Relocation

[Drsatan]

Good evening

Over the past year, I have applied for a few trainee conductor/driver vacancies in England, Wales and Scotland. I now live in the SE of England, am single and have no dependants, so would relocate if offered a job. However, from reading some of the threads on this sub-forum, it appears many TOCs insist that while applicants must live 45 minutes away from the depot, no flexibility is offered for relocating; applicants must already live within 45 minutes of where the job is based.

Which TOCs, if any, consider applicants relocating if offered the job? I'm asking this since I applied for the trainee conductor role in Carmarthen and was unsuccessful, but don't know whether living outside Carmarthenshire was the sole factor in disregarding my application.

 

[sciisfun]

I've not had issues in the past, living in Exeter and getting job offers in London. It's something that comes up in interviews all the time. As long as you can show you have a rough idea of prices and show that you are taking things seriously!

 

[Kit.Frank]

A lot of the online application forms specify that at the time of applying, you must live within the 45 minute distance. So it might be impossible to get through that initial sift if your address on the application form isn't 45 minutes or less from the advertised depot. Just making assumptions though... it would be interesting to hear from someone who had got through despite living more than 45 minutes away.

 

[amateur]

I think that's perfect because it puts people in a catch 22 situation. Unless you're gonna bite the bullet and chance it, and stack shelves until the right job comes up.

Say if I don't want to apply to my local station, be it for whatever reason. Does that mean one has no other alternatives? Unless you rent two properties simultaneoußly

 

[Gemz91]

I relocated when I got a job as a guard at my current job, how ever, I know that there are some managers at my TOC who won't interview people who say they are going to relocate if they get the job, think a lot of it is down to personal preference of the managers.

 

[2000]

I'm of the opinion that it's an easy first "sift" for the TOC. MTR wouldn't even look at any applicants who were further than 40 mins away from the depot. I suspect if they'd have opened it to people who would relocate they would have had to consider thousands and thousands more applicants.

 

[D1939]

I'm of the opinion that it's an easy first "sift" for the TOC. MTR wouldn't even look at any applicants who were further than 40 mins away from the depot. I suspect if they'd have opened it to people who would relocate they would have had to consider thousands and thousands more applicants.

I'm not sure how true this is, I know of two people who live more than 40 minutes away from the MTR depot they applied for and have got the job.

 

[2000]

I'm not sure how true this is, I know of two people who live more than 40 minutes away from the MTR depot they applied for and have got the job.

Fair enough. Guess there's always two sides to every story

 

[D1939]

Fair enough. Guess there's always two sides to every story

Yes one has now moved and the other thought he had got away with it but received a letter saying he had to be moved by a certain date.

 

[amateur]

Yes one has now moved and the other thought he had got away with it but received a letter saying he had to be moved by a certain date.

Do they ask to see a tenancy agreement or last 3. Months bank statement?

 

[Techniquest]

I'm glad someone asked this question, as it's something I'm looking at most seriously. Since I started looking around all over the country, except in Scotland as I'm informed they don't like to even look at anyone from outside their patch, I've applied for one in Milton Keynes, one in Manchester and one in Ipswich/Clacton-on-Sea.

The Milton Keynes application stage has been suspended until further notice, which I've never come across in any industry before. Manchester one, I'm awaiting the closing date to come around a week tomorrow before I start flapping about it. The one in Ipswich/Clacton, I'm on hold for 6 months pending any future vacancies, due to the high number of applicants. Not surprised at there being a lot of applicants, it'll be a dream job for many people including myself. Well, one step down from the dream job for me, but as I don't hold even a car driving license it doesn't seem appropriate to apply for trainee driver roles! This does remind me that I need to get on with that, over 8 years since I last applied with FGW. Worth pointing out back then they were quite happy to look at my application, despite my being someway from St Philips Marsh depot at the time. So it's not always an issue.

What's the point I'm making? None of them specify that you must be within a certain distance of the depot, although of course GA and TPX asked how I'd get to the job. Naturally I stressed the point I was willing to up-sticks and move immediately if I was to get anywhere with the application. TPX didn't give you that option, and it must be said so far GA is the best careers pages I've found. The application pages are also rather professional and well designed, and I have spent quite some time looking around so I'd like to think I can comment fairly there.

SWT seem the least willing to look at anyone from too far away, as their application stage asks for your current area. London/South East or South is all the options it gives you. I'm not willing to even try blagging how my area is technically south, as it very much depends on how you define north and south! In my eyes my locale is the Midlands. Shame really, as I found a role I liked in Swanwick earlier. So much so I even looked at rentals in the area, but the location thing and not quite enough hours was disappointing.

Northern make it incredibly clear right on the job advert for trainee drivers in Sheffield (I had a look, just to see what it said) that you MUST live within Sheffield depot. If only I'd got a full driving license before now, I'd have jumped right in!

Sorry to chuck in a ton of anecdotes as well as stuff I've picked up on recently. I'm still crossing my fingers and toes in hope GA put something up that I could go for, 5 and a half months until my application and assessment scores come off the system. I'd still like to know what my score was on that assessment, if you haven't already done it please take my advice and make sure you're in a quiet environment to do it!