ATW Trainee train driver vacancies

[D-P-1990]

Has anyone in this forum been in this position before? I.e had one application unsuccessful, with the other remaining open? I'm just wondering what the odds are of succeeding in one when the other has been unsuccessful is all.
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Can you have more than one application in at one time ??

Yep, I banged one in for Llandudno and Chester. Makes the odds a little better, I guess?

 

[TDK]

There are a large amount of applicants for these positions and many internals who have worked for the company for many years in a safety critical role with a spotless sickness/attendance record and tick "ALL" the boxes due to the roles they are currently in and this is the main reason why it is so difficult for anyone outside the industry to be able to get in however it is possible as there are currently trainee drivers off the street as we speak.

One thing to remember is that because you are not shortlisted it doesn't mean that you are not suitable it means there are candidates that are more suitable than what you are.
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Yep, I banged one in for Llandudno and Chester. Makes the odds a little better, I guess?

Not necessarily it all depends on your location.

 

[D-P-1990]

There are a large amount of applicants for these positions and many internals who have worked for the company for many years in a safety critical role with a spotless sickness/attendance record and tick "ALL" the boxes due to the roles they are currently in and this is the main reason why it is so difficult for anyone outside the industry to be able to get in however it is possible as there are currently trainee drivers off the street as we speak.

I wonder how that lies as percentage, as in, x% of train drivers worked in the rail industry beforehand

 

[TDK]

There are a large amount of applicants for these positions and many internals who have worked for the company for many years in a safety critical role with a spotless sickness/attendance record and tick "ALL" the boxes due to the roles they are currently in and this is the main reason why it is so difficult for anyone outside the industry to be able to get in however it is possible as there are currently trainee drivers off the street as we speak.

I wonder how that lies as percentage, as in, x% of train drivers worked in the rail industry beforehand

That percentage is reasonably high I would guess, off the top of my head I would say over 60%

 

[kelv]

Just got a Chester rejection.

I am nearly an hour away so I'll tell myself it's that to console myself.

 

[D-P-1990]

Turned down for Chester, absolutely gutted.
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Just got a Chester rejection.

I am nearly an hour away so I'll tell myself it's that to console myself.

I'm 20 minutes away and got the rejection, not quite as consoling!

 

[red2005]

Keep trying guys!

 

[OneThirtyEight]

I've just received an email advising that I'm through to the next stage. Has anyone here had a telephone interview with ATW before?

 

[sw1ller]

Yes. Just

 

[KP1978]

I've just received an email advising that I'm through to the next stage. Has anyone here had a telephone interview with ATW before?

Congratulations. I got the dreaded thanks but no thanks email.
Can i ask (out of curiosity) what you're background is? I come from an emergency service background and thought safety critical roles would have a higher than average chance.
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Does anybody know how often atw recruit trainee drivers?

 

[OneThirtyEight]

Congratulations. I got the dreaded thanks but no thanks email.
Can i ask (out of curiosity) what you're background is? I come from an emergency service background and thought safety critical roles would have a higher than average chance.
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Does anybody know how often atw recruit trainee drivers?

I'm on the railway already; I've been a guard for three years, was a station assistant for two. Emergency services staff have definitely got the right aptitudes, so keep applying.

As for how often they recruit, I applied last time they advertised for Chester but was unsuccessful at shortlisting, that was in January of last year; there may have been intakes for other depots since then.

 

[KP1978]

Great, thanks for the reply. First time i applied to be honest. I will re work my application ready for quick upload if vacancies arise in the near future.

 

[D-P-1990]

I'm on the railway already; I've been a guard for three years, was a station assistant for two. Emergency services staff have definitely got the right aptitudes, so keep applying.

As for how often they recruit, I applied last time they advertised for Chester but was unsuccessful at shortlisting, that was in January of last year; there may have been intakes for other depots since then.

Out of interest, was anything mentioned regarding the training pool at the end of the year? This was mentioned on their job applications.

