Congratulations to our student Adam Schlusser!
Adam is now on a search for work and continues to remain positive in his endeavors. Good luck Adam and we wish you well!
Positive Attitude Gets Victor to Graduate
November 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Congratulations to our student Victor Ortega for getting through his commercial driving course and getting both his class A and B licenses on his first try. We wanted to commend Victor for always being in good spirits and staying attentive in class.
“It was good,” he told us, “Ken taught me a lot… If I’m making a mistake, [he would] correct right then and there.” Victor explained, “Just tell me what to improve on.”
A friend of his referred him to California Career School and through various meetings with the EDD, he found his way here. “At first I hesitated,” Victor said, unsure of what he wanted to do with his future. “To me, it’s like… let’s see– just a different career… Just want to make a living.”
Victor wanted to share a few more words. “Give it a try,” he said about California Career School. “I’ve been to other schools… The staff here are friendly… It’s a good school–very attentive.”
He went on to talk about his plans after graduation, “Whatever’s available– the options are there, you just have to look for it.”
Once again, congratulations Victor! We wish you well in your future endeavors!!
Helping His Family From Afar
October 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment
UPDATE: Jacob came back to our headquarters last week to share that he is about to buy his own truck and has secured a job for Fedex doing OTR as an owner operator! After things settle down for a bit, he will be visiting his family in Liberia to see what he can do for them.
Congratulations Jacob!!
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Eight years ago, Jacob Benson left his home in Liberia, Africa to pursue his dream of becoming a professional truck driver and find a way to help support the family he had just left behind.
Jacob dedicated the next few years to saving up money so that he could help his family get away from the war in Liberia. He worked diligently. Eventually, Jacob had sent enough money that his family was able to move out of Liberia and start a new life in the safety of Ghana. Once he knew that his loved ones were safe and well provided for, he was able to pursue his dream.
Jacob enrolled in trucking school. He completed his training, received his CDL and applied for a driving position with Swift Transportation. Although his application was approved, when it came time to complete Swift’s driving tests, Jacob found himself struggling. “The experience I got in training wasn’t enough.” Jacob stated, “I had my license but the type of transmission I was used to driving was not up to their standards.” Swift recommended that Jacob reapply after completing some additional training.
Disappointed but determined to succeed, Jacob had a realization. He explained, “I found California Career School a few years ago. A truck class was training in a lot behind my house. I stopped and talked to the instructor, Robert, about my plans to become a truck driver. I wasn’t ready at the time but he told me to contact the school as soon as I was… and that is how I ended up at California Career School.”
At enrollment, Jacob explained his situation. Since he had already obtained his CDL, it was agreed that the classroom time and permit study would be redundant. Jacob was given credit for the first two weeks of the program and joined his classmates once they were ready to head out on the road. “The training offered here was so much better.” Jacob said “At my previous school, I was trained on an 8 speed, 28 foot trailer. Here, we train only on full size trailers with 10 speed manual transmission. My first day training here I said, ‘wow, backing a 48 foot truck is very different than backing a 28 foot truck.’” He continued, “I was also able to drive on the freeways here. I was never given that opportunity at the other school. Robert made sure to let me practice in the real situations that I will face as a professional trucker.”
Jacob met with his placement coordinator early in training to get started on the pre-hire process. He applied for driving positions with Swift Transportation, Werner Enterprises, Gordon Trucking Inc., CRST, Schneider, Covenant Transport, US Xpress and Stevens Transportation. Jacob wanted to choose a company that he would stay with for the duration of his career, so he began researching each of the carriers to find his perfect fit. Jacob explained, “I looked at each company’s policies, how well and how long they train you and I read the testimonies of their drivers. I also looked at what kind of equipment they provided and whether or not they upgraded it on a regular basis.”
Ultimately, all (yes, ALL) of the carriers he applied for responded and offered him a position with their company. Jacob had already decided that he would like to work for Covenant Transportation. He smiled and said, “My first choice was Covenant and I am sticking to it.”
Jacob just completed his training with Covenant and stopped by to visit while he was in town waiting to be assigned a truck. He told me stories from the road and talked about the different kinds of weather conditions he had encountered while driving with his mentor. Jacob has finally achieved his goal! I asked what he planned to do next. Without hesitation, Jacob replied, “Once I have driven for one year, by the grace of God, I am going to buy my own truck and become an owner operator. Then I will come back to visit and show you my truck. I couldn’t have done this without you.”
