Advice on getting a job?

[runningman]

Hey guys. I've been reading this forum for a couple weeks now, since I applied as a package handler at FedEx. I just moved to where I live and am desperately looking for a job. I've applied for any relevant positions to my experience or anything else I can think I'd have a chance at doing and no dice, so far. From what I've read, FedEx will "hire anyone" for a package handling position.

So anyway, I applied about two weeks ago maybe, for a FedEx Express, who's hiring two different shifts for package handlers. One of the shifts' hours are perfect for me, my school schedule, etc. The pay is better than anything I've ever been paid. I've never worked anywhere that offers any benefits at all. I know a lot of you guys say the pay is low and the benefits suck, but at this point I need something and this job just seems like a good fit for me.

After I applied, I called the 800 number to get some more information. I asked if there was an HR department and who I'd be able to talk to just to follow up on an application, maybe a manager to where I applied, just to let them know how interested I am. I was told by the woman I spoke to that the applications are mailed out to the locations themselves and FedEx "doesn't really have an HR department". Ok. So I google and find the local phone number of the location where I applied and tried for three days to get a manager on the phone. Finally I did, this was last week. I gave him my name, told him how willing to work a physical job I am, that the job seems perfect for me, I think I'd be a great fit, etc etc. He took my name down and said thank you etc.

So today, I call the location again to see if I could talk to the manager and see if he had looked at my app. The girl that answered basically wouldn't let me talk to the manager and told me that applications are NOT sent to the locations where you apply, they are sent to HR in Memphis. Okay... She also told me applications can take three to six weeks to "process" before anyone hears back for an interview.

So, anyone know what the right answer is? Do they just not like my application and are pursuing other people? How can I tell the right people that I really think I would be a great fit for this job, that I really want it, etc?

Also, there's an observation for FedEx Ground package handlers in a few days. Should I go to that and try to get a job there instead? I've read on here and elsewhere that Express is superior to Ground in a few ways, but I really need a job.

Sorry this is so lengthy but I didn't know where else to ask this stuff. Thanks guys!

 

[STFXG]

They pool applications for when a job opens up. Doesn't necessarily mean theres a job open just because they posted an opening for one.

 

[Hate 150lb Packages]

Heres the deal: FedEx is not a bad place to WORK, unless you're a driver. It is a bad place to have a CAREER. In school? Need beer money? Need only a few hours? Package handling is perfect for you. The Ground handler here puts in a few hours a day, and it's cake work. Plus it's a good workout + bennies. Great for a year or perhaps a bit longer. I'd suggest the two finger scanner. Like Terminator.

 

[hatoya]

Fastest way to get a job at FedEx is to apply for the pre-load shift (~3-~8am) at Ground. They usually have a shortage of workers for that shift.

I'm not sure, but i think benefits only come in after completing 500hours (6 months) or maybe 1,000 hours, you should ask.
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[CJinx]

Keep hounding your local station. Turnover is outrageous for the preload shift so you're bound to get in eventually. The larger the station, the better your chances.
By all means, attend a sort observation if you can.

Pay varies from station to station but you get 4 raises in a year (1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year) and then 3 more after that per year. Benefits kick in after 1,000 hours of service.

Last but not least: promotions out of package handling are rare so APPLY! The extra money for becoming a trainer or a vanline leader is nice, and even better if you can get a position in QA.

 

[Operational needs]

I believe each district at Express has a recruitment center. Applications are sent to the centers and they weed through them and send any promising prospects to the stations for them to do interviews when they are hiring. Nothing moves quickly at FedEx except the packages. You could get a call at anytime if they are currently hiring.

 

[hatoya]

Also the hiring process seems easier at Ground.

For Express you need to call numbers, make copies of transcripts, submit drugs test, etc..

At my local Ground location all you do is go to the observation; when that's done you go into the HR room, fill out application on the computer, wait a few minutes, then get interviewed, all in the same day.

From there you just wait for a callback.

But Express does pay better and has better benefits.

 

[runningman]

Thanks for the replies! And yeah, I'm in school and need part time work so that's one of the reasons I'd really like this job.

Guess I'll keep up with the calls and go to the sort observation!

Also, if you work with Ground, are you an IC or employee? Mostly I want to know if taxes are taken out of your check or not.

 

[CJinx]

If you're applying for a package handler position, you'll be an employee of Fedex Ground; taxes are taken out automatically.

 

[Ricochet1a]

In Express, hiring hourly employees is done by a district level HR rep. This person DOES NOT like to be hounded by prospective applicants for what the status of their application is. Basically, they'll call you, don't bother calling them.

