Decisions..

[Msq71423]

Hi guys,

Having gone through the long and slow recruitment process I've been offered a station supervisor role working for a TOC, working primarily in the ticket office and occasionally dispatching trains and covering ticket barriers etc. This will be a total career change for me, coming from a retail management background several decades long (for the same retailer!) which I was recently made redundant from, but I feel I'm at the point in my working life where a career change is the right thing for me.

Being in my situation being out of work I've had to apply for many other jobs, and I've also received (on the same day, as these things happen!) another job offer in retail management for a retailer I'd be happy to work for, and so I need to decide in the next day or two which road to take.

While retail is my comfort zone, and I know I would love the retail job, having never worked on the railways, this is an 'unknown' job to me and would be completely new, so I don't yet know if this is a job I will 'love' doing (I am not a railway enthusiast and I even said this in my interview!.. the interviewer replied you definitely don't need to be an enthusiast btw).. but I do think it is a career I could potentially really enjoy.
My strengths are definitely customer service, I have a logical mindset, and have no issues at all with the shift times. What is important to me is job satisfaction, that I enjoy doing the job, and that it is a job I am capable of doing well at (which are all unknowns for me in this potential job). I am very much used to dealing with angry customers etc.

A couple of bits I'd like to know more about before I change my career..
In my interview I asked what the initial training would be like, being new to the railway industry, but the reply I got was very vague, along the lines of "we would probably buddy you up with someone more experienced for a couple of weeks but we would play it by ear, although the dispatching element can take several weeks to learn".. is this the reality of the initial training for a TOC? Being completely new to the rail industry I was hoping for something a little more formal when it comes to the initial training, as I imagine there are many rules to learn, especially around safety.

Speaking of rules, I know this might sound silly, is it possible I could be overwhelmed by how much I would need to learn.. I imagine there could be never ending textbooks of rules and timetables I would need to learn for this role? I'm not at all saying I'm averse to learning what I need to know, just asking if it is a humanly manageable amount of learning. Being in the position of not knowing how much I would need to know for the job, I guess I'm asking how 'learnable' it is for a complete newby, if that makes sense! (I am the sort of person that likes to know the ins and outs of everything, how a whole system works etc..I would put everything I have into this job.)

Thanks in advance for any responses. I hope you understand I don't wish to name the TOC.

 

[LowLevel]

Hello! It sounds like an interesting multi functional role.

If you're going to be a station supervisor including dispatching and ticket sales you will definitely be on a formal railway, rules and retail course that will last most likely a couple of weeks, followed by on the job mentoring/buddying with an experienced colleague before taking charge on your own.

Station work comes with it's own challenges but there is nowhere near as much rules stuff to learn as for example a driver, signaller or controller. There are plenty of processes to follow, but they tend to be logical and documented. Railway ticketing is a bit arcane but there's usually people you can ask if you're not sure, even if it means calling another station.

The recruitment process should have identified that you are the right person to acquire the necessary knowledge through training - I would say most people would be capable of working as station staff without a railway background as long as they're open to learning.

 

[Diedinium]

I unfortunately don't have much to say about the training aspect, but you're not in a bad position: needing to choose between two different jobs is a good problem to have!

I think you should go for the role with the ToC though. It'd probably be nice to have that change if you've worked in retail for a long time, and think of it this way: if you don't like working as a dispatcher/ticket office/gate staff, you can always find your way back into retail management.

Only other real consideration to make is pay; if working for the ToC actually pays a lot less, it's up to you if you're willing to make that pay cut.

As for learning the time tables... as a semi-regular passenger, I've formed a pretty decent idea of the train patterns at my local station, just by using it, I'm assuming it'll be the same at whichever station you're at - you'll learn the timetables and different routes that operate from the station just by being there for a lot of time, unless you're at one of the massive stations, then it might be more difficult.

 

[Msq71423]

Thanks for the replies.. reassuring on the initial training. Yes it's a 'nice' problem to have.. but I think I'll go for the TOC role, make a start in the new direction and see what happens!

 

[Efini92]

Thanks for the replies.. reassuring on the initial training. Yes it's a 'nice' problem to have.. but I think I'll go for the TOC role, make a start in the new direction and see what happens!

Good luck. The good thing about the railways is there’s lots of different career paths you can take up if you don’t like the role you’re in.

