Trainee train drivers wanted...

[wobman]

Do you live over an hour away from the depot you applied for ? Some people rent or house share whilst at work then go home on rest days, not what I would like to do personally

[BMR]

wobman said:

Good luck with the applications, just bear in mind it's a very competitive place applying for a job as a train driver & bear in mind it's usually a long drawn out process.
So being patient is essential & read up as much you can on the railforums plus research the TOC, the HR dept like you being proactive

Scotrail were advertising again. So I applied, previous times I heard back with a no in a few days. That’s been 10 days now and no rejection. But I have heard a lot of people have applied for the positions.

[D_T_W]

BMR said:

wobman said:

Good luck with the applications, just bear in mind it's a very competitive place applying for a job as a train driver & bear in mind it's usually a long drawn out process.
So being patient is essential & read up as much you can on the railforums plus research the TOC, the HR dept like you being proactive

Scotrail were advertising again. So I applied, previous times I heard back with a no in a few days. That’s been 10 days now and no rejection. But I have heard a lot of people have applied for the positions.

13000 applications for 100 positions, and that was in the first 7 days. I looked at applying but decided to give it a miss, it would be my fourth attempt and there's only so many times you can be told no before taking the hint.

It's worth mentioning, you don't get a rejection email now, if you haven't heard from them in 12 weeks then it's a no

[MitchT]

D_T_W said:

13000 applications for 100 positions, and that was in the first 7 days...

Is that 13,000 legitimate applications? A place where I worked (completely unrelated to the railways) had 400 applications for one job. Very few were credible - many were recruiters chancing their arm on the behalf of people on their books who seemingly didn't even know they'd been put forward for the role, many more were bots and a good number were people randomly applying for a role that they were in no way able to undertake.

[itcaptainslow]

MitchT said:

D_T_W said:

13000 applications for 100 positions, and that was in the first 7 days...

Is that 13,000 legitimate applications? A place where I worked (completely unrelated to the railways) had 400 applications for one job. Very few were credible - many were recruiters chancing their arm on the behalf of people on their books who seemingly didn't even know they'd been put forward for the role, many more were bots and a good number were people randomly applying for a role that they were in no way able to undertake.

That will probably be accurate. It’s one of the most coveted working class jobs, thanks to the great pay mainly. Unfortunately this attracts quite a few wrong ‘uns who don’t actually give a toss about the huge responsibility you’re taking on, and are just solely focused on rinsing as much money as possible out of it.

[MitchT]

itcaptainslow said:

That will probably be accurate. It’s one of the most coveted working class jobs, thanks to the great pay mainly. Unfortunately this attracts quite a few wrong ‘uns who don’t actually give a toss about the huge responsibility you’re taking on, and are just solely focused on rinsing as much money as possible out of it.

Interesting. I must admit, I've always wanted to be a train driver, primarily because I like trains and always wanted to drive them - the relatively good pay being more of a pleasant side-effect than a motivation for me. I ended up as graphic designer having spent my pre-privatisation years being told you'd never get a job on the railways unless you were in a "railway family". I get the impression that, since privatisation, it's become easier for people from outside the bubble to get into it and I do keep checking the job pages on various TOCs' websites in case any trainee openings arise. One day maybe!

[CharlieH89]

MitchT said:

Interesting. I must admit, I've always wanted to be a train driver, primarily because I like trains and always wanted to drive them - the relatively good pay being more of a pleasant side-effect than a motivation for me. I ended up as graphic designer having spent my pre-privatisation years being told you'd never get a job on the railways unless you were in a "railway family". I get the impression that, since privatisation, it's become easier for people from outside the bubble to get into it and I do keep checking the job pages on various TOCs' websites in case any trainee openings arise. One day maybe!

I see A LOT of people from outside the railway come in and become drivers, so if you are interested apply

[Stedman]

MitchT said:

Interesting. I must admit, I've always wanted to be a train driver, primarily because I like trains and always wanted to drive them - the relatively good pay being more of a pleasant side-effect than a motivation for me. I ended up as graphic designer having spent my pre-privatisation years being told you'd never get a job on the railways unless you were in a "railway family". I get the impression that, since privatisation, it's become easier for people from outside the bubble to get into it and I do keep checking the job pages on various TOCs' websites in case any trainee openings arise. One day maybe!

I applied 7 years ago, haven't looked back.

(SEVEN YEARS AGO! Flippin' heck)

[WonkeyDonkey]

I've applied for a few. Failed the reaction test on one as I completely misread how to match pairs. Was gutted as I flew through the rest of it.