Don't try to bother the managers at the station or ramp you may be interested in hiring into. They have absolutely NO CONTROL over the process until and unless they are given an applicant to interview. Trying to get your 'foot in the door' before that won't do you any good and may just backfire if you piss off the manager in question. They have many things they have to worry about, they aren't about to spend their time holding the hand of an applicant that bothers them in the middle of their day - they have better things to do.

The process (depending on station or ramp) starts weeks before an applicant is even given an interview. When a position opens up, the location must get permission to fill that slot - it isn't an automatic process. The manager who needs an employee just can't go out and start advertising for applicants - doesn't work like that. When permission to fill the slot is given, Express starts off by looking for internal transfers. If no internal transfers fill the position, then an off the street hire is allowed.

The process begins by HR going through their database of individuals who have submitted applications electronically and weeding out the obvious problem candidates. Then those who are left are contacted to give additional information. With this additional information, a preliminary background check is done, then the remaining applicants are placed into a pool from which hiring managers at the locations in the district may interview prospective employees. For handlers, if the interview goes well, a drug screening will be scheduled and additional background checks done.

Only after this entire process is completed and the applicant is the first on the hiring list, does a job offer get tendered. There is NOTHING the applicant can do to accelerate the process.

If you have lived outside the US in the past 5 years, you cannot be hired into a ramp or hub position, you will have access to US Mail and therefore the requirement to have 5 years of uninterrupted US residency. If you have used any illicit drugs and it shows on the drug screen, game over, you're out.

With the way the economy is, there are MULTIPLE applicants for every open position now (didn't used to be like that, they used to have problems filling entry level positions, not any more).

For a handler position, basically it is a matter of turnover at the location in question and where you are on the hiring list. The list is in order of submission/background check completion - the interview DOES NOT move you to the top of the list - it only acts as a 'pass-fail' mechanism. You can get a 'pass' on the interview and wait MONTHS for a position, or you may wait a few weeks - all depends on how many people are in front of you. You can't do a damn thing to move up the list - they will tender job offers to applicants who pass the background, drug and residency (for ramp/hub) in order of the applicant being approved. This means that if your background check gets hung up for something, your application waits and others go to the head of the line.

The more you pester the hiring manager, the more likely they will give a thumbs down during the interview process. Express has your application, your phone number and email address - they'll contact you when they are interested.

And being a handler is nothing more than moving boxes around for a few hours. From my experience in a ramp environment, 20% of new hire handlers don't last to the end of their first month - the job kicks their butt and they don't want to put up with it. The first month is the hardest, since being a hander does involve physical conditioning. Most handers don't last a year on the sorts - there just isn't enough to look forward to in Express to keep them there and the schedule inflexibility eventually gets most to quit. Few make it out to work the aircraft, and fewer yet make it out to a station to become a Courier or Customer Service Agent. Most non major metro stations do their hiring directly off the street now- the handlers that work the ramps and large metro stations will stay in that area when their time in location requirement is up.

Express has more to offer than Ground in terms of compensation and insurance. But don't think for a minute that Express is a career - it hasn't been for at least a decade now. Pay progression came to a grinding halt in 2009 and for all intent - there will be no further pay progression in Express. The wage you make when you take a position will be the highest wage (in terms of real compensation - post inflation) you will ever make in Express for that position.

If you haven't looked at taking the Postal Service exam - you may want to look into it. The Post Office is in worse shape than Express now, but Letter Carriers will always be needed for as long as physical mail is sent. I took it way back before being hired by Express and it isn't that difficult. There are books to help prepare one for taking it.

 

[Maui]

It sort of keeps changing. For a while, Express did away with internal recruiters and hired a third party, but the process failed badly and they brought back some recruiters. The length of the process in Express depends somewhat on the hiring manager. It CAN move quickly, but rarely does because there is just so much else to do.

The recruiter screens all applicants and sends out DOT (if applicable) and residency background questionnaires. If the hiring manager knows someone s/he can suggest that candidate be moved forward to the hiring process. Depending on the number of openings, once a certain number of "qualified" applicants exist. The recruiter sets up interviews with the hiring manager. These are usually all done on the same day. The manager sends the interview results back to the recruiter with a score ranking.

The interview, assuming all background is clear, is the determining factor for the hiring decision. The interview is behavioral-based and all candidates are scored on the same questions. The highest point total is offered the position. If there are multiple openings, then the top interview scores are placed according to rank.

There is a pass/fail component also. This is recommend/do not recommend. Your scores and information stays on file for additional openings if you are recommended for hire but do not have the top score.