Before leaving, there was one more update that Jacob wanted to share… he had just received his legal resident status and would finally be able to visit his family in Liberia!!!
What an exciting couple of months it’s been!!! Congratulations Jacob from all of us at California Career School! We are so fortunate to have been given the opportunity to share in your success. Good luck out there! We are looking forward to your next update!!!
“I would recommend California Career School to anybody that wants to be a professional truck driver. I would like to thank the instructors for their efficiency and the administration for being very professional, helpful and kind towards me and everybody that I trained with.”
–Jacob Benson
Author: Rachel Herold
Placement Assistance for Students
October 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Attention graduates! Did you know that you can receive placement assistance from us even years after graduating? California Career School maintains connections with various employers that are always on the hunt for OTR drivers. Have you picked up driving experience since your graduation and are now thinking of going local?
Auto repair, security, and CNC students– don’t stop there, we can also assist you in your search for work.
Call us today to jump start your job search!
(800) 499-6585
Here is just a partial list of how we can help:
- Interview practice
- Resume improvement
- Exclusive job leads for you to apply for
Hey Graduates! Got Pictures?
October 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Got any pictures of your experience OTR? Do you have a great looking photo of your truck?
Well, our Facebook page needs your help! Join us on Facebook and send us your pictures. Let us know how you’re doing out there!
Visit the California Career School Facebook page!
Announcing Our New & Updated Security Guard Training!
October 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment
As of October 2011, we are now accepting enrollments for our new and improved security guard training course! Extra modules have been added to supplement and enrich the program and we are now excited to offer School Security Guard training as outlined by the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS) syllabus.
In addition to our previous homeland security curriculum where students obtain their guard card, firearms, baton, first aid/CPR, and pepperspray permits, graduates will train in the following:
- Role & Responsibility of School Security Officers
- Laws & Liability
- Security Awareness in the Educational Environment
- Mediation/Conflict Resolution
- Disasters & Emergencies
- Dynamics of Student Behavior
Call us today to get started! (866) 366-5174
Vanessa Lands Another Job!
September 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment
After returning from 3 months of the mentor program with a trucking carrier, Vanessa Abdin landed another job locally! “I just enjoyed the driving!” she explained to us. Over the duration of her time, she saw Georgia, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and all over the Midwest. “I finally got to see all over my home state!” Vanessa is from Texas. The most beautiful thing she saw was the Rocky Mountains, she described to us. “It’s a whole new world!”
“This will probably crack Ken up but she said I was a natural at backing up!” Vanessa mentioned what her mentor said about her driving.
Now she’s working for school services driving a bus locally to help disabled children. She went on her own to obtain a passenger endorsement and picked up the job recently. On top of that requirement, her class A license made her competitive among the rest of the applicants. It is also getting her higher wages than those without the class A license at her company. “Having a clean record really helps,” added Vanessa. “I feel so good about this bus driving.”
“Ken,” she told her CCS instructor, “you’d be so proud of me, I can drive anything now!” He said, “You’ll never forget what you experienced out there.”
“I’d do it again, thank you,” she replied.
Vanessa’s first story: Pre-Hired Before Completing
Graduate Plans to Be Owner-Operator
September 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Congratulations to Marine James Truitt for completing his training and obtaining his CDL! “The [DMV] examiner told me I did really good– ‘[one of the] better drivers I’ve seen,’” he quoted them.
Before coming to CCS, he was looking at another local school. James mentioned the amount of time between starting class and actually stepping into a truck. “I would have had to wait… almost a month. I didn’t really want to wait that long,” so he decided to come to CCS since we put our students in our trucks right away. “I would tell anybody that wants to drive truck or bus about CCS.”
We talked to him about his future plans now that the course is over. “I get out in May, ” expressing his eagerness to drive over the road, “I wish it was sooner! [...] My dad owns two nice, nice fancy trucks.” They’re selling one and the other one would be used by the both of them as owner-operators doing team driving. “I’m really excited– I grew up with this,” saying that his dad has been in the trucking industry since James was very young. Since then, he said, “Drive [a] truck, that’s what I want to do.”
Once again, congratulations to James and we wish him well once he starts over the road with his family’s business!
