Nijah Brown came to Goodwill’s North Texas Institute for Career Development in November 2020 as a CDL Professional Truck Driver student. Full of energy and life, Nijah was a laser-focused student adamant about reaching her objective of earning a Class A Commercial Driver’s license. Wanting very much to better herself and her life circumstances, Nijah was dedicated to her new career path, personal development and overall career goals. In March 2021, Nijah passed her CDL driver’s exam and officially became a Professional Truck Driver. Within days of earning her CDL, NTI staff discussed her job interests, potential employment barriers being affected by the justice system, and career path.
As a woman entering a male-dominated field of work, Nijah needed to be prepared with the best resume to highlight her skills and education. Setting a plan in motion, she was eager to target job readiness skills through Goodwill North Central Texas’ partnership with Indeed. Initially, Nijah expressed her discomfort with the entire resume process, but she quickly learned that the Indeed platform offered several helpful tools. With a user-friendly platform, she completed defined assessments to expedite screening, built a resume, utilized the results driven job searches, and accessed the direct apply options & job alerts. Nijah applied for more than 20 driver positions and had results immediately.
Through trial and error as a new truck driver in the industry, Nijah Brown landed a full-time OTR (over-the-road) job with TransAm Trucking this summer. Taking another step toward her career goals, she is learning a great deal about the industry and closing in on six months of leasing a semi truck and traveling across the country. When asked what it feels like to be a female truck driver in a male dominated profession Nijah said, “Oh yes! I just love it!” She plans to complete her B.A. in Business soon and will continue to work towards her goal of becoming an Owner Operator with a fleet of trucks.