Attached the wrong blummin CV to the last one though, one tailored for a internal vacancy at my current workplace so it focused on all the wrong things.

Im starting to think I'm probably not cut out for it! Will still keep trying though.

[Shuvi McTupya]

Stedman said:

I applied 7 years ago, haven't looked back.

Because , no mirrors?

[Chicken Chaser]

wobman said:

Do you live over an hour away from the depot you applied for ? Some people rent or house share whilst at work then go home on rest days, not what I would like to do personally

I do from the depot that seems to come up the most often and the other one is like rocking horse st. I've got a young family so living away isn't an option. I actually get to fly for a living at the moment which in itself is one of those dream jobs, much like being on the railways is. Life is too short not to have experiences though!

[chunder27]

Where us the best to search for vacancies? And is there an age limit or any special experience needed?

[itcaptainslow]

chunder27 said:

Where us the best to search for vacancies? And is there an age limit or any special experience needed?

On the TOC’s website. Minimum age of 21. No special experience but experience in a safety critical environment is a big advantage.

[227bhp]

Apart from ploughing through the 28 pages of this thread (which i'm about to do) are there any good online resources to read about becoming a train driver?
I've just done a little bit of reading online and I think it may be something I could be good at and I haven't found anything (yet) which suggests I couldn't do it. I think I can see shift work being the downside and working nights, but hey nothings perfect.
What are your thoughts or knowledge about shifts?

[Stedman]

227bhp said:

Apart from ploughing through the 28 pages of this thread (which i'm about to do) are there any good online resources to read about becoming a train driver?
I've just done a little bit of reading online and I think it may be something I could be good at and I haven't found anything (yet) which suggests I couldn't do it. I think I can see shift work being the downside and working nights, but hey nothings perfect.
What are your thoughts or knowledge about shifts?

Shifts aren't anything like other shifts really. They are to the minute and earlies vary anywhere between 3am-7am (unusual to start after 6am i'd say) and lates finish anywhere between 8pm-3am (I was lucky to finish before midnight at my previous depot...)

That all sounds fine but the reality is a week of grotty lates, finishing at 2am on a Sunday morning and quite possibly back in at 3-5am on Monday for a full week of earlies, really does take it's toll.

Sorry if that seems negative- it's not - it's the reality of the job. Any other questions fire away.

[227bhp]

Stedman said:

Shifts aren't anything like other shifts really. They are to the minute and earlies vary anywhere between 3am-7am (unusual to start after 6am i'd say) and lates finish anywhere between 8pm-3am (I was lucky to finish before midnight at my previous depot...)

That all sounds fine but the reality is a week of grotty lates, finishing at 2am on a Sunday morning and quite possibly back in at 3-5am on Monday for a full week of earlies, really does take it's toll.

Sorry if that seems negative- it's not - it's the reality of the job. Any other questions fire away.

No I appreciate brutal honesty, I can see shifts being the worst part of the job. I'll have a read around and thanks for your offer.

[MitchT]

CharlieH89 said:

I see A LOT of people from outside the railway come in and become drivers, so if you are interested apply

Definitely will if any training opportunities come up. I suspect I might be slightly challenged geographically, my only realistic location being Leeds, so Neville Hill or Balm Road as things stand, unless you can work out of a non-depot location where driver changes take place.

[wobman]

You can trial through the rail forums looking for vacancies or keep looking at the toc you want to apply for, it's become a hard industry to enter nowadays but already being in the industry can help. Getting a conductors job is a great way to start in the industry & gain valuable knowledge/ experience of the railrways

[jaybarts]

MitchT said:

Definitely will if any training opportunities come up. I suspect I might be slightly challenged geographically, my only realistic location being Leeds, so Neville Hill or Balm Road as things stand, unless you can work out of a non-depot location where driver changes take place.

Also have midland road and Ferrybridge for freight depots.

[Stedman]

RemyMartin81D said:

100% this unless you do a permanent swap for lates with someone. Plenty of options once you're 'in' so to speak.

Hardest thing about the job is you can have an incident any time you are in that seat, it sounds worse than it is but you really can get caught out at the drop of a hat. Throw in a week or two of brutal earlies, you come in , get down your train. Away with the fairies and Bosh. Incident. I've seen it happen to so many people.

Every job has it's down sides but on balance the job is good and rewarding.

Also this.

O/T - RM I hope you're on the mend and co giving you support needed