Girly Driver
September 22, 2011 By 2 Comments
“I am very girly,” explained Natalie Jasso-Padilla, 2010 graduate from the CCS commercial truck and bus training program. We asked her, why get into trucking? Her biggest motivation, she told us, was to beat the stereotype of female truckers and that even a ‘girly girl’ like herself would be able to succeed in the profession. When Natalie is not in her truck, she rides a Suzuki GSXR600, already a step beyond what most women are comfortable with. “I was hit on the way to an interview,” she referred to one of her first applications after earning her CCS certificate. An accident occurred with vehicles in front of her that did not see her bike. She picked up road rash despite wearing appropriate gear. “When I got there, I was so embarrassed!” But she got the job– it’s local and she is able to come home every night.
Natalie trained with her truck driver stepdad for a little bit before coming to California Career School. MyCAA funding and the ability to receive a lot of drive time is what helped her choose CCS. MyCAA is the Military Spouse Career Advancement Accounts method of funding for student tuition available to military spouses. Natalie’s husband Oscar was deployed during her attendance at our school and his being in the military opened up this avenue of funding for Natalie. We just helped her get the paperwork arranged.
One of the hardest parts of training was pre-trip and 5 point. She laughed as she explained why she made this hard for herself. “Parts of the truck– I didn’t care to learn it. I hated it! I had a little bit of stubbornness. What Donnavin [CCS instructor] did is take the time to make sure I knew it.”
“Start from the beginning!” Donnavin repeated to her over and over to make sure that everything was reviewed as many times as possible. After regular training hours were done, he showed her additional material like power points and books– whatever was available to help her understand this key section of the course. “I just wanted to drive!” Natalie said, “But I knew I had to learn it.” With the right attitude and the extra push from her instructor, she made it through.
We talked for quite some time. Natalie had tons of stories of what she’d seen on the road from her towering cab, some much better shared after hours! There would be strange people hovering by her truck for miles and police activity of Hollywood proportions, “I’ve seen the SWAT team, 5, like 10 cop cars– it was just like loaded!” She put it this way, “You’re gonna see things that you don’t want to see because you’re constantly on the road.”
“I’ve always wanted to drive a truck… I knew it was going to be hard but you don’t really know until you’re out there.” Numerous times, especially in the realm of parking her trailer, Natalie described the unusual set-ups that drivers have to maneuver through and the inconveniences posed by the circumstances. It is absolutely regular for her to park her truck and be told afterwards that male counterparts could have done it better. “You have to be strong,” she went on, “especially when you’re a girl ’cause the guys are mean.”
Since the beginning, Natalie wanted to break the expectations of what women can do and of what others think of female truckers. “It’s not easy, but what helps me is I get to be a role model. [On the road] I like being next to school buses because the little girls see me– they’re smiling and waving. Kids in cars say, ‘Mom, look!’”
Author: Sarah Bantay
How to Prepare for Job Hunting
September 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Attention current students and grads: ever wonder what you need to do when job hunting? Are you anxious to make a good impression on potential employers?
Here are a few key reminders on what you need to get ready!
- Perfect your resume– use active words when you describe your past experience. Have a lot of copies when you go to job fairs because you can leave them with every employer you meet and you also never know if someone will step forward and ask you for one. For military students, visit Military Friendly Schools Resume Writing to write your resumes so that the civilian world understands your experience.
- Bring a positive, confident attitude– no one wants to hire someone who acts like they’re not going to get the job. Very important!
- Be ready to tell someone why you’re good for the job– what makes you different from the rest? Monster.com has a useful list of 100 Potential Interview Questions.
- Send out as many applications as you can– applying to only a handful isn’t very promising. Remember that unemployment is very high right now and for every position available, there are many others out there applying for the same openings as you are. Your odds go up if you send out more applications.
- Think of friends or family members who may be able to help you along in an application process– someone might be able to get you a good referral!
- Last but not least is to know when to take a breather– today’s job market is pretty tough. Spending all day every day looking for employment can be both tiring and very discouraging. Set aside a specific time of the day for job searches and filling out applications. That way, you won’t feel burned out by the end of the day and can return to the search with a fresh perspective.
Graduates! If you’re looking for job leads or need a final review on your resume, don’t hesitate to give us a call @ (714) 635-6585!
Author: Sarah Bantay