 

[AntoniC]

Hi guys,

Having gone through the long and slow recruitment process I've been offered a station supervisor role working for a TOC, working primarily in the ticket office and occasionally dispatching trains and covering ticket barriers etc. This will be a total career change for me, coming from a retail management background several decades long (for the same retailer!) which I was recently made redundant from, but I feel I'm at the point in my working life where a career change is the right thing for me.

Being in my situation being out of work I've had to apply for many other jobs, and I've also received (on the same day, as these things happen!) another job offer in retail management for a retailer I'd be happy to work for, and so I need to decide in the next day or two which road to take.

While retail is my comfort zone, and I know I would love the retail job, having never worked on the railways, this is an 'unknown' job to me and would be completely new, so I don't yet know if this is a job I will 'love' doing (I am not a railway enthusiast and I even said this in my interview!.. the interviewer replied you definitely don't need to be an enthusiast btw).. but I do think it is a career I could potentially really enjoy.
My strengths are definitely customer service, I have a logical mindset, and have no issues at all with the shift times. What is important to me is job satisfaction, that I enjoy doing the job, and that it is a job I am capable of doing well at (which are all unknowns for me in this potential job). I am very much used to dealing with angry customers etc.

A couple of bits I'd like to know more about before I change my career..
In my interview I asked what the initial training would be like, being new to the railway industry, but the reply I got was very vague, along the lines of "we would probably buddy you up with someone more experienced for a couple of weeks but we would play it by ear, although the dispatching element can take several weeks to learn".. is this the reality of the initial training for a TOC? Being completely new to the rail industry I was hoping for something a little more formal when it comes to the initial training, as I imagine there are many rules to learn, especially around safety.

Speaking of rules, I know this might sound silly, is it possible I could be overwhelmed by how much I would need to learn.. I imagine there could be never ending textbooks of rules and timetables I would need to learn for this role? I'm not at all saying I'm averse to learning what I need to know, just asking if it is a humanly manageable amount of learning. Being in the position of not knowing how much I would need to know for the job, I guess I'm asking how 'learnable' it is for a complete newby, if that makes sense! (I am the sort of person that likes to know the ins and outs of everything, how a whole system works etc..I would put everything I have into this job.)

Thanks in advance for any responses. I hope you understand I don't wish to name the TOC.

I would take the job that you think would be the most interesting and has the most chances to lead you to do something different.

I have been a Cvivl Servant for 34 years, and 3 times I have had the opportunity to do a different job role and taken the opportunity every time and not regretted it.

Good luck !

 

[skyhigh]

While retail is my comfort zone, and I know I would love the retail job, having never worked on the railways, this is an 'unknown' job to me and would be completely new, so I don't yet know if this is a job I will 'love' doing (I am not a railway enthusiast and I even said this in my interview!.. the interviewer replied you definitely don't need to be an enthusiast btw).. but I do think it is a career I could potentially really enjoy.
My strengths are definitely customer service, I have a logical mindset, and have no issues at all with the shift times. What is important to me is job satisfaction, that I enjoy doing the job, and that it is a job I am capable of doing well at (which are all unknowns for me in this potential job). I am very much used to dealing with angry customers etc.

You really don't have to be an enthusiast to enjoy a career on the railway. I work with plenty of people who range from no interest at all outside of work to volunteers on heritage railways. People come from all over the place to work on the railway... they very rarely go the other way and leave the industry. Sounds like you have a good range of skills for the job so no obvious reason you won't enjoy it.

Speaking of rules, I know this might sound silly, is it possible I could be overwhelmed by how much I would need to learn.. I imagine there could be never ending textbooks of rules and timetables I would need to learn for this role? I'm not at all saying I'm averse to learning what I need to know, just asking if it is a humanly manageable amount of learning. Being in the position of not knowing how much I would need to know for the job, I guess I'm asking how 'learnable' it is for a complete newby, if that makes sense! (I am the sort of person that likes to know the ins and outs of everything, how a whole system works etc..I would put everything I have into this job.)

The level of learning won't be too hard - it'll be nothing like training to be a driver or signaller. I'm sure there will also be plenty of experienced staff around that you'll be able to get support from ask if you need any help. There certainly won't be any requirement to learn the timetable!

Also don't forget the benefits that come with working for a TOC. A decent pension scheme, free travel on your own company's services (and potentially others owned by the same operator), 75% PRIV discount on other trains and also European travel benefits once you've been in for a year.

If it were me I'd choose the railway job.

