While education and experience are of prime importance for career development, learning to drive is a third important factor.
When thinking of current or future employment prospects, most people think primarily about education and experience. While both of these are extremely important in your development, a third important factor to consider is learning to drive.
There are many jobs that require someone who can drive, such as canvassers, delivery people and consultants who need to travel to meet prospective and existing clients.
A lot of managerial jobs also require the ability to drive, and not holding a licence means you are limiting the types of jobs you are eligible for. The ability to drive is actually a necessity for many top jobs, including the healthcare industry.
If you are training to be a doctor or vet, you may not have given any thought to driving, but bear in mind that both of these professions require you to be on call and able to visit people or animals that are too sick to travel to the surgery.
By not holding a licence, applicants are immediately ruling themselves out of a range of jobs, and by possessing one, numerous more jobs are available to be applied to.
Holding a UK licence also means you can drive in the European Union, which would mean you are eligible for driving jobs both to and from mainland Europe. Many job sites now even have a dedicated area for jobs that require drivers, so you can use that as a basis for a career move if you want to.
While not all jobs require a driving licence to actually perform the job, there are employers who want to know that employees can get to work without relying on someone else or public transport.
After all, if the trains are cancelled or your lift gets ill, it could mean you take a day off at short notice when you are well enough to go to work.
Holding a driving licence tells an employer much more than your independence, alone. Passing your test tells recruiters that you are able to learn, take instruction and understand technology, as well as proving that you possess motor skills – something that academic education does not show so well.
Driving licences also demonstrate that you are motivated, committed to your goals and hard working. All of these are skills that employers are impressed by, so your licence can help you secure a job even if driving is not part of it.
If you do not yet hold a licence, it is worth trying to get one. The cost of lessons can be reduced by ordering a block at once, and used cars can be bought at very reasonable prices – just don’t expect to find a five-year-old Jaguar on sale for £300!
If you do have a licence, remember that they are worth much more to you when they are clean. Having points on your licence can be harmful to your employment prospects because employers may not be able to trust you. For example, holding points for drinking and driving will worry an employer, as will reckless driving.
They will want someone responsible and trustworthy rather than someone who takes risks and endangers others. In this way, points can demonstrate that you do not care for others and you do not take issues of responsibility seriously. Therefore if you do have a clean licence, make sure you drive sensibly and try to keep it without any points infringements.
Driving is something that most young people crave because it enables greater levels of independence, but it says the same thing to employers as well. In an interview, you ensure you dress properly and speak correctly to give off a professional and mature attitude, and holding a driving licence helps to reaffirm that image to an employer.
Great Tips for Phone Interviews
Phone interviews are a different ball game to face-to-face interviews. Mainly because any silence is awkward and you cannot read the interviewer’s facial expression or reactions (nor can they yours), as well as more minor facets such as not being able to mention a shared common interest that they display in their office, such as a favourite football team or holiday destination.
Top Words and Phrases You Should Not Use in a Cover Letter
A cover letter is your introduction to recruiters, and as such needs to be perfect so that you make a good impression. The words and phrases that you use make a big difference in how you are perceived, so it is important to use the right ones. It is also important to remember that the recruiter will be reading it in his own voice and you do not have the benefit of expression. Here is our run-down of the top words and phrases to avoid in a cover letter.
Cotton and Textile Fair showcases Uzbekistan Investment Opportunities
On the 17th October 2012 at the Uzexpocentre in Tashkent, the eighth International Uzbek Cotton and Textile Fair began. National and international companies involved in the cotton business arrived for the two-day fair. Participants at the event have had the opportunity to sign contracts for Uzbek cotton and sample many different Uzbek cotton products such as cotton yarn, knitted items and silk garments.
