Recent content by spider8

I suggest you don't rush but also don't leave it to the last minute. I suggest you get a photocopy of what you send and keep correspondence in a safe place to refer to. There may be more than one exchange of letters. The tone of the letter you've received hasn't been written just for you; it's...

I paid in 2007, passed, never got past the initial screening after that. It ran out after 5 years. Did a better form last year, used correct words (customer focussed, motivated, driven etc) cringed while doing it - so obvious that I was just plonking certain words in. Got past that. Studied up...

Show off! :)

Of course they want a quick answer. BUT!... ...I just put a couple of things in the search facility because of the first post on this thread: (eyesight/driver) and (how good does your eyesight need to be to become a train driver) and it didn't seem to make a difference - it took me to threads...

He is not overqualified. As I said earlier, in my class, the few I've spoken to all did a bit of homework before even applying - we put in, as someone said, 'buzz-words' i.e. 'Customer focussed', 'motivated', 'safety conscious' etc. even to the extent where it would be obvious to anyone reading...

Certain companies only want qualified drivers. I'm employed by Southern (now GTR)who are embarking on the biggest trainee driver recruitment ever in the UK. Unfortunately for some, they have not been advertising, but instead, dipping into their saved list of previous applicants (numbering...

It also means that if you fail the manager's interview (job interview) you don't have an assessment-pass ticket to go somewhere else, sadly.

I'm in training at the mo' and there's a Polish guy whose English isn't bad but he'll struggle with words I hear spoken in class like 'generic', 'actuator', 'bearing', etc. Now a lot of (first-language English) people will struggle with one or two, but will get a 'feel' for things like...

Thanks a lot for that. I think I will be asked this today in a test so it really helps.

Can anyone tell me what the H.O.T. procedure is. I think it stands for Hidden, Obvious & Typical in conjunction with finding a bag on a train (is it a bomb?). I suppose if it's hidden it's more suspicious but I don't get the 'Typical'. ...and I've not heard of any procedure. When I google it...

I've spoken to a few drivers and they mostly seem happy. There's a lot of really crappy jobs out there though.

Some rail companies (like Southern) slip in their own test as an extra halfway through and nothing on How2become prepares you for this. But only hindsight can really tell. I think How2 may help some but not others. It certainly won't do any harm. I think it helped me a little on the AVAVT test...

So what? I'm currently studying "How 2 Become a Train Driver" Does this make me too keen? It's almost like you can't win either way - sounds to me like an excuse not to give MDolan the job rather than a genuine reason.

I've been told by my manager "Unofficially, there's a block on." Are you (Martin Dolan) sure you're not just getting blocked by your company. My TOC is notorious internally for blocking fitters, shunter drivers, etc. from moving on to main line driving due to the fact that practically anyone can...

Not only am I NOT joking, a colleague of mine collaborated with the PTS guy to answer just enough questions to fail. The hope was he would have to do it again with, perhaps, the opportunity of getting off a couple of nightshifts. Our manager actually wanted to discipline him for failing. But...