Fixed term contract or full time?

[7828odney]

I have accepted a job offer for a RTC but the catch with it is that it’s a fixed term contract. After agreeing to this I’ve also been offered a full time position with network rail.
Does anybody know the likelihood or percentage of times that you are likely to stay on board with fixed term contracts?

 

[Horizon22]

I have accepted a job offer for a RTC but the catch with it is that it’s a fixed term contract. After agreeing to this I’ve also been offered a full time position with network rail.
Does anybody know the likelihood or percentage of times that you are likely to stay on board with fixed term contracts?

RTC?

As for the likelihood well that's very hard to answer - it depends on a huge range of factors including (but not limited to) budget, workload, your performance, team expansion, role type, past experience and external factors (e.g. politics).

 

[7828odney]

RTC?

As for the likelihood well that's very hard to answer - it depends on a huge range of factors including (but not limited to) budget, workload, your performance, team expansion, role type, past experience and external factors (e.g. politics).

Spell error I meant to type avanti but it corrected itself, They said there’s always room for progression and things etc but couldn’t false promise on the extending or re newing a contract.
Network rail one was permanent which is the big thing playing on my mind. Would be nice if anyone on here has previously had FTC and if they got to stay on

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 8 Jan 2025 ==

I’ve been trying to get into the railway for a career for years now so I want to make sure I make the best decision possible

 

[Horizon22]

Spell error I meant to type avanti but it corrected itself, They said there’s always room for progression and things etc but couldn’t false promise on the extending or re newing a contract.
Network rail one was permanent which is the big thing playing on my mind. Would be nice if anyone on here has previously had FTC and if they got to stay on

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 8 Jan 2025 ==

I’ve been trying to get into the railway for a career for years now so I want to make sure I make the best decision possible

Well you need to way up various things that are important to you and really only you can make the final decision. For example do you prefer the stability, but the chance of less progression? What are the pay differences? Could you earn more but there might not have a role at the end of it?

Also which company do you want to work for more? What role interests you more? What are the T&Cs? What's the commute like?

I have known of plenty of roles become permanent after fixed-term or secondments but equally I am aware of those that were temporary. At the very least you have your "foot in the door" and they'll have trained you up so they don't necessarily want to lose that experience and investment.

 

[Ducatist4]

If its fixed term to cover maternity leave or sickness then I'd say its unlikely morph into a full time job. Did you not clarify the nature of the contract at your interview?

If it was me I'd take the full time offer.

 

[357]

Within the first two years they can terminate you with 7 days notice for any reason anyway.

I've seen a TOC do this to someone because they were 6 weeks from the end of their FTC and handed in their notice after getting offered a job elsewhere.

 

[7828odney]

I interviewed in July and it was to be placed into a talent pool, nothing about filling it for cover etc was mentioned

If it’s fixed term to cover maternity leave or sickness then I'd say it’s unlikely morph into a full time job. Did you not clarify the nature of the contract at your interview?

If it was me I'd take the full time offer.

 

[Roger1973]

I don't know enough about the specifics but -

You know what you do / where you live / what the jobs market there is like, and what your financial / family circumstances are, I don't, so I don't know how big a deal it would be if the fixed term job doesn't turn in to something permanent.

Yes, some fixed term jobs become permanent. With many organisations if you're on a fixed term contract then you're treated as an 'internal' candidate for other jobs within the organisation, some organisations formally or informally prefer internal candidates, even if they don't, then the experience / knowledge you get can be an advantage.

In general, taking a permanent job is usually wiser than taking a fixed term contract - although if the fixed term job is a lot better in some way - be that pay, level of responsibility (so a potential career move that will look good on the CV if and when the job ends) or a lot more convenient (e.g. the permanent job would involve moving house) then there may be times when a fixed term job could be better in the long run.

The other strand to it is that any permanent job is only as permanent as the notice period. While Network Rail will have a redundancy policy, but with some organisations, 'last in = first out' is the general rule when redundancies are happening, and you're not entitled to redundancy pay or (with a few exceptions) 'unfair dismissal' protection until you have been in a job 2 years.

I'm not really in touch with it all, but others may be able to comment - what does the future hold for Network Rail? There are proposals to replace it with 'Great British Railways' as the train operating company contracts are effectively re-nationalised, the theory being that some of the roles in NR and train operators duplicate each other, so there's possibilities of redundancies / office locations for what Network Rail do now.