 

[sw1ller]

I applied for the Chester job last year too, I passed the telephone interview but decided against going to the interview (other issues, I was quite upset). Just really happy to be given a 2nd chance. Good luck for your application 138

 

[OneThirtyEight]

Out of interest, was anything mentioned regarding the training pool at the end of the year? This was mentioned on their job applications.

Not sure what you mean. The email was an invite to the telephone interview, and a timeline for the recruitment process (start of training beginning of April).

I applied for the Chester job last year too, I passed the telephone interview but decided against going to the interview (other issues, I was quite upset). Just really happy to be given a 2nd chance. Good luck for your application 138

What format does the telephone interview take? Is it the standard "tell us about a time when..." questions?

There's been some suggestion on here that ATW require all candidates to take the OPC, regardless of if they've passed already. If that's the case I'm going to withdraw; I've already passed to enhanced standard and don't want to risk it.

Good luck to you too, sw1ller!

 

[D-P-1990]

Not sure what you mean. The email was an invite to the telephone interview, and a timeline for the recruitment process (start of training beginning of April).



What format does the telephone interview take? Is it the standard "tell us about a time when..." questions?

There's been some suggestion on here that ATW require all candidates to take the OPC, regardless of if they've passed already. If that's the case I'm going to withdraw; I've already passed to enhanced standard and don't want to risk it.

Good luck to you too, sw1ller!

What I mean is on their application page, it was stated that they were also hiring for a training pool for starting the job later on this year - I took that as you get the invite to start either this Apri, or toward the end of the year?

(Total joke here) if you decline based on the OPC, send them my way ... I'll pay you gratuitously

 

[OneThirtyEight]

What I mean is on their application page, it was stated that they were also hiring for a training pool for starting the job later on this year - I took that as you get the invite to start either this Apri, or toward the end of the year?

(Total joke here) if you decline based on the OPC, send them my way ... I'll pay you gratuitously

Oh, ok, I didn't notice that on the vacancy; email refers to April only, no mention of a pool.

If correct, the OPC requirement seems rather excessive.

Good luck with your next application!

 

[red2005]

Not sure what you mean. The email was an invite to the telephone interview, and a timeline for the recruitment process (start of training beginning of April).



What format does the telephone interview take? Is it the standard "tell us about a time when..." questions?

There's been some suggestion on here that ATW require all candidates to take the OPC, regardless of if they've passed already. If that's the case I'm going to withdraw; I've already passed to enhanced standard and don't want to risk it.

Good luck to you too, sw1ller!

why on earth would you not go any further because of that? You have passed to that standard before which is a very difficult standard to achieve so It's obvious you have what it takes in your locker. A lot of companies operate the same way and may make you take them again, If you take that approach mixed with the fact that driver recruitment (trainee) is quite infrequent you may well end up having to retake them anyway because their validity has expired.

Surely It's better to be in the system taking the assessments again and on the way to a possible job than sat out of one hoping that a TOC will accept a pass that you already have? people have wasted years of railway time with that approach chap.

 

[OneThirtyEight]

why on earth would you not go any further because of that? You have passed to that standard before which is a very difficult standard to achieve so It's obvious you have what it takes in your locker. A lot of companies operate the same way and may make you take them again, If you take that approach mixed with the fact that driver recruitment (trainee) is quite infrequent you may well end up having to retake them anyway because their validity has expired.

Surely It's better to be in the system taking the assessments again and on the way to a possible job than sat out of one hoping that a TOC will accept a pass that you already have? people have wasted years of railway time with that approach chap.

I'm pooled for my own TOC, I've got a DMI coming up for another, it's not worth the stress or the risk against my current position.

 

[red2005]

I'm pooled for my own TOC, I've got a DMI coming up for another, it's not worth the stress or the risk against my current position.

surely it wouldn't have any bearing on your current positions would it? i mean you are a fair way along in those processes aren't you?

