Verifiable Employment?

I am looking to enroll in one of the company sponsored truck driving schools, but have been unemployed for the last 3 years. Prime already turned me down because of no verifiable employment. How do I get around this problem? Thanks for any input.

There are a couple of options that I can think of. You can try going to the workforce place. Sometimes they have programs for people who are unemployed. They will get you into a school and likely a job.

Another one (the one I used for my spotty history) you can use is self employed. Did you do any work for anyone for money? If so get a receipt. If you get enough receipts together they can see that you were self employed and not unemployed.

Another one, if you don't mind waiting to start driving a truck, is get a job and gather up some employment history.

Your unemployment you were receiving each week/month will show a history and some companies will take that.

But here is the problem you are really running into......3 years is a long time not to be working some type of job. Even if it's only a part time job. More and more companies are starting to look at long unemployment periods as the person would rather get a check from the state then even try to get any kind of job.

Not saying this is what you did but that is what people are starting to see. Worse case you may have to wait a while and get a job,even one you don't like,and build up a work history.

But here is the problem you are really running into......3 years is a long time not to be working some type of job. Even if it's only a part time job. More and more companies are starting to look at long unemployment periods as the person would rather get a check from the state then even try to get any kind of job.

I was told by the Stevens Transport recruiter that the OWNER makes it a policy that 12 months unemployed in the last three years disqualifies a candidate ( I had 11 months - just under the wire). They said he makes the judgement that if you spent that much time NOT WORKING than you aren't Stevens' material and they can't use you. A bit general in nature but that is his rationale . . . and he IS the owner, after all . . .

Jopa

For 15 months before I went to CDL school I was voluntarily unemployed because someone was needed to care for my ailing grandmother. Luckily, I had a stable history and excellent reference for the previous 5 yrs. my company accepted a notarized letter explaining the last 15 months although I'm sure many employers grow weary of "sick grandmothers." I know I did when I was in management. In my case it happened to actually be true.

The DOT requires employment screening not because they give a damn about your work ethic but they need reasonable assurance you haven't been in an Al queda training camp in Libya for the last 3 years.

David, everything everyone said above is true. The best thing you can do is speak with the recruiters at the various companies and see what they'll allow you to give for verification.

But Guyjax is right....a lot of companies don't want to see extended periods of unemployment. Some of them are going to turn you down for that reason, others won't. But one way or another you will have to show some sort of verification of where you were and what you were doing. Unemployment checks are one form of verification, but you'll often times need some sort of notarized letter to verify where you were when you have no real way of proving it.

In a lot of ways, it looks better if we're unemployed and drew a check than if you didn't. For myself, I've always been philosophically opposed to spending other peoples money so I've never had a government check. With a clean CDL and good health I never should have to.

Drawing a check from unemployment will give you a way to verify that you were indeed unemployed at that time, but that's about it as far as getting hired in trucking. I don't think they look at it as being better or worse if you actually drew a check. They just need you to prove what you were doing at the time.

And don't forget, drawing unemployment is your money if you had been working and paying taxes up to that point. You're just getting some of your tax money back. And Social Security will be all dried up before too long and most of us will never see any of our money we put into that. And there's a lot of things we're double-taxed on. So hey, if you get a little tax money back, so be it. I've never drawn an unemployment check myself, but it can mean the difference between having food on the table for the kids or not for some people so you gotta do whatcha gotta do.

Thanks for all the great replies! I've never drawn an unemployment check ... my wife makes $200K per year, and I've been taking care of our farm for the last three years, cows, horses, pigs, and chickens ... building fence, barn repair, baling hay, and everything else it takes to run a farm, but you don't get a 1040 tax form for that, and that's what Prime wanted.

Drawing a check from unemployment will give you a way to verify that you were indeed unemployed at that time, but that's about it as far as getting hired in trucking. I don't think they look at it as being better or worse if you actually drew a check. They just need you to prove what you were doing at the time.

And don't forget, drawing unemployment is your money if you had been working and paying taxes up to that point. You're just getting some of your tax money back. And Social Security will be all dried up before too long and most of us will never see any of our money we put into that. And there's a lot of things we're double-taxed on. So hey, if you get a little tax money back, so be it. I've never drawn an unemployment check myself, but it can mean the difference between having food on the table for the kids or not for some people so you gotta do whatcha gotta do.

I've been taking care of our farm for the last three years, cows, horses, pigs, and chickens ... building fence, barn repair, baling hay, and everything else it takes to run a farm, but you don't get a 1040 tax form for that, and that's what Prime wanted.

If any of that was included on your tax statements as write-offs then you would be able to prove you've been working. You also might ask Prime about other methods they will allow for you to prove what you've been doing.

I think what they're most concerned with is work ethic. They don't want people they feel are content sitting on the couch getting paid to do nothing. They want people who are motivated to work. I raise some animals and have a huge garden every year so I know you're out there working hard every day to take care of things. I think Prime would be happy to know that. The trouble is simply verifying it.

Normally they'll let you show notarized letters from people verifying what you've been doing. So possibly a combination of some sort of tax documents and notarized letters might get you in the door with Prime or any other company that wants to verify your work ethic.