A little bit of advice please...

[JJP87]

Hi All

I have only just joined the forum, however I have been reading a number of posts for several months now and thought I would join up.

I have an ambition to become a train driver and have found last year and this year when I applied for a trainee postion with Northern that these are very hard to come by and do not come by very often. Especially living in Hull I do feel limited to applying for only Northern trainee driver vacancies.

Anyway...my question is and I'm not sure if anyone can give me a definitive answer on this, but is there anything that I could be doing now to make myself look like a more attractive applicant for a trainee role? Is it worthwhile applying for other vacancies within Northern for example (i.e. conductor etc) to get a trainee driver role any easier for the future perhaps? It is a hard question but I thought you guys would be helpful in giving me a few tips.

Ta!!!

 

[TDK]

Hi All

I have only just joined the forum, however I have been reading a number of posts for several months now and thought I would join up.

I have an ambition to become a train driver and have found last year and this year when I applied for a trainee postion with Northern that these are very hard to come by and do not come by very often. Especially living in Hull I do feel limited to applying for only Northern trainee driver vacancies.

Anyway...my question is and I'm not sure if anyone can give me a definitive answer on this, but is there anything that I could be doing now to make myself look like a more attractive applicant for a trainee role? Is it worthwhile applying for other vacancies within Northern for example (i.e. conductor etc) to get a trainee driver role any easier for the future perhaps? It is a hard question but I thought you guys would be helpful in giving me a few tips.

Ta!!!

It all depends on what experience you already have that will help you getting a drivers role! There are quite a few threads on this forum that outlines the favourable experience that is required to gain a position, if you have any of these then you will not need to gain any!

 

[red2005]

The conductor role is a great way of gaining the experience that will help towards gaining a driver's position! the problem you have is that the conductor grade also has huge numbers in terms of applications for trainee's so it's also a very difficult grade to get in to

what I will say is that the industry as a whole is fantastic so get in any way that you can!....sometimes having experience of 1or 2 other grades within the industry can be even more helpful!

good luck!

 

[TDK]

The conductor role is a great way of gaining the experience that will help towards gaining a driver's position! the problem you have is that the conductor grade also has huge numbers in terms of applications for trainee's so it's also a very difficult grade to get in to

what I will say is that the industry as a whole is fantastic so get in any way that you can!....sometimes having experience of 1or 2 other grades within the industry can be even more helpful!

good luck!

That all well but sometimes it is best to go for the job you really want from the start as being in a job that you do not really want can in fact give a false impression of yourself to management. If a candidate fails the tests it is obvious they are not the ideal candidate for the post so therefore it will be beneficial to go for a different role if it is the railway industry you want.

 

[red2005]

yes that is very true I suppose if you look at it from that angle.....however in my opinion I do believe that does depend on what experiences you have had prior to applying!.....what I mean is that it's great if you are applying straight off and you have customer service, safety or rules and regulations experience...that's a great help........however from what I hear off the externals on my course is that it's even harder to get the job than normal if you don't have the experience In the fields I mentioned above as things like the interviews are very much focused around those qualities and experiences.

but hey ho if you are right for the job you are right for the job!

but yes can definitely see your point

 

[Cerebral]

My advice would be that if you have your heart set on becoming a train driver then just go for it.

Bear in mind the "2 lives" rule for the assessments though. The best way to pass in my opinion is to massively prepare by researching and getting whatever practice material you can get from whatever source. Also asking around people who have gone through the process recently helps a lot too.

First key is passing the initial paper sift if you are not from the desired backgrounds, for some people that could well be the biggest stumbling block of the whole process. If that is the case, then of course that will probably require the requisite amount of effort.

 

[JJP87]

Thank you all for you help. I guess I'll just have to keep an eye on any Northern vancacies in Hull. I don't think there are any other TACs in the area that will take on trainees. I'll keep hoping and praying!
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Well I think my luck might be in! Trainee conductor vacancy in Hull has just come up which I applied for straight away.

I really hope I can get somewhere this time.