Explaining Employment Gaps

While employment gaps can certainly indicate that a person has trouble getting hired because of poor performance or unreliability, there are also countless other reasons why you might have gaps in your resume. Some truckers may have taken time off to spend more time with their family, for health reasons, or to earn new certifications.

To address these gaps, it's helpful to demonstrate what you accomplished during that period. For example, if you wanted to spend time closer to home, maybe you did some contracting driving work locally. Even if this just looked like helping a few friends move, consider how you used or improved your trucking skills during your time off.

If you were unable to work directly during your employment gap, consider other experiences that have bolstered your professional skills and can be emphasized. Explore volunteer experiences you had, personal projects you completed, and any opportunities you have had to build your skill sets. Get creative in how you present the time period and explain it in your interviews.

Dealing with Tough History

Explaining challenging history on your resume and job history can take a variety of formats. If you had legal problems in your past that disrupted your ability to hold a CDL or will otherwise come up in your background check, it is worth noting upfront. Keep in mind that if you lost your CDL or have a serious conviction, you might need to take some time off from your field to demonstrate genuine change. You can use that time to build your professional skills through classes, smaller jobs, volunteering opportunities, and other roles to improve your overall skills.

Once you are ready to reenter the field, you can explain your personal growth and how you used the time to prepare to excel in your next role.

If your challenging history includes job hopping or terminations, you will want to adopt a different approach to addressing this issue on your resume and with your hiring team. If you were job-hopping regularly, meaning you worked with one employer and then another, changing companies very frequently, it can give the impression that you are unreliable or difficult to work with. Therefore, your explanations should attempt to mitigate those fears.

If possible, consider adding stability to your resume by staying in your current trucking position before applying for new roles. If that is not possible, look for ways to accentuate the benefits you received from your roles. For example, you may have gathered diverse experiences with different types of trucking or vehicles. You might have been able to quickly advance to leadership positions or helped with a startup logistics company. By highlighting the skills and experience gained from past positions and emphasizing your search for a job that offers growth and long-term potential, you can alleviate potential concerns from the hiring team.

Terminations or hasty and unplanned resignations in the past can also present a struggle for many aspiring truckers when trying to secure a new position. This type of information will quickly come up when your potential new employer reaches out to past companies to learn about your employment there, so it is not worth the effort to try and hide a potential termination.

It is important when discussing these issues that you do not come across as bitter or vengeful. Depending on what happened, you can emphasize what you learned from the experience or what led to the departure in a positive way. For example, if you initially signed up to drive for a new startup logistics company and saw great success in your hauling rates, but they did not have enough work yet to meet full-time hour requirements, you can explain your desire for a full-time position and emphasize the success you saw during your role there.

If you left a position because of disagreements with other employees or your employers, be careful not to cast blame. Instead, explain that personality clashes or competing visions made the environment difficult, but that you value traits such as productivity, efficiency, and collaboration, and will bring those traits to the new job.

Preparing your Resume for Success

Explaining potential red flags in your resume can feel stressful as you look for a new trucking position, but it does not have to be insurmountable. By thinking carefully about the positive attributes and experience you bring to the position and emphasizing what you have learned and how you have prepared for your new trucking role, you can lay the foundation for a strong relationship with your hiring team and the new company.