A career as a signaller

[NoEyeDeer]

Do you live in work?

Had a lot of things on last year, wedding, moving house etc, so last year was quite hectic, around 4 RDW per pay period.

 

[Kyle2409]

Hi All

I have now completed all the online tests and video interview. Have now been put in candidate talent pool as distance to position i applied for in London was over the 50 minute travel time.

Any one else been in this situation?

 

[keswickline]

Question for those having completed IST. During IST is there a requirement for a lot of note taking ? Or is all the required study info available in other ways eg handouts, rule books or intranets ? sadly note taking isnt my strong point (im aware ill need to keep written records on the job that will be fine). Thanks in advance.

 

[Ib5]

Do you live in work?

27% or 32% relief premium on top of a grade 3, £65k plus is fairly easy.

 

[NoEyeDeer]

27% or 32% relief premium on top of a grade 3, £65k plus is fairly easy.

Yup, I’m 24%, and the line is a mess for staff, fairly easy.

 

[md81]

Hi All

I have now completed all the online tests and video interview. Have now been put in candidate talent pool as distance to position i applied for in London was over the 50 minute travel time.

Any one else been in this situation?

yep, you just have to wait until something comes up. I applied for a local-ish box which was fine on my google maps but when they checked it, the travel time was now a few minutes over for whatever reason.

In my case they changed the standards in the meantime resulting in my application no longer passing the levels set so I now have to resubmit if something comes up. Which is fine I guess.

 

[Brett55]

Question for those having completed IST. During IST is there a requirement for a lot of note taking ? Or is all the required study info available in other ways eg handouts, rule books or intranets ? sadly note taking isnt my strong point (im aware ill need to keep written records on the job that will be fine). Thanks in advance.

You'll need to take notes. I did mine on a laptop and transferred bits to flash cards. Not every IST location gives handouts. I also tabbed my rule books as we went through the subjects.

 

[Kraken]

Question for those having completed IST. During IST is there a requirement for a lot of note taking ? Or is all the required study info available in other ways eg handouts, rule books or intranets ? sadly note taking isnt my strong point (im aware ill need to keep written records on the job that will be fine). Thanks in advance.

I was and am not a huge note taker but I definitely needed to take a lot of notes on IST to make the subjects click in my head. You might not have to take notes if you really don’t want to and you grasp the concepts well from the lessons. You do have the rule books and the simulator after all, but I really think you’ll need some way to guide your revision for the written exams at the very least - be it flash cards, coloured tabs in your rule books or quiz apps.

 

[Ib5]

Yup, I’m 24%, and the line is a mess for staff, fairly easy.

Every route is on its arse staffing wise, it’s costing the companies hundreds of millions of pounds in RDW to keep the job running.

 

[BennyD99]

Deleted

 

[MikeOff]

Question for those having completed IST. During IST is there a requirement for a lot of note taking ? Or is all the required study info available in other ways eg handouts, rule books or intranets ? sadly note taking isnt my strong point (im aware ill need to keep written records on the job that will be fine). Thanks in advance.

I would recommend taking notes, a lot of the slides are often just extracted from the rule book so you will want to put this in a more user friendly way for yourself. Even if this is just bullet points. Use a laptop if you can type faster than write. Remember you’ll be tested on things from week 1 in week 9 so you’ll need to have some record of what that is.

 

[courtzgordon]

Is anyone having problems logging into their candidate profile? Mine keeps saying.....Whoops! An Error Occurred
There were some problems processing your request. An e-mail with details about this error has already been sent to the administrator.

