Lack Of Work History... What Companies Will Accept Me?

I spoke to CRST and Swift recruiters. Both seemed to think my lack of work history wouldn't be an issue. After speaking to both I am going to try and go to Swift. The fact that CRST only does teams for the full duration of your contract doesn't appeal to me all that much. Hoping to head off to school with Swift in about 3 weeks.

Hey Dragon Night. I see you are in Hemit CA. I lived in Palm Springs CA from '04-'11. Was great when I got there. But by '06 things started changing. Man, talk about a bad economy.

That's when things really went bad for me. How is it there now?

Best of luck brother. Hope one of those companies works out for you.

Not sure what your line of work was but things seem to be pickin up. Economy isn't terrible. Construction has picked back up and they're building new houses and there are less vacant buildings now. Housing market is stronger than it was. Cost of living is astronomical here in California though. I plan on moving in a couple of years. I am sick of the heat and politics and the cost of living here.

So just to update this for the last time. My application to Swift Transportation was accepted and I have a start date. They were willing to overlook my lack of work history and accepted me with a simple explanation that I was caring for my Grandmother and that is why I don't have on the books employment for the last few years. Start Date is set for July 23'rd.

Awesome News! Congrats uhm Clay Knight! What happened with Dragon Knight? :D

Awesome News! Congrats uhm Clay Knight! What happened with Dragon Knight? :D

Just decided to use my actual name. My dog is named Dragon so I decided to change it up. LOL.

Awesome News! Congrats uhm Clay Knight! What happened with Dragon Knight? :D

And thank you for the congratulations. I'm excited to finally be moving forward into the career. Had to get my foot in the door somewhere and while Swift may not have been my first choice it's going to give me the chance I need to get started and start getting some experience.

Congratulations.

Swift was my first choice over 5 years ago. I am still driving for them and have no immediate plans to move elsewhere.

Let me know if you have any questions. Lots of Swifties on here...

Good luck!

Congratulations.

Swift was my first choice over 5 years ago. I am still driving for them and have no immediate plans to move elsewhere.

Let me know if you have any questions. Lots of Swifties on here...

Good luck!

Awesome! Thanks G-Town. Glad to know you are with Swift and happy there. I'm feeling excited to get started.

Congratulations. Best of luck. Plenty of options within Swift.

I spoke to CRST and Swift recruiters. Both seemed to think my lack of work history wouldn't be an issue. After speaking to both I am going to try and go to Swift. The fact that CRST only does teams for the full duration of your contract doesn't appeal to me all that much. Hoping to head off to school with Swift in about 3 weeks.

Hey Dragon Night. I see you are in Hemit CA. I lived in Palm Springs CA from '04-'11. Was great when I got there. But by '06 things started changing. Man, talk about a bad economy.

That's when things really went bad for me. How is it there now?

Best of luck brother. Hope one of those companies works out for you.

Not sure what your line of work was but things seem to be pickin up. Economy isn't terrible. Construction has picked back up and they're building new houses and there are less vacant buildings now. Housing market is stronger than it was. Cost of living is astronomical here in California though. I plan on moving in a couple of years. I am sick of the heat and politics and the cost of living here.

Congratulations sir. Must feel great moving forward. Yeah, I hear ya about living in California. I was born in Oakland and have lived in various areas. It's all too expensive.

Coachella Valley was affordable in '04. Rent was 450 a month for a one bedroom. By '12 I was paying over 750. I was an operations manager for a security company. Then another company came in and bought everyone out....as well as laying everyone off.

Headed over to AZ. Not bad,but like most places a lack of employment. I've been looking into trucking since '11 and knew at some point I would make my move out of the security industry.So it's not something I am just jumping right into just because.

Swift is my number one pick.

Best of luck. Will follow your diary if you do one.

I was caring for an elderly family member..

Glad to hear you got accepted somewhere. And Swift is a great choice! I went with CRST because the team driving has some extra benefits that I liked. The downside of teaming is pretty minimal for me right now.

I was also in a similar boat to yours, I shut down a business I was running and spent a year taking care of my father-in-law during late stage cancer. I had nothing to show for that year as far as employment, and a few places didn't like it and a few (Wilson and Millis) recruiters just strung me along until I finally figured out they wanted me to go away, lol.

But... Big piece of advice here is for you to get letters from family members (as stated here earlier) that state what you were doing, etc., during that time. I was accepted without needing them, but about a week into school the records department came and asked me about that time. When I was able to just hand over notarized letters from family members and from hospice care (advice I got here on this site) they were VERY happy to copy those and put them in my file as verifiable history.

So, whether it seems like you need them or not, best advice is to get some notarized letters together, anyway. If you take them and dont need them, hey, awesome! But if they just might help later on... Always better to have and not need than to need and not have.

Congratulations on your school acceptance. Hope to see ya around here more!