My job at wal-mart has been fluctuating and bipolar that it’s making me want to potentially seek out other jobs. I’ve acquired a few certifications with them that enables me to operate some of their machines like electric pallet jack, sit-down forklift, a walking stacker .etc
Unbeknownst to me, I am not allowed to carry these certifications outside Wal-Mart to use. But I know I can at least mention on my resume that I am capable of using these machines.
How would I word this on my resume?
Says who? Will Walmart use a memory gun to erase your knowledge about which lever does what? If you find another job that uses those skills, they will do whatever they need to paperwork-wise to make you eligible.
Put it all down. Don’t use the word “certification” if it makes you feel better, but list all those things somewhere. Some people put a section with “relevant skills” at the end, you can list all the machinery you know how to use.
So if i remember my time at wal mart. They will in house certify you, which means you are not certified. They just kinda look the other way and claim there was an immediate need, then go back to justifying the immediate need.
So in order to be certified i think you need to take OSHA classes and be evaluated by a trainer to include classes and a practical.
I would either not mention it without getting the cert, be broad with description of the equipment, or take the classes.
In that case, OP should just be honest about the status of his certification. If other employers hire from WalMart often, they know their practices. The new employer may even want to pay for the classes, if they know the candidate has done the job before and is likely to pass. But I don’t know how much it costs and whether a company would normally pay for that.
For a new certification it looks like the online portion is $50-75 and the practical test is $150-200 so like $300 or so for the certification. It’s an investment, but qualified fork lift operators usually have better work conditions, better job prospects, better retention, and better pay than unqualified laborers. But that benefit comes with the responsibility of the equipments proper use, you can kill someone otherwise.
If I were hiring for a forklift operator, and someone was a good candidate who came with experience but their prior employer didn’t certify him properly, I would pay for the certification. $300 seems like noise compared with the general cost of onboarding a new employee. But it’s been a while since I worked in Manufacturing/Operations, and when I did the managers at that place were competent, so maybe my standards are too high.
Sure. But having the cert > ready for the cert. if only to cut out the chance of failure. Having it can give you a competitive edge. Unless you know someone. But to the individual, 300 ain’t nothing to sneeze at i know