 

[keswickline]

Thanks for all the feedback on IST note taking! a few have mentioned laptops could be useful, i can see the benefits exporting things to quizlet etc, are they provided or would i need to take my own? Do they use any software like Via that replicates the big class screen direct to laptops? Is there anything i can do in advance to prepare, looking back through the forum phonetic alphabet is mentioned and bell codes but ive no idea how id learn bell codes or is their anything else i could get a head start on? as im coming from the “streets” and want to do as well as possible. Thanks

 

[Brett55]

Thanks for all the feedback on IST note taking! a few have mentioned laptops could be useful, i can see the benefits exporting things to quizlet etc, are they provided or would i need to take my own? Do they use any software like Via that replicates the big class screen direct to laptops? Is there anything i can do in advance to prepare, looking back through the forum phonetic alphabet is mentioned and bell codes but ive no idea how id learn bell codes or is their anything else i could get a head start on? as im coming from the “streets” and want to do as well as possible. Thanks

Hi Keswickline,

Your not allowed to copy the big screens, i.e. take photos or videos. I was told to take notes as it shows a willingness to learn. I took my own laptop, but the IST I went on did have them that you could sign out for the duration. Or your LOM might have a training one. I used Google flashcards downloaded on my phone. Phonetic alphabet and Bell codes will be enough, (I searched YouTube).
I wouldn't worry about pre learning. The course is made for off the street signallers (as I was) you will do some e-learning before you go and that'll give you some insight.
It's an intense course with loads of information thrown at you in a very short time. You get out what you put in sort of thing.

Hope this helps.

 

[Kraken]

Thanks for all the feedback on IST note taking! a few have mentioned laptops could be useful, i can see the benefits exporting things to quizlet etc, are they provided or would i need to take my own? Do they use any software like Via that replicates the big class screen direct to laptops? Is there anything i can do in advance to prepare, looking back through the forum phonetic alphabet is mentioned and bell codes but ive no idea how id learn bell codes or is their anything else i could get a head start on? as im coming from the “streets” and want to do as well as possible. Thanks

As far as bell codes go I would only bother with the ones on the list below if I were you - I tried but didn’t manage to get them down pat before I went on IST and it wasn’t a big deal, but it’s one less thing to load your brain up with whilst you are there if you can learn them. These are directly from the current rule book, be careful with ones you might find on the internet as some lists you might find are dodgy, from heritage lines, or out of date - or if you’re using ChatGPT all three at once.

 

[keswickline]

Thanks Brett 55 & Kraken those are most useful pointers, I will take on board and lessen the pre training nerves

 

[MikeOff]

Thanks Brett 55 & Kraken those are most useful pointers, I will take on board and lessen the pre training nerves

Everything that’s been said is totally correct. Enjoy the downtime and relax before you start. We used Quizlet a lot. Kahoot! is also good for competition! There are some Quizlets already out there if you search the app. But be aware they may not cover the current rules correctly

 

[keswickline]

Everything that’s been said is totally correct. Enjoy the downtime and relax before you start. We used Quizlet a lot. Kahoot! is also good for competition! There are some Quizlets already out there if you search the app. But be aware they may not cover the current rules correctly

Thanks for the support and wisdom ,

 

[Pencapchew]

Is anyone having problems logging into their candidate profile? Mine keeps saying.....Whoops! An Error Occurred
There were some problems processing your request. An e-mail with details about this error has already been sent to the administrator.

I'm having the same issue mate.

 

[ZackCulross]

I'm having the same issue mate.

Try this one

Login

networkrailcandidate.ambertrack.global

 

[Domenico]

Not at this time fellas.

Thank you for submitting your application and completing the stages of assessment.

We can see from your results that you meet the standard we require, however, you have not been shortlisted, either due to high volume of applications, or because you might be too far from the chosen location to meet the safety standard. Because your scores will remain valid for 6 months, you can elect to move your application to a different location without having to submit a fresh application.

 

[Pencapchew]

Try this one

Login

networkrailcandidate.ambertrack.global

Thanks Zack, that worked

 

[Chickunpij]

Hi, newbie here

I‘m a later-in-life career changer and interested in becoming a signaller. Looking for some help to a couple of questions that I’ve not been able to find the answers to.

