Dear David
You are not alone. Having worked my way up from being a drivers mate in the early 70's to driving petrol tankers for many years, I eventually ended up as a driver for one of the leading Industrial Gases companies. I decided to try and "better" myself as the company was willing to part finance any recognised qualification provided all studying was undertaken in my own time. Over a period of 7 years I obtained the Diploma and Advanced Diploma in Logistics and a MSc (Post Graduate diploma) in logistics. All these were obtained through the CILT home study programme. At the same time, I progressed through the roles of Transport Supervisors until I achieved the position of Operations Manager. During all of this period, most of my time was spent correcting the work undertaken by graduates who were being fast-tracked through the company. My qualifications were not regarded as sufficient because I had not spent a couple of years attending university and therefore of much lesser importance. It was assumed that I could not possibly know what I was talking about, and that I was perceived by many within the organisation as a driver who had risen above his station! I was made redundant four years ago in an efficiency drive - this was despite delivering annual savings in excess of £1m.The work I undertook on fuel efficiency is still regarded as BOP within many parts of the industry.
Since then, I have only manged to secure 2 by short term positions. The first was as a contracts manager for a small 4pl and the second as a fuel efficiency advisor with a training company. This position finished several months into the contract due to funding issues. I have sent over 2500 applications for positions ranging from administration through to transport manager, but have only received two replies. Both were unsuccessful as I was deemed to not have enough experience. To add insult to injury, I was turned down for a job as a sandwich filler filler due to lack of experience. I am currently driving for an agency, but this is very irregular and often the cost of driving to the customer (over 100 miles is not unknown) wipes out anything I earn.
Why am I not employable? It certainly is not lack of experience - I have that in spades. I have put it down to two things. Firstly, I believe the number of qualifications I have put off most people, especially for the less senior positions. The fact I can provide value added is not considered. Whether they are worried that I might take their jobs has crossed my mind. Certainly one position I was interviewed for was eventually split between two of their own people. The interview was I believe, only given so HR was able to benchmark my experience and qualifications against their own people. Secondly, at 59, I am convinced that I am considered too old. No one would admit it, but it is probably the case. Certainly it is not being greedy in the salary I require. I currently earn under £10k as a driver so anything above that would be a bonus.
David, take my adviseand get out of the industry. Despite organisations such as the CILT making a lot of noise about personal development and the need to gain qualifications, the industry does not want people with distribution experience. Ask around and see what qualifications most people have. Most have none apart from a CPC which quite frankly is a farce. I worked for a very large organisation with a significantly sized fleet. I was the one of the very few who had any transport knowledge. Most of the transport management was made up of those people from other parts of the gases industry who used transport as an easy means of gaining man management experience. None had any real wish or desire to improve distribution.
BItter - you bet I am. Having worked in the industry since I was 16, I now stand to lose my house and everything I worked for as quite frankly most days I earn less than £25 for driving through the night.
Regards
Mark Badkin CMILT
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