 

[Horizon22]

Welcome to the forum! It’s understandable to be a bit wary about jumping into a new sector and to want to ask some questions. Your transferable skills and experiences will fit right into a customer service and supervisory role on the railway.

I thought I’m jump into a few of your statements to answer them directly.

Being in my situation being out of work I've had to apply for many other jobs, and I've also received (on the same day, as these things happen!) another job offer in retail management for a retailer I'd be happy to work for, and so I need to decide in the next day or two which road to take.

Obviously there’s the standard job aspects to take into account? Which is the better salary? What’s the commute like? What are the shift patterns? The staff benefits are much likely to be better in the railway role.

A couple of bits I'd like to know more about before I change my career..
In my interview I asked what the initial training would be like, being new to the railway industry, but the reply I got was very vague, along the lines of "we would probably buddy you up with someone more experienced for a couple of weeks but we would play it by ear, although the dispatching element can take several weeks to learn".. is this the reality of the initial training for a TOC? Being completely new to the rail industry I was hoping for something a little more formal when it comes to the initial training, as I imagine there are many rules to learn, especially around safety.

So you’ll definitely get more formal training don’t worry! There will normally be a few days of induction and other customer service courses (conflict avoidance, providing additional assistance etc.) when you first start although some of these might now be online.

You’ll also have a formal rules (dispatch) course and assessment which probably takes 1-2 weeks of classroom training. There’s also a gateline course but I think at most TOCs this is just a couple of days.

What the reply you got was about your local dispatch training; once you’ve done the exam, you need to learn about the local specifics at your station(s) such as where to dispatch from, operational restrictions, signal types, rolling stock, method of dispatch etc. This can take a few weeks with a peer trainer and is dependent on how quickly the trainee picks everything up.

Speaking of rules, I know this might sound silly, is it possible I could be overwhelmed by how much I would need to learn.. I imagine there could be never ending textbooks of rules and timetables I would need to learn for this role? I'm not at all saying I'm averse to learning what I need to know, just asking if it is a humanly manageable amount of learning. Being in the position of not knowing how much I would need to know for the job, I guess I'm asking how 'learnable' it is for a complete newby, if that makes sense! (I am the sort of person that likes to know the ins and outs of everything, how a whole system works etc..I would put everything I have into this job.)

You might be a bit overwhelmed at first but trust me when I say you’ll pick it up in no time - thousands of colleagues with less real world experience have passed through this no problem! You’ll get a lot of information in the classroom that might seem a bit intense but once you’re out at your local station it will all start to click nicely together. Timetables are one of those things you’ll need to just learn but after w month or so working somewhere day-in-day out you’ll know it like the back of your hand. As others have said it’s nothing like being a signaller, driver or controller although you will be in a safety critical role (this will be explained to you).

All in all I wish you the best of luck no matter which option you decide! I’d say the railway beats retail hands down but everyone has their own personal perspectives.

 

[ComUtoR]

I was a Retail Manager in a previous life.

Now I work on the railway.

If you can cope with retail life, then the railway will be a total cakewalk. As an experienced Manager you will probably find railway life both restrictive, and freeing at the same time.

[@&£-£+#&&@+!!!!] Retail ! I'd never go back to it, even if I lost my job tomorrow.

 

[Msq71423]

Thank you for the replies and the encouragement! From the sounds of it I'm making the right decision.

Yes, the benefits are definitely significantly better than retail, though I didn't want this to be my primary consideration. My commute would be around 45 minutes, though the 35 hour week compensates for this so not an issue.

Does anyone have any tips for a brand new starter?

 

[Horizon22]

Thank you for the replies and the encouragement! From the sounds of it I'm making the right decision.

Yes, the benefits are definitely significantly better than retail, though I didn't want this to be my primary consideration. My commute would be around 45 minutes, though the 35 hour week compensates for this so not an issue.

Does anyone have any tips for a brand new starter?

Personally, 45 minutes isn't too bad, but it depends what you're comparing it too.

As for a brand new starter - don't be afraid to ask questions, be keen but listen to all the advice and training you are given, be prepared for some interesting stories, a 'unique' workplace culture but ultimately a good community and make the most of it!

 

[Seejwalker]

Thanks for the replies.. reassuring on the initial training. Yes it's a 'nice' problem to have.. but I think I'll go for the TOC role, make a start in the new direction and see what happens!

The railway is great place to work. I work for Network Rail as a signaller and it’s been a life changer.
Once you’re in the door you can pretty much take your job in whatever direction suits you.