs because you decide another job would be better. Sometimes, you're happy where you are now, but you discover a job that offers you significantly more home time, a dedicated route, more money or some other attribute important to you.

When a top job opens, the employer is typically going to want to move fast, but will probably have some good prospects from which to choose. With the current softness of freight, the employer may be somewhat pickier than in times past. Some of the first steps taken by the employer will be to review your employment and driving history and scan your criminal record.

Speaking specifically of the employment history, companies will review your application for companies, dates of service and reason for leaving. Most companies will ask for your past 10 years of history. Many companies will then order your USIS/DAC report and the first things they will review are:

• Did you list all your past employers on the employment app?
• Do the dates of service agree with what you put on the application?
• How did they report your job performance?

If your application differs substantially from the information received, your chances of being hired will not be as good as another application that matches.

Plan Ahead

The solution of course is to know what your record shows, correct mistakes before they harm you and then accurately complete the employment application. Here's the problem though: it usually takes weeks for you to get your own employment history. It usually takes more weeks to dispute and correct any errors. It can be absolutely maddening to have your ideal job come up-and be unsure of past employer information so that you can't apply or know exactly what to put on your application.

Driving record information is usually easier to remember and is less subjective than information provided by past employers. You can also obtain your driving information in a matter of hours. That said, it is important to know exactly what is on your record. For example, you should make sure that the ticket you got years ago did fall off your report and know whether that minor violation you got out of your home state shows up on your home state record.

Many employers also now use "criminal" record database scans. These databases contain infractions, misdemeanors and felony records. It is not unusual for these searches to report records that don't pertain to you or double-report the same offense. If a potential employer isn't careful, they will assume the record pertains to you or your record is worse than it actually is.

The best time to plan for your next job is at your current job. If you aren't particular or your driving/employment or criminal history is not the best it could be, that is one thing. However, if you do have a particular position, company or type of driving job that you would like to shoot for, get prepared. Change the "Aim, Fire, Ready" to "Ready, Aim, Fire."