At this point, you would just be hoping to get an interview and R1A is right that the person determining that is the recruiter, not the hiring manager. I believe Express handlers start around $12/hour and PT bennies start after 90 days.

 

[runningman]

Thank you Ricochet1a and Maui! Tons of good info. I keep hearing different vague answers anywhere I call, so you guys are a huge help, thank you

 

[Route 66]

I keep hearing different vague answers anywhere I call

if you should get hired at FedEx, this is something you'll soon grow very accustomed to. It's practiced like an art here.

 

[Ricochet1a]

It sort of keeps changing. For a while, Express did away with internal recruiters and hired a third party, but the process failed badly and they brought back some recruiters. The length of the process in Express depends somewhat on the hiring manager. It CAN move quickly, but rarely does because there is just so much else to do.

Two, three years ago, Express tried to use temporary employment agencies to do the screening and candidate selection. It failed miserably. The temp agencies placed THEIR chosen candidates at the front of the line and most of them were either druggies or had significant misdemeanor involvements. There were other issues with these agencies just plain not able to get candidates with the capability to both pass the background check required by Express AND be willing to do the job at the pay being offered.

If the hiring manager knows someone s/he can suggest that candidate be moved forward to the hiring process.

This is frowned upon. It opens up Express to potential litigation for a variety of issues, primarily gender and race discrimination. This is one of the reasons why HR does all the screening and the hiring manager's first contact with the applicant is the interview.

Depending on the number of openings, once a certain number of "qualified" applicants exist. The recruiter sets up interviews with the hiring manager. These are usually all done on the same day. The manager sends the interview results back to the recruiter with a score ranking.

The score ranking becomes a non-issue with handler positions (the position for which the OP is asking about). For off the street hires for Customer Service Agents and Couriers, the rank ordering does play a significant role if there are more applicants which 'pass' the interview than there are openings at the location. There was a poster a few weeks ago which was hired off the street which had a CDL in hand which may have played a role in his selection, but the criteria for selection for customer contact positions are more personality and temperament oriented than oriented towards specific skills possessed by an applicant.

For handlers, the issue is essentially 'pass-fail'. The turnover rate is so high, that a candidate that 'passes' the interview will eventually be offered a position. Too much is expended by Express in the process of screening up to that point, to just turn away the applicants who aren't chosen. If there are 3 hander openings and after all the screening and interviews, 5 are given a 'pass', three will be offered a job and the other two will be held by HR pending the inevitable openings. It is difficult enough for Express to get applicants that can get to the point to get a pass in the interview, to just turn them down because the hiring manager may have preferred someone else - that applicant who gets a pass on the interview, will eventually be offered a job. So the process for handlers is essentially a 'pass-fail' proposition.

The manager who interviews an applicant and gives that applicant a pass (for handler positions), knows that sooner or later they will be seeing that individual in their workgroup if that person hasn't found another job. There are considerations OTHER than the hiring manger's assessment. There are race and gender issues which HR will assess. Express is big on diversity and will make hiring decisions if HR believes that a particular favored group is underrepresented. A female candidate which receives a pass in the interview for a hander position will most certainly be offered a position ASAP.

The interview, assuming all background is clear, is the determining factor for the hiring decision. The interview is behavioral-based and all candidates are scored on the same questions. The highest point total is offered the position. If there are multiple openings, then the top interview scores are placed according to rank.

For customer contact positions, yes, the interview is the deciding factor. The OP is referencing a handler position. All applicants who pass the interview will eventually be offered a job, all depends on turnover at the location.

There may be 20 applicants for a non-hander position. In most instances, after all the background and drug screening, then the interview process, the hiring manager may end up with two applicants to choose between. The non-chosen applicant (assuming they pass the interview), is usually offered a position within a couple of months (HR doesn't bother to start the screening process over if a position is to be filled). I believe the time frame is 90 days (the time is determined by the need to open a JCATS listing for the position for internal moves).

If an applicant goes through the interview and ISN'T offered a job, they either bombed the interview or more than 90 days has passed - which means the whole process starts again for HR. In this case, if an off-the-street hire is to be utilized, applicants who were interviewed and passed in the 'initial round' are re-interviewed - Express has already paid the expense to check them out. I've known a few off-the-street hires for customer contact positions who were turned down for a position (but passed the interview) and were subsequently offered a job after another round of interviewing (more than 90 days after the initial opening).

There is a pass/fail component also. This is recommend/do not recommend. Your scores and information stays on file for additional openings if you are recommended for hire but do not have the top score.

And when the eventual handler opening occurs, the applicant is pulled out of the 'pool' and given a job offer.