Congratulations! I have a question regarding the 6 months probation. Could you give more details what that period was like, was it just working normally or did you need to do weekly reviews with a manager or any other special tasks? Thanks!
@eastldn12 Nice congratulations please share with us how was your experience through your probation? Was the rota easy or difficult to accommodate to your lifestyle ? Do you get enough rest to recover from busy shifts? What are the stress levels like at job ? Did you get to select your station? What perks should we look forward to
I applied for the Customer Service Assistant position in November and after doing experience with the London Underground during my internship with TfL for one year, I’m upset that I failed to succeed in getting this brilliant job last month, as I messed up with the scenario based interview even though I did well in the role play.
Thanks Eastlondon12, very clear explanation.
Is it easy to pass probation ? Are you allowed to take time off during probation ? Also after 6 months how long do you have to wait to become a csa1 ?
You can pick the station you want to work as, most stations have a waiting list, a kinda queue system, but you could be moved to one of your nominations that had a longer queue than one that had a shorter queue, depends on how many people move in and out
Shift work is hard to get used to at first, every station has it own roster times, I like my current one, I typically do the early shift (5:30-13:30) and people tend to want to swap my lates for their earlies, thats pretty much how I've adjusted easier. You don't get to select your initial station, they try to find you one thats within an hour journey time but again its all down to what the business needs. I rest well enough most times, can be difficult readjusting after certain shifts. The best perks are definitely the pension and free travel, the health plans are great too as they cover you and your spouse (and i think dependents too)
I've had some time off during my probation, you can negotiate some time off as annual leave if you have it available, otherwise it becomes an "item" which is something they look at during your review, but my management has been very supportive, its better to get sent home from work if you're ill for example than not turn up basically. but again thats my own findings, may differ from every station. You become CSA1 after you pass your 6month probation and have nominated a station, if you don't receive your nomination within 1 year they'll give you one at which you also become CSA1, some people have said they nominated a station with the least waiting time in order to become CSA1 asap.
this is all very informative, thank you!
Yeah definitely, our normal internet has been shut down so we cant access vital sites and apps we usually use, I'm off today though so I'm not sure if it's back up yet, but I've not received any information to say it's been resolved.
What is overtime like not sure if you’ve done any but is it available? Also what is the monthly pay looking like after tax etc?
OT is advertised to everyone usually, but the people in the station group get priority than out of group people, I typically do one or two 8 hour OT shifts a month, after tax I take home around 2.8k monthly. If i don't do OT I think its around 2.2-2.4k, I can't tell you for sure but I've never received anything less than 2.2k after tax except my first month during training, which is 80% of the wage, I think I took home 1.8k after tax the first month.
This is not good advice to post on an open forum. All new starters are urged to read and digest the Attendance At Work policy as this always takes precedence over any ‘local arrangements’ which are exactly that. Being sent home and not coming in are treated in the same way and can still result in disciplinary proceedings.
I tried to make it clear, what I posted was purely anecdotal not official, sorry for any confusion.This is not good advice to post on an open forum. All new starters are urged to read and digest the Attendance At Work policy as this always takes precedence over any ‘local arrangements’ which are exactly that. Being sent home and not coming in are treated in the same way and can still result in disciplinary proceedings.
You will be able to take some ‘odd’ leave during your probation, and you’ll almost certainly have at least one longer block allocated to you. If you have anything pre-booked inform your manager as soon as possible.
If you do need to take time off for other reasons (sickness, bereavement, the list is endless) speak to your manager in the first instance if it’s foreseeable, or follow the AAW policy if it’s unforeseen. One sickness absence/“item” in your probation is unlikely to have any negative affect, but if you’re off work regularly then you can at minimum expect your probation to be extended.
As ever, anything I write on this forum does not constitute formal advice from a TU rep, but my TU rep experience certainly informs what I post.
This is very informative. Really appreciate you taking out time to share the experience
Yeah it's a good thing,This is very informative. Really appreciate you taking out time to share the experience
I have two follow up questions
1) wouldn't getting paid for "higher grade working" a good thing?
2) how does one find out which station has least waiting time ?
The perks you mentioned specially Health plans are definitely something that we need to look forward too : ) thank you !!!
Nice. Thank you!!!
Worth noting that the 'health plans' are for an additional monthly fee. I'm not sure what the current ones offered are, but they're not going to be worthwhile for everyone. Worth reading the T&Cs etc. before plumping.
Chatting to longer serving staff will help to get an idea for how long generally waiting lists can be too. There's a lot of variables at play with when people get called up, and it also isn't as straightforward as if you're 5th on the list you'll be the fifth to be called up, etc. New starters really shouldn't get caught up in a lot of these machinations as they can be quite hard to comprehend 'from the outside', and a lot can change in your six months of probation. I think the position can be summarised with 'popular stations can take years to get to, unpopular stations can take days'.
Perfect thanks my man
Congratulations!!!!
Thanks!
For sure . Will do . Thanks !
I have a colleague who's been on the list for Bank and Willesden Green for 5 years aha, the queue for them two are crazy long, I wonder why theyre so sought after, Bank has horrible roster times, Willesden green is nice though its basically a retirement station aha
If you are an LU staff, you cannot nominate yourself at Maryland or Forest Gate stations as they belong to Elizabeth line MTR.
Oh I see thank you for letting me know.
Same, checks completed on Wednesday. Medical done, so we should hopefully hear back in regards to a training date soon!
Yeah probably, it’s messed everything up tbh
Correct. OH is one of the services specifically mentioned in internal communications as being affected. They have a limited ability to view and book appointments, so I presume they are prioritising existing staff members.
So guessing if you had an OH appt recently then there maybe a delay in those results be sent to the onboarding team and could delay in the training details being sent?