Anybody in the same situation as me?

[croydonboy]

I failed the assessments in 2013 with FGW.

Failed again in 2015 with LOROL but I called the OPC cause I was so shocked how I had failed and they told me I met the standard for LOROL on all tests except the group bourdon which I had met national standard thus meaning I have passed stage 1.

I have applied to various toc's since but not had an application pass. If my application was to pass with a TOC I'm under the impression by all the reads on here that I won't be able to progress to stage 2 with any TOC! What's the point!?

Really frustrating!!

 

[falcon]

It's an utterly stupid system. It has become a game for the TOC,the assesment centers and the HR departments involved. They like the power trip that they are on making people jump through hoops.

Due to the high salaries involved all and his dog want to be a driver now. If it was 20K a year the pass rate would be a lot higher and I dare say there would not be an assessment at all.

Grand Central took staff without assessments off the street because they had to get the company up and runing.

All silly games being played.

It's not even certificated properly. When you leave the assessment centre you should be given written confirmation of your results and be able to see the results,in particular the Group Bourdon test "Take my word you did not get far enough down the page" Oh you made too many mistakes".:roll:

 

[387star]

It's an utterly stupid system. It has become a game for the TOC,the assesment centers and the HR departments involved. They like the power trip that they are on making people jump through hoops.

Due to the high salaries involved all and his dog want to be a driver now. If it was 20K a year the pass rate would be a lot higher and I dare say there would not be an assessment at all.

Grand Central took staff without assessments off the street because they had to get the company up and runing.

All silly games being played.

It's not even certificated properly. When you leave the assessment centre you should be given written confirmation of your results and be able to see the results,in particular the Group Bourdon test "Take my word you did not get far enough down the page" Oh you made too many mistakes".:roll:

Really?

By the way if you have past stage one you just need to maybe retake the group bordon to the required standards then just stage two but you might need wait six months if they too require the higher standard

 

[notadriver]

It's an utterly stupid system. It has become a game for the TOC,the assesment centers and the HR departments involved. They like the power trip that they are on making people jump through hoops.



Due to the high salaries involved all and his dog want to be a driver now. If it was 20K a year the pass rate would be a lot higher and I dare say there would not be an assessment at all.



Grand Central took staff without assessments off the street because they had to get the company up and runing.



All silly games being played.



It's not even certificated properly. When you leave the assessment centre you should be given written confirmation of your results and be able to see the results,in particular the Group Bourdon test "Take my word you did not get far enough down the page" Oh you made too many mistakes".:roll:

If the job being advertised was a 50k software developer no one would bat an eye lid but because train driving is seen as 'easy' it seems to get negative attention.

And do you have proof GC took people off the street to drive their trains at up to 125 mph without assessments? Utter nonsense.

 

[croydonboy]

Really?

By the way if you have past stage one you just need to maybe retake the group bordon to the required standards then just stage two but you might need wait six months if they too require the higher standard

Thanks I hope so! I know I went wrong with the group bourdon by trying to go too fast it was definitely a case of missing boxes out rather than not doing enough

 

[greatkingrat]

All Grand Central drivers would have been qualified drivers moving from other TOCs. For such a small company it would not be practical to run their own trainee driver program.

 

[theironroad]

Let's call a duck a duck, as falcon notes, what would happen if train drivers were on minimum wage ? (like many managers would like) the assessments and standards would be allowed to slip and there would not be 22135 applications for 100 jobs.

Let's also remember that there are plenty of drivers out there, driving trains, who have never sat any test like the current ones,though didn't come 'off the street' but served an Apprenticeship and are great drivers. There are also newer drivers who sat all these tests who have been less than perfect.

When people are brought in with no railway experience and good salaries then there has too be some weeding process and the powers that be reckon that the current tests may help lower their risk.

 

[ComUtoR]

Let's call a duck a duck, as falcon notes, what would happen if train drivers were on minimum wage ? (like many managers would like) the assessments and standards would be allowed to slip and there would not be 22135 applications for 100 jobs..

Utter bollocks.

If Driver salaries were minimum wage then yes the applications would be next to nothing but that is because minimum wage is a joke.

However; the standards are there for a very important reason and that is not some generic weeding process.

If anyone wishes to go back to the old days and old standards of train driving then be my guest but I assure you I would not get on those trains. You also forget that the old school method was taking people up through the grades rather than instant boil in the bag Drivers that we have today.

There are many threads on here discussing the whole process and the importance of it as well as the negatives of the current system. Some are worth a read but others are just rants from failed applicants

 

[SoonToBeMrsS]

Boil in the bag? Don't even go there. Seriously.

 

[ComUtoR]

Why not ? I'm of that era where the 'Senior' Drivers took umbrage that we were taken off the street and given cushy Driver jobs. Personally, I'm proud that I am a boil in the bag. I'm proud of my job and firmly believe that those who make it through the process deserve it.

Falcon is suggesting that a TOC skipped the entire process and gave out jobs like cookies. :roll:

The railway changed and is still evolving. The assessments have changed since I first took them and TOC's have been given more latitude in what they can assess and what pass mark they can set.

The old way wasn't good and I'm certainly grateful that standards have been greatly improved. Many jobs have some form of application criteria and the assessment process is no different.