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Forwarder Job Market is Hot Nationwide but Companies are Shunning Job Hoppers

"Two straight stints of one year each and you're a job hopper," warns Anne Watkins, Vice President of Kimmel & Associates, a transportation industry headhunter. "Companies don't want to know why you only stayed a year. It's unfair but a reality."

Freight forwarders are hiring after a two-year drought and the demand is strongest for salespeople with international expertise, but job hoppers will have a tough time getting an interview.

Someone with three months or less on their resume isn't seen as a job hopper. "They're seen as someone smart enough to see they made a mistake and moved on," she says.

Best Jobs Going to Self-Starters Who Sell
It's a "candidate driven" job market today in freight forwarding and good people are in "short supply," says Watkins. The plum jobs are going to:

Independent thinkers with the big picture view who can execute their ideas. These are "left brain" creatives who are also "right brain" detail-minded, follow-through people.
Candidates who understand and can sell all the different services forwarders provide today-warehousing, distribution, pick and pack, expedited trucking.
Dedicated, driven, disciplined people who can enjoy their work and themselves at a time when the forwarding industry is undergoing seismic change.
Pro-active people, not order takers, who can quickly forge and maintain relationships and help a client solve quickly solve a problem, and strengthen that bond.

Third Interviews Requested Today
Watkins says Kimmel & Associates won't present a candidate who isn't strong today and hasn't been thoroughly scrutinized. "We're having second, even third interviews with candidates today, where we used to hire someone on the first or second interview," she says.

Another trend: Doors are opening for 55-year-old candidates who have experience and high energy. Two years ago, it was much harder but not impossible to find a job for them, says Watkins.

Compensation packages vary widely depending on the job, city, and competition. "Salaries are steadily rising, matching the cost of living, but we're not seeing huge jumps," the headhunter reports. "A salesperson with national or global experience will have a higher package."

Where are the jobs today? "We have orders from clients across the country-Atlanta, Chicago, New York-New Jersey and it's starting to bubble up in San Francisco and L.A. Miami is strong but Arizona is weak," says Watkins. "Baltimore, Buffalo and Biloxi all are looking for sharp forwarding and logistics professionals."

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