Other than the salary bands on NR website, it doesn’t give any info on what the bands mean apart from saying more responsibility.

• As someone off the street, how do I know which band to apply for?
• If I applied for a G9 and failed, would they offer a lower grade? And vice versa;
• if I applied for a G2 could they offer a higher grade instead?
• Do I just look for the location of the role rather than the grade?

There is currently an operations apprenticeship advertised, which includes IST. It's for 18 months, and I would get the same money as a G2 signaller for that time.

1. Would it be easier to get a signalling job through the apprenticeship route as I would have a ‘foot in the door’? or
2. would it be better/quicker to hold out for a specific signalling vacancy? I’m in Sussex and don’t know how often signalling roles come up. (I assume that existing employees get first dibs/priority via internal vacancies?)
3. How quickly can you move through the signalling grades? I wouldn’t be able to afford to stay at a G2 rate for long

Thanks all in advance

 

[courtzgordon]

Try this one

Login

networkrailcandidate.ambertrack.global

Thank you!

 

[Reiver_81]

Has anyone who got put in the Edinburgh Talent Pool back in February heard anything since? Was wondering if there has been any movement or likely to be.

 

[bouff34]

Hi, newbie here

I‘m a later-in-life career changer and interested in becoming a signaller. Looking for some help to a couple of questions that I’ve not been able to find the answers to.

Other than the salary bands on NR website, it doesn’t give any info on what the bands mean apart from saying more responsibility.

• As someone off the street, how do I know which band to apply for?
• If I applied for a G9 and failed, would they offer a lower grade? And vice versa;
• if I applied for a G2 could they offer a higher grade instead?
• Do I just look for the location of the role rather than the grade?

There is currently an operations apprenticeship advertised, which includes IST. It's for 18 months, and I would get the same money as a G2 signaller for that time.

1. Would it be easier to get a signalling job through the apprenticeship route as I would have a ‘foot in the door’? or
2. would it be better/quicker to hold out for a specific signalling vacancy? I’m in Sussex and don’t know how often signalling roles come up. (I assume that existing employees get first dibs/priority via internal vacancies?)
3. How quickly can you move through the signalling grades? I wouldn’t be able to afford to stay at a G2 rate for long

Thanks all in advance

Personally, I would think you are better off applying for a direct role. Much quicker progression to the relevant grade given that you already have a specific box to go to. Having said that, unless you are happy with the ROC, vacancies at individual SB's don't come up that frequently..

There seem to be a fair few apprentices (Operations and Signalling) in Sussex that are then competing to apply for a particular role - and remain stuck on Grade 2 until successful. I suspect there has been some over recruitment in this respect.

I moved into signalling after retiring from a 30 year career elsewhere. There is no way I would have been able to take the salary drop to a grade 2 for 18 months to make this viable. At the time the rules meant I was only penalised one grade until I actually passed out which was far more doable.

 

[ZackCulross]

Has anyone who got put in the Edinburgh Talent Pool back in February heard anything since? Was wondering if there has been any movement or likely to be.

No and I would guess it's probably looking unlikely that most of the talent pool will be obsolete.

1 or 2 may get offered, but from my knowledge they placed us in 12 month talent pool and hired internally and have enough staff currently.

But fingers crossed

 

[Cardiff22]

.

 

[Reiver_81]

No and I would guess it's probably looking unlikely that most of the talent pool will be obsolete.

1 or 2 may get offered, but from my knowledge they placed us in 12 month talent pool and hired internally and have enough staff currently.

But fingers crossed

Pretty much much given up hope, but as you say fingers crossed!!!! If I remember there was about 8 or 9 of us on here who were put in the pool, so hopefully more than 1 or 2 get calls.

Thanks for the update, thought there must be somebody out there with some insider info!

 

[Morse99]

Hi,

Does anyone know what the highest grade you can get on routes between Leicester and Peterborough?

Thanks