 

[OneThirtyEight]

surely it wouldn't have any bearing on your current positions would it? i mean you are a fair way along in those processes aren't you?

As far as I understand it, it would; the pass is a 'status' on which employment is contingent, not just something to progress at the start of recruitment. If you retake and miss out on the enhanced score in one test, you're no longer eligible for a TOC which requires an enhanced score; fail one test you're no longer eligible for any driving job, and you've lost a life. Back to square one.

 

[007]

As far as I understand it, it would; the pass is a 'status' on which employment is contingent, not just something to progress at the start of recruitment. If you retake and miss out on the enhanced score in one test, you're no longer eligible for a TOC which requires an enhanced score; fail one test you're no longer eligible for any driving job, and you've lost a life. Back to square one.

Where did you get this info from?

 

[D-P-1990]

Oh, ok, I didn't notice that on the vacancy; email refers to April only, no mention of a pool.

If correct, the OPC requirement seems rather excessive.

Good luck with your next application!

I assume it's a case whereby they've accounted for that pool already then, I may very well just be clutching at straws on this one!

Thanks for the luck, I'll be sure to be keeping a frequent eye on things. The positive thing that came out of this is that the initial wage is a hefty pay cut for myself, so if I were successful next time, I will have saved a lot up to cushion the blow

 

[OneThirtyEight]

Where did you get this info from?

Workmates of mine who had passed to national standard opted to retake some of the tests to achieve enhanced scores; they were told, by OPC asessors, that failure of a test would nix the previous pass and count as one 'life' lost.

 

[stevehw]

I was told recently at an EMT 1st stage testing that most, if not all TOC's had upped their standards/pass rates recently. A lot of guys were there who had previously been told they had passed to enhanced standard only to have to resit them as EMT's standard was exceptionally high, especially the GBT. She also said that if you did fail a retest, then applied to another TOC, then even if you were up to that TOC's standard that it was purely down to them whether or not they furthered your application based on the previous fail.
Luckily I only had to resit the GBT, of which I passed.

 

[ChooChooPanda]

I did the phone interview last week and had my email saying I was unsuccessful. I assume it's an HR based one and they're after certain buzz words or key phrases inorder to proceed to the managers interview (which I feel I would have done a lot better with as I work in the industry and could better match my experience against the role) because I thought I had prepared really well for it but was ultimately rejected.

Apparently I don't know enough about the company.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?

 

[donpoku]

I did the phone interview last week and had my email saying I was unsuccessful. I assume it's an HR based one and they're after certain buzz words or key phrases inorder to proceed to the managers interview (which I feel I would have done a lot better with as I work in the industry and could better match my experience against the role) because I thought I had prepared really well for it but was ultimately rejected.

Apparently I don't know enough about the company.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Hi there

Sorry for the setback. Been there myself.

Lack of company info is a highly common reason use by companies to not progress candidates these days.

However do not let it knock your spirit, rather let it spur you on. Immediately start preparing for the next available opportunity and as soon it comes go for it.

All the best

 

[ChooChooPanda]

Thanks Donpoku

Like I said, I had prepared really well, talked a great deal about the company, the Franchise (when it started, when its up for renewal) as well as operations and how they work closely with the WAG to improve services in Wales among other things. I'm a signaller and ATW are the main TOC we deal with.
I'd obviously missed something out that they wanted me to mention, hence the 'dear john' email.

Not disheartened, just getting everything ready for next time

 

[red2005]

Thanks Donpoku

Like I said, I had prepared really well, talked a great deal about the company, the Franchise (when it started, when its up for renewal) as well as operations and how they work closely with the WAG to improve services in Wales among other things. I'm a signaller and ATW are the main TOC we deal with.
I'd obviously missed something out that they wanted me to mention, hence the 'dear john' email.

Not disheartened, just getting everything ready for next time

keep going matey!