General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsLooking For A Job Today AND....... WTF
I am testing next week for a Class A CDL and am being proactive in my job search.
Well I found an ad for a local distribution company that supply's restaurants and stores with food related products.
Now remember this is a job to just drive a truck with a 53ft trailer around the region in various types of traffic situations.
Besides the normal ladadadah...must have 2 years experience blah blah blah, it also said...wait for it...wait for it...MUST HAVE A BACHELORS IN TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT...yes to drive a truck. This is the first time I have seen this requirement and the position only pays $18.00 an hour.
My wife and I talked it out a bit to find the rational and the only thing that was reasonable was they want someone who has debt they need to pay off so there is a stronger commitment to the job and nothing else.
I am beginning to believe more and more that collusion is taking place with employers,higher education and financial institutions to see that we are in debt thus making us slaves to the system.
A 4 year degree to drive a TRUCK...kidding me?
Brigid
(17,621 posts)Welcome to the new economy.
Hope you find a job soon.
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,678 posts)The bachelor's degree requirement, i mean.
WTF?
Maybe someone will come along and enlighten us.
Logical
(22,457 posts)have that degree. 5%? 20%?
rsmith6621
(6,942 posts)unless they are management.
Nanjing to Seoul
(2,088 posts)ones I met, PhD means piled higher and deeper. Most can barely speak the language that I met, let alone be university educated.
scarletwoman
(31,893 posts)Exactly!
xfundy
(5,105 posts)The people who drive those humongous trucks have amazing skills. I could not imagine having the ability to skillfully maneuver a giant tractor trailer in limited space, backward, to line up with a receiving door, much less avoid wrecking the whole building.
You have my respect, and thank you for doing an important job.
SwissTony
(2,560 posts)I truly admire the big truck drivers. How they can squeeze their rig into a tiny parking space just amazes me. If I tried to do that, I'd be leaving a trail of debris as well.
B Calm
(28,762 posts)a truck. You'd be surprised how many accidents new truck drivers have. Two years experience is nothing.
Brickbat
(19,339 posts)nebenaube
(3,496 posts)reformist2
(9,841 posts)In a way, it's our own fault - in our competition for fewer and fewer decent paying jobs, we're all willing to run ourselves ragged getting an increasing number of "certifications" and "qualifications." It's insane, and we all need to get together one day and make it stop.
relayerbob
(6,550 posts)They can set the bar to stupid high levels because there will be someone who will meet that requirement. If they aren't 100% sure of ho bad they need that position filled they will simply keep raising the bar to gather resumes.
dogknob
(2,431 posts)Habibi
(3,598 posts)They already have someone in mind they want to hire, and are just posting a ridiculous qualification to keep the number of competing applications down.
flying rabbit
(4,636 posts)happens all the time
loli phabay
(5,580 posts)Been in the situation before and had to give the boss my quals so they can write the listing tailored to my skills. Its fairly common in a lot of businesses.
pengillian101
(2,351 posts)Happened to me too more than once when I was young. Hired as a temp and they wanted to keep me, so they wrote the qualifications unique to me. Sucks for others in that situation, but it happens.
Better luck in your job search.
SwissTony
(2,560 posts)The place where I worked was obliged to post an advertisement in the paper. But they wanted to keep me. So they wrote a job specification which suited me perfectly. And we got one other application. The guy would have been perfect. I felt sorry for him
loli phabay
(5,580 posts)Travis_0004
(5,417 posts)I realize for government jobs, and government contracts, its often required to list the job, and hold a certain number of interviews, but it doesn't sound like this applies.
I've had to hire for a job, when I knew who I was going to hire, and when people asked me about the position, my response was that were not accepting applications. It was only after the person I had in mind turned down the job, that we posted the position.
raccoon
(31,115 posts)Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)As one who hired and fired for 30 years that's one of the ways it's done. I remember being "the chosen one" for a position and the interviewer actually asked me if I wanted to see the interview questions in advance so I'd be prepared. I declined. Needless to say, I got the job.
Lady Freedom Returns
(14,120 posts)apply anyway.
treestar
(82,383 posts)In Transportation Management, not driving a truck. Bizarre.
loli phabay
(5,580 posts)treestar
(82,383 posts)Nothing worse than being managed by people who don't know what it's like to do your job.
B Calm
(28,762 posts)boss I ever had drove a Pepsi truck for a couple years. He really thought he knew how to drive a truck, LOL!! Dumb SOB ass kissed his way up to being called the North American Logistics Manager.
Sometimes it's better to have someone who knows what you have to deal with and sometimes not.
treestar
(82,383 posts)years later, he really doesn't know how to drive one any more.
reformist2
(9,841 posts)doc03
(35,362 posts)to be a friend or relative of management or a favored employee. The company I worked for did that all the time to slip in a management or union official's friend or relative.
on edit: Guess what just popped up to the right of my post, an ad for a truck driving school.
There is an example of corporations using a similar program as the NSA to sell stuff. They see truck in a post and up comes a truck driving school ad.
summer-hazz
(112 posts)when I use a word or phrase on FB or other sites, lo and behold...
