How do you get a job without a car?
Mobile155 brought this up in another thread and provided the link. I agreed that it would be a great idea for a thread on this forum. Sometimes it can be a special challenge to find a suitable job when you're carfree. Have you ever had any issues along this line? What advice would you have for carfree job seekers?
| How to Get a Job without a Car ? My Story - |
That was interesting. The biggest negative was that she injured herself riding in winter without adequate preparation, so she should have added that to her recommendations - be sure you are dressed/equipped appropriately for the weather.
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Ironically for many of the past 25+ years I've been a professional driver, I've been car free or light
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I work in an office. How I get there, or back home, is none of their damn business. :)
--J |
Originally Posted by Juha
(Post 18331282)
I work in an office. How I get there, or back home, is none of their damn business. :)
--J |
I don't think I've been asked about my personal transportation since I was a young punk working minimum wage.
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Originally Posted by RPK79
(Post 18331377)
I don't think I've been asked about my personal transportation since I was a young punk working minimum wage.
One I can think of is the difficulty of scheduling job interviews without a car. I might be willing to relocate closer to a job--but not until I actually obtain the job. For example, I work in the only psych unit within 100 miles of my home. I can see moving to Grand Rapids or Detroit if I got a job in a unit there. But how would I get to those interviews that are 100 miles away? |
That severely limits potential job prospects, potential job growth and advancement, and potential income. But there are obviously benefits. I have found that around me, people who are car free or car light do it because their current job allows them to.
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Originally Posted by Roody
(Post 18331395)
But have you faced other issues while job hunting without a car?
One I can think of is the difficulty of scheduling job interviews without a car. I might be willing to relocate closer to a job--but not until I actually obtain the job. For example, I work in the only psych unit within 100 miles of my home. I can see moving to Grand Rapids or Detroit if I got a job in a unit there. But how would I get to those interviews that are 100 miles away? |
Originally Posted by Juha
(Post 18331282)
How I get there, or back home, is none of their damn business.
Originally Posted by RPK79
(Post 18331377)
I don't think I've been asked about my personal transportation since I was a young punk working minimum wage.
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My sister is flying in from Alabama for Thanksgiving and has a job interview lined up in Minneapolis for the Friday after. ...I think she's renting a car though.
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Originally Posted by RPK79
(Post 18331427)
No different than someone who isn't car free. No one is driving 200 miles for an interview! At least not a first interview. First round telephone interviews are not uncommon.
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The whole article however speaks to why some of us looked into this forum in the first place. How does one deal with the every day tribulations of living in our society.
It seems like when jobs are plentiful it is a lot easier to live car free and can be accomplished by a determined individual as the writer seemed to be. She met and overcame many of the hurdles that others have met and she overcame them. It it is this type of thing that inspires others into research of the life style, at least people like me. It is far more positive attitude than we hear so often. |
I've been with the same company for 17 years. I wasn't a car-free cyclist way back then when I got this job.
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Originally Posted by mstateglfr
(Post 18331412)
That severely limits potential job prospects, potential job growth and advancement, and potential income. But there are obviously benefits. I have found that around me, people who are car free or car light do it because their current job allows them to.
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Originally Posted by wolfchild
(Post 18331743)
I've been with the same company for 17 years. I wasn't a car-free cyclist way back then when I got this job.
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Those who are/were in a positon to hire others for their skills in our economy actually exist on BF, we are not unique.
As a senior executive interviewing for positions of responsibility and technical excellence how one proposed to get on-site for working hours never entered into my interview process. Post hiring one could drop from the heavens in a cloud of radiance, arrive by bus, bike or Porsche as long as they were: On time, attired per corporate standards and ready to work. What does that mean to the LCF? Get some Valuable Skills & no one will care how you commute, although your opportunities may be limited by your choice of transportation. But you already knew that... -Bandera |
Originally Posted by Roody
(Post 18331395)
For example, I work in the only psych unit within 100 miles of my home. I can see moving to Grand Rapids or Detroit if I got a job in a unit there. But how would I get to those interviews that are 100 miles away?
https://youtu.be/jFzUbgpWNf8?t=55s |
When I was hunting for my current job, I lived in one state, and I was job hunting in another state about 900 km away.
I couldn't afford to fly down for every interview, nor did they expect me to. Instead, I did telephone and Skype interviews. Most of the interviews I had were Skype. Two, I think, were telephone ... and the job I got was with a telephone interview. They were all panel interviews with a minimum of 3 interviewers, and me. A few of the interviewers inquired where I might choose to live should I get the job and move down. Rowan had briefed me on the suburbs he preferred, and I knew where the jobs were located, so I mentioned I would be looking for a place in the area where the job was located ... I named a suburb or two. None of the interviewers asked me how I planned to get to work. I've since discovered that my colleagues make use of a good mix of transportation methods including car, bus, bicycle, and walking. So how I get to work is not an issue. And when I had been hired, all subsequent arrangements were made via email. I didn't actually see any of my new colleagues face to face until my first day of work. |
In the D.C. area, how I would get to work only came up once in a job interview. The company had a number of different sites that had to be worked and my schedule would vary. I told them as long as the site was within ten miles of a Metro station I would bike there and that seemed to please them enough to hire me. In Alabama, I'm pretty sure I lost a job opportunity when I mentioned in the interview that I could bike the mile and a half between home and work everyday. Apparently that was considered abnormal for Birmingham. Right now, I'm debating renting or taking the plunge and buying a car so I can attend an eight week long course thirty five miles away. Mass transit from home to class would be a three hour long, one way trip.
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Originally Posted by Grillparzer
(Post 18332145)
In the D.C. area, how I would get to work only came up once in a job interview. The company had a number of different sites that had to be worked and my schedule would vary. I told them as long as the site was within ten miles of a Metro station I would bike there and that seemed to please them enough to hire me. In Alabama, I'm pretty sure I lost a job opportunity when I mentioned in the interview that I could bike the mile and a half between home and work everyday. Apparently that was considered abnormal for Birmingham. Right now, I'm debating renting or taking the plunge and buying a car so I can attend an eight week long course thirty five miles away. Mass transit from home to class would be a three hour long, one way trip.
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Originally Posted by Walter S
(Post 18331786)
I don't plan to show up for job interviews as a car free freakazoid. I'll wait till I get my foot in the door for that :)
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Care to elaborate? I don't really get the question.
I apply like I would if I were using any other form of transportation. I don't see how the vehicle you use makes a difference, unless you do not own a car, refuse to get a DL, and are applying for a driving job. |
Originally Posted by cooker
(Post 18332284)
I always wonder how much the stigma is in our own minds. Bike commuting was a lot less common when I started in the early 90s and I worried that people would think it weird, but I got nothing but positive feedback. Its so common for young people in Toronto to bike commute nowadays that I highly doubt many employers are interested. But where it's less common, it might still be viewed with suspicion.
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Originally Posted by Buffalo Buff
(Post 18332312)
I don't see how the vehicle you use makes a difference, unless you do not own a car, refuse to get a DL, and are applying for a driving job.
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