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Avanti - Trainee Train Drivers - Recruitment Discussion

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Jordan1991

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25 Sep 2022
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216
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Poynton
Swall said:
Northerns group interview stage wouldn’t class as a life in terms of psychometrics. If I was you I’d deffo attend that and see where you lie if you pass it. I have no idea whether you’d have to sit any further psychometrics or would just have to sit the MMI but the fact you’ve been able to pass avantis equivalent should stand you in good stead. I wouldn’t put my life on hold for avanti if it was me, who knows when or if at all that call will come. Good luck with whatever you decide
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Thanks for the feedback mate and yeah I agree with you! Fingers crossed

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HogwartsExpres said:
Yeah definitely mate you’ve passed before so you should be okay for the northern and it’s guaranteed start date avanti nothing is really guaranteed
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Yep think I’ll take the chance mate
 
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HogwartsExpres

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Wirral
Has any received any good news or no any one who has I no it’s still early but it has been over two weeks now.

Hopping to get good news fingers crossed
 
J

Jordan1991

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Another week gone by. Has anyone from any depot had a call? Still no course full email yet so there’s still a bit of hope left
 
M

MrBalfour95

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Bathgate
It is difficult waiting but the chances of someone getting either the golden call or the email and also not being on the forum and reporting it is slim.

Avanti did say over the coming weeks and that they are working with the OPC to verify everything which will take time. To add to that they will also be checking what depots need what in terms and also trying to organise medicals for the upcoming courses too. No point in putting you on a medical just for it to expire before you start.

But I get it though. Chomping at the bit like the rest of you.
 
J

Jordan1991

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Poynton
MrBalfour95 said:
It is difficult waiting but the chances of someone getting either the golden call or the email and also not being on the forum and reporting it is slim.

Avanti did say over the coming weeks and that they are working with the OPC to verify everything which will take time. To add to that they will also be checking what depots need what in terms and also trying to organise medicals for the upcoming courses too. No point in putting you on a medical just for it to expire before you start.

But I get it though. Chomping at the bit like the rest of you.
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I guess so, I just thought they would have had all the info to hand, such as which depots need what. So it would have just been a case of checking OPC results.. There must just be more to go through this time. Fingers remain crossed
 
Sorcerer

Sorcerer

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Curious how they're recruiting for qualified drivers again, particularly at Wolverhampton because they had some qualified vacancies for there not too long ago. I'm starting to think Avanti are either falling into the old InterCity TOC habits of only poaching qualified drivers from other companies and the trainee recruitment drives were mostly just to look like they were addressing a problem, or they are actually losing train drivers at such a rate that even after almost three years they still have some trainees waiting for course placements while they focus on filling short-term vacancies with qualified drivers.
 
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Grvrdvicdr

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26 Oct 2021
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239
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London
Sorcerer said:
Curious how they're recruiting for qualified drivers again, particularly at Wolverhampton because they had some qualified vacancies for there not too long ago. I'm starting to think Avanti are either falling into the old InterCity TOC habits of only poaching qualified drivers from other companies and the trainee recruitment drives were mostly just to look like they were addressing a problem, or they are actually losing train drivers at such a rate that even after almost three years they still have some trainees waiting for course placements while they focus on filling short-term vacancies with qualified drivers.
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I suspect it may be to do with the fact the average driver age at Avanti must be in the 50s and maybe even late 50s. There will be masses of drivers retiring within the next few years so my guess is it’s to do with minimizing that impact.

I’ve also heard rumour that they do want to cut down on the number of trainees they take on due to a number of issues they’ve had in the past with trainees passing as drivers then going on to have a number of incidents. I know a few of the managers certainly prefer to take experienced drivers. They see it as, come off the street Job there’s not many scenarios where you’d be driving or sitting around doing not much of anything for 3 hours, while at Avanti you may not stop your train for 3 hours and then it’s very heavy on the mental underload side of things hence switching off and having an incident. Not to mention the drivers with a chip already on their shoulder who think avanti is the crème de la crème so think trainees don’t deserve to be there and should be experienced but that’s a whole new kettle of fish.

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Just to add. A course of trainees did start in August so don’t lose hope!
 
S

scotsman82

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Scotland
Grvrdvicdr said:
I suspect it may be to do with the fact the average driver age at Avanti must be in the 50s and maybe even late 50s. There will be masses of drivers retiring within the next few years so my guess is it’s to do with minimizing that impact.