I get an ad in my feed or on the site...
It's like magic!
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)doc03
(35,362 posts)have.
alp227
(32,047 posts)CoffeeCat
(24,411 posts)...major at Iowa State University. I remember many students who had that major.
Most major companies have a Vice President of Transportation---someone who coordinates and manages the shipping/transporting of goods and works at improving efficiency.
I imagine there are managers, middle managers and project coordinators who work under those veeps.
I've never heard of a truck driving having a trans/log or transportation management degree, but it would not surprise me.
Mr.Bill
(24,312 posts)Interns in graduate school. Seriously.
alp227
(32,047 posts)neverforget
(9,436 posts)Great pay, a pension and good benefits. Unfortunately, the hours suck but the pay doesn't.
davidn3600
(6,342 posts)Basically the job market is flooded with people who have college education. Therefore, even low skilled jobs can now start demanding college degrees.
nebenaube
(3,496 posts)It's part of a coordinated effort to say they can't find qualified people.
AnotherMcIntosh
(11,064 posts)members or someone who is otherwise connected with the person who already meets the criteria who they actually want to be hired in a corporation or (2) MBAs, who are so smart that they don't have to be practical.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)jeff47
(26,549 posts)is they'll list "must have" items that are not really "must have".
"Must have experience writing Windows device drivers". Applicant has experience with Linux device drivers, and Windows applications but not device drivers. Gets the job anyway.
It may be that this practice is spreading.
Ridiculous shit like using SVN is some kind of skill.
rightsideout
(978 posts)Years ago someone with a BS going for a job like that would be overqualified or the interviewer would tell the person that's not the job for them.
All you needed before was a High School Diploma, CDL, clean driving record and pass a drug test.
My neighbor owns a trucking firm and I know he wouldn't require a BS in transportation mgmt. His number one requirement is for the person to be dependable and responsible.
elleng
(131,063 posts)he knows the trucking 'ropes.'
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)First is, that often the ads give their "ideal" qualifications, but will happily hire someone with a whole lot less.
You will never know unless you actually apply for the job. Of course, if you are not the one hired, you may still not know how serious they were about that bachelor's degree.
Several people have said things about the company being in some way required to post the job, but the qualifications required are there so they can hire the internal person they already want to hire. I have always wondered about the claim that companies are obligated to post jobs to the general public. I've been hearing that for at least forty years, and it's always sounded a bit off to me. While I am certainly no expert on the laws covering how companies are obligated to advertize for jobs, it's always seemed not quite accurate that companies "must" post jobs, even when they already know who they want to hire.
Can someone enlighten me here? I want to know something about the specific laws involved, not just the common understanding about this.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)The only situation where people pull this to comply with a law is with H-1B visas. I get a whole lot of unsolicited emails advertising software development jobs in locations I've never expressed an interest in working - Dice.com resume doesn't list Indiana, get offer from Indiana.
In those cases, they need to show they tried and failed to find a US candidate to get the H-1B visa.
But much more common is trying to comply with company policy instead. Lots of managers will already have a candidate in mind, but are required to conduct some sort of job search before hiring them.
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)But I can say that for so many years I've heard people complain bitterly that a job posting isn't a real job posting since the person to be hired is already known, and I've always wondered about that. I haven't worked for very many different companies, and to be honest I've never actually been aware of company policy requiring a fake job search.
About 15 or so years ago I was looking through the help wanted in the local newspaper and asked my then husband about some of the listings in IT, his field. He also hired people in that area for his company. I was marvelling at requirements for ten or more years of experience. He assured me that the requirement was really the dream of the person who wrote the ad, and in reality they'd settle for half of that, perhaps less.
Times do change, I know, but ever since then when I'm looking at help wanted ads, I frequently discount a certain amount of what they're asking for. Clearly, relevant experience and education matters, but only up to a point.
wercal
(1,370 posts)Sometimes employers list unrealistic requirements, but don't really enforce them.
Initech
(100,097 posts)okaawhatever
(9,462 posts)Drivers are usually good about helping fellow drivers out. I don't think it's a scheme between colleges and the company though. It's not worth it to a business. Those drivers will want more and will leave as soon as the economy picks up. I think it's what the others said about an internal hire, or they're looking for someone to promote.
no_hypocrisy
(46,157 posts)in order to be a substitute teacher's aide.
DCBob
(24,689 posts)I suspect they wont get many applicants with those credentials.. if any.
B Calm
(28,762 posts)He'll first have to learn how to drive with an over the road company that will put you with a trainer for about a month. Then you go out on your own with a company truck for a few months to gain enough experience to land a local driving job.
DCBob
(24,689 posts)but my point is that often "job requirements" are not always "requirements".
B Calm
(28,762 posts)they hired him and he has a terrible accident. There's a good chance they would hire him without any experience, but we're not talking about an office job. Truck driving is a dangerous occupation.
littlebit
(1,728 posts)The only explanation I can come up with is they are looking for someone to eventually move up into management.
Also that $18.00 an hour is on the high end for a job like that.
Good luck on your cdl test.