Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/737157
2 0 1 6 V 2 | BULLDOG | 1 1 Recruitment nuts and bolts Here are some more ways to get millennials onboard: Eliminate paperwork. Make sure your employment application can be filled in online. Do the same with as many other hiring documents as you can. The more forms potential workers can fill out electronically, the better. Be ready for interviewees' questions. The most critical phase of the hiring process is the interview. This is the place where you need to sell your company to prospective job candidates. Don't be surprised if they ask you as many questions as you ask them. And those questions will likely focus on your cor- porate culture, home time and established career paths. Millennials want to know how their work will fit into the company's mission and how their efforts will be valued. They are very con- cerned about career advancement, so be prepared to outline any career-development programs you offer. This is a good place to focus on training opportunities you provide. Take the interview outside the traditional office environment. Millennials seek unique Hiring Heroes F aced with a rapidly shrinking driver pool, trucking companies are in dire need of alternate sources of drivers. One obvious resource is the active and veteran military community. Many of its members are already eager to make the transition to the civilian work- force and have received training relevant to the trucking industry. This is important because the industry is suffering not just from a shortage of potential drivers, but of qualified ones. The majority of applicants (88 percent in 2014) were not qualified, according to potential employers' carrier-qualification standards. The FAST (Fixing America's Surface Transportation) Act, which President Obama signed into law in December, is making it easier for veterans and active- duty service members with commer- cial-driving experience to enter the trucking industry. The act allows states to continue waiving CDL skills tests for veterans who recently served in the mili- tary driving trucks and extends the waiver period. Veterans now qualify for the exemption for one year after leaving a military position requiring operation of a commercial vehicle; previously the time- frame was 90 days. FMCSA might also be required to credit CMV training military drivers receive toward applicable CDL training and knowledge requirements, although this particular rule has not yet been finalized. FMCSA has established a website out- lining FAST Act initiatives and other pro- grams and partnerships that assist veterans — with and without commercial driving experience — seeking to transi- tion from U.S. military service to transpor- tation-industry careers. Some larger companies have already begun partnering with the military com- munity directly in order to open employ- ment channels. These companies recognize veterans' existing logistics skills and their inside tracks to licensure and qualification as powerful remedies to the driver shortage. Con-Way Truckload is participating in PaYS (Partnership for Youth Success), a partnership between the U.S. Army and numerous companies and public-sector agencies that guarantees soldiers a job interview and possible employment. Similarly, the Truckload Carriers Association has begun exhibiting at mili- tary career fairs, tapping into the stream of veterans attempting to transition to the civilian workforce. FASTPORT, already known for providing user-friendly carrier qualifica- tion solutions, is partnering with TCW and the Hiring our Heroes initiative to bring together veterans and potential employers. FASTPORT states it is com- mitted to helping 50,000 veterans find jobs in the logistics industry, and the firm is already well on its way to achiev- ing its goal.