I’ve also heard rumour that they do want to cut down on the number of trainees they take on due to a number of issues they’ve had in the past with trainees passing as drivers then going on to have a number of incidents. I know a few of the managers certainly prefer to take experienced drivers. They see it as, come off the street Job there’s not many scenarios where you’d be driving or sitting around doing not much of anything for 3 hours, while at Avanti you may not stop your train for 3 hours and then it’s very heavy on the mental underload side of things hence switching off and having an incident. Not to mention the drivers with a chip already on their shoulder who think avanti is the crème de la crème so think trainees don’t deserve to be there and should be experienced but that’s a whole new kettle of fish.

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Just to add. A course of trainees did start in August so don’t lose hope!
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think it’s cause people got emailed to say there are courses going on Jan/Mar 26 and basically the offers would be made in the coming weeks that was 1st Aug people just need to be patient
 
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Sorcerer

Sorcerer

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Grvrdvicdr said:
I suspect it may be to do with the fact the average driver age at Avanti must be in the 50s and maybe even late 50s. There will be masses of drivers retiring within the next few years so my guess is it’s to do with minimizing that impact.

I’ve also heard rumour that they do want to cut down on the number of trainees they take on due to a number of issues they’ve had in the past with trainees passing as drivers then going on to have a number of incidents. I know a few of the managers certainly prefer to take experienced drivers. They see it as, come off the street Job there’s not many scenarios where you’d be driving or sitting around doing not much of anything for 3 hours, while at Avanti you may not stop your train for 3 hours and then it’s very heavy on the mental underload side of things hence switching off and having an incident. Not to mention the drivers with a chip already on their shoulder who think avanti is the crème de la crème so think trainees don’t deserve to be there and should be experienced but that’s a whole new kettle of fish.
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As I understand it many Avanti drivers do tend to be on the older side, but if they are retiring at such a rate that they can't replace them with new trainees and rely on qualified drivers as frequently as they have then they will definitely find themselves struggling for quite a while. At the same time I can sort of understand the preference for qualified staff. Historically there was a culture that InterCity work was for the top links of every driver depot which is why some may have a chip on their shoulder thinking it should be for experienced drivers only, but that might have to change sooner or later. In either case I hope anyone waiting on the call gets on a course soon!
 
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irish_rail

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Sorcerer said:
As I understand it many Avanti drivers do tend to be on the older side, but if they are retiring at such a rate that they can't replace them with new trainees and rely on qualified drivers as frequently as they have then they will definitely find themselves struggling for quite a while. At the same time I can sort of understand the preference for qualified staff. Historically there was a culture that InterCity work was for the top links of every driver depot which is why some may have a chip on their shoulder thinking it should be for experienced drivers only, but that might have to change sooner or later. In either case I hope anyone waiting on the call gets on a course soon!
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You keep referring to chips on shoulders of experienced drivers? Surely more desirable jobs should be open to already qualified drivers? There is nothing stopping wannabe trainees getting a drivers key however they can (Northern, TPE etc etc,) do your 3 years then apply for Avanti. I'm yet to meet a driver who has a chip on their shoulder over Avanti, they would just simply apply if that's where they want to be. My advice to those trying to become a train driver is get a job with whoever you can, don't hold out for Avanti. If your any good, you can apply for Avanti later.
 
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scotsman82

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Doesn’t matter what company you are with you have to start somewhere even the drivers retiring has to be trained at one point
 
Sorcerer

Sorcerer

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irish_rail said:
You keep referring to chips on shoulders of experienced drivers? Surely more desirable jobs should be open to already qualified drivers? There is nothing stopping wannabe trainees getting a drivers key however they can (Northern, TPE etc etc,) do your 3 years then apply for Avanti. I'm yet to meet a driver who has a chip on their shoulder over Avanti, they would just simply apply if that's where they want to be. My advice to those trying to become a train driver is get a job with whoever you can, don't hold out for Avanti. If your any good, you can apply for Avanti later.
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I do not keep referring to a chip on anyone's shoulders; that comment was made one time and in reference to the post I was replying to which was the first to make mention of any chips on one's shoulders. The point I was originally making is that based on the amount of qualified drivers Avanti have been recruiting lately, they are either falling back into old InterCity TOC habits where they would hardly if ever recruit trainees out of preference for qualified drivers, or they are losing them at such a rate that even after a few years with people in a talent bank awaiting the call for a trainee course they are still unable to train enough drivers to replace them without recruiting qualified staff.
 
N

Ned21

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West Bromwich
Punching Pick said:
I received my call today, looking forward to meeting whoever else is also on the march course!
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When did you apply?

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Punching Pick said:
I received my call today, looking forward to meeting whoever else is also on the march course!
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And how long you been on the talent pool?
 
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