Again, without knowing the sort of role you're going for, it's hard to say if this could be an issue. If it's something to do with signalling or track, then I don't think train companies don't do that now, so I'd imagine all that will change is the name on the uniform / overalls / payslip. If it's the sort of thing that involves negotiating timetables with train operators, then it might be more at risk. (I say this from a position outside the railway industry, and hoping that others who are better informed than me might come along.)

 

[7828odney]

I don't know enough about the specifics but -

You know what you do / where you live / what the jobs market there is like, and what your financial / family circumstances are, I don't, so I don't know how big a deal it would be if the fixed term job doesn't turn in to something permanent.

Yes, some fixed term jobs become permanent. With many organisations if you're on a fixed term contract then you're treated as an 'internal' candidate for other jobs within the organisation, some organisations formally or informally prefer internal candidates, even if they don't, then the experience / knowledge you get can be an advantage.

In general, taking a permanent job is usually wiser than taking a fixed term contract - although if the fixed term job is a lot better in some way - be that pay, level of responsibility (so a potential career move that will look good on the CV if and when the job ends) or a lot more convenient (e.g. the permanent job would involve moving house) then there may be times when a fixed term job could be better in the long run.

The other strand to it is that any permanent job is only as permanent as the notice period. While Network Rail will have a redundancy policy, but with some organisations, 'last in = first out' is the general rule when redundancies are happening, and you're not entitled to redundancy pay or (with a few exceptions) 'unfair dismissal' protection until you have been in a job 2 years.

I'm not really in touch with it all, but others may be able to comment - what does the future hold for Network Rail? There are proposals to replace it with 'Great British Railways' as the train operating company contracts are effectively re-nationalised, the theory being that some of the roles in NR and train operators duplicate each other, so there's possibilities of redundancies / office locations for what Network Rail do now.

Again, without knowing the sort of role you're going for, it's hard to say if this could be an issue. If it's something to do with signalling or track, then I don't think train companies don't do that now, so I'd imagine all that will change is the name on the uniform / overalls / payslip. If it's the sort of thing that involves negotiating timetables with train operators, then it might be more at risk. (I say this from a position outside the railway industry, and hoping that others who are better informed than me might come along.

Both roles I have applied for are platform assistant roles. The pay gap isn’t much different however as each day passes I am leaning towards network rail as it’s got abit more stability as it’s a full time contract where as the other one is only 6 months with no guarantee of extending or making perm.
I’ve waited my whole career to get into the railway the last thing I’d want is to just have 6 months at it and that be that. So I do think I’m swayed towards the full time network rail one

 

[Horizon22]

Both roles I have applied for are platform assistant roles. The pay gap isn’t much different however as each day passes I am leaning towards network rail as it’s got abit more stability as it’s a full time contract where as the other one is only 6 months with no guarantee of extending or making perm.
I’ve waited my whole career to get into the railway the last thing I’d want is to just have 6 months at it and that be that. So I do think I’m swayed towards the full time network rail one

I'm presuming one is at New Street then, the only station (AFAIK) where the dispatchers/platform assistants are Network Rail rather than TOC based. Where is the other?

Where there are platform assistants they are still going to be required, but you are right a permanent position offers more stability and also access to future internal Network Rail vacancies and progression within a large station as well as interaction with lots of different TOC roles at a busy station.

 

[7828odney]

I'm presuming one is at New Street then, the only station (AFAIK) where the dispatchers/platform assistants are Network Rail rather than TOC based. Where is the other?

Where there are platform assistants they are still going to be required, but you are right a permanent position offers more stability and also access to future internal Network Rail vacancies and progression within a large station as well as interaction with lots of different TOC roles at a busy station.

The other is Crewe, slightly further from me but would imagine On a daily basis it would be slightly less chaos than new st but I’d be working everyday there panicking that I’m going back to square1

 

[Horizon22]

The other is Crewe, slightly further from me but would imagine On a daily basis it would be slightly less chaos than new st but I’d be working everyday there panicking that I’m going back to square1

Based on your commute time, limited difference in salary, permanent position and your state of mind regarding fixed v permanent, sounds like you’ve worked out what’s best for you.