Network Rail Project Jobs £35k-£55k

[Old Timer]

Spotted in the jobs section of this evening's London Evening Standard (where of course all Railway engineers look :roll

Network Rail Projects (IP I think they now call themselves although no one is quite sure because they change their name like some people change their underwear) are looking for a variety of managers.

Salaries are set in the £35k to £55k range.

Only those without any Railway knowledge will be considered.

Key attributes sought will include ignorance, aggression, and a complete lack of any Railway knowledge. Special consideration will be given to those who have no personality, are unable to develop normal working relationships with others, have a well developed sense of arrogance and superiority, with a thick skin and a chamelion-like ability to change both their previous and current opinions in line with changing circumstances.

Those with delusional mentalities and latent behavioural disorders, who are unable to relate to their staff will receive fast-track promotion.

So guys if you know nothing about Railways at all or can pretend that you do not, you will be guaranteed an interview, so get those CVs warmed up.

This is one of life's few opportuniies where a knowledge of engineering and the Industry will not stop you from getting the job, indeed it will be warmly welcomed.

 

[Ricardo]

Network Rail isnt the only corner of the engineering world where such "special" people can hide out, although one does get the impression they are particularly welcoming of such types. Certainly on the rare occasions where I and colleagues have had direct dealings with NR, we have not come away from the experience with a particularly positive impression of the organisation.

It would be interesting to see what level of project management is involved to earn those wages....just a little curious to compare against other parts of the engineering sector, as the impression is given that NR salaries might be rather on the generous side given the nation's financial circumstances?

 

[4SRKT]

Heavy irony detected there OT. Surely it's not as bad as all that in reality??

'Project Management' (whatever that may mean) does seem to be a repository for bullsh*tters in any sector tho. I couldn't get away with not knowing anything about transport operations in my job, but if I were a project manager I wouldn't have to know anything about it necessarily. Indeed, I have known plenty of PMs and consultants who sell as a virtue to gullible firms that they know nothing and are therefore a 'fresh pair of eyes'.

 

[Old Timer]

Heavy irony detected there OT. Surely it's not as bad as all that in reality??.

Well I speak as I have found.

Network Rail have operated a policy since day 1 of removing experienced Railwaymen from the organisation and and only employing new personnel who have no knowledge or interest in the Railway.

There are already a number of Projects managers who are curently "displaced" without a job and being used as office juniors or pushed into minor roles. These people tend to be former BR people or those who have a god knowledge of the job and are respected by the Infrastructure Contractors staff.

No doubt the remaining Project staff who are uncertain about their futures will be comforted to see that NR are already looking outside the Company for their replacements.

Many of the people Network Rail have employed have clearly failed in other areas of their careers, yet somehow appear to be embraced by Network Rail with enthusiasm.

Whilst it is possible for a Manager to manage most activities, the efficiency and the effectiveness of that person in a Railway environment will be considerably reduced when they have no knowledge of the Industry. I accept that one can transfer in and do a perfectly acceptable job, however this needs to be underpinned by knowledge experience which can only be gained by working in a more junior role.

The positions advertised will be responsible for managing the Project works as well as the programme.

We already have to deal with individuals who have no knowledge having demonstrated in some cases an inability to assimilate from experience, thus behaving in the same manner and working on the basis of undeliverable expectations.

These people seem unable to grasp the legal status of the various Standards and Procedures and are convinced that they are able to direct Contract staff to ignore and disobey them. This includes elements in the Rule Book when this is seen as "obstructive".


Thankfully I no longer work for NR.

 

[asylumxl]

Well if what you say is true, then NRs Project Managers are the polar opposite of most large construction projects, where they value safety over deadlines.

 

[route:oxford]

It would be interesting to see what level of project management is involved to earn those wages....just a little curious to compare against other parts of the engineering sector, as the impression is given that NR salaries might be rather on the generous side given the nation's financial circumstances?

Outside of engineering, a £35K starting salary for project management would be pretty low. If that's for London (which isn't an unreasonable assumption given that it's advertised in the Evening Standard) it's very low as most firms will include a London "weighting" of around £4k in the advertised rate.

They'll probably get school leavers applying.

 

[moggie]

Unfortunately you won't find 'safety' on a P3 programme schedule highly evident therefore it's not important is it? Seemingly it only gains value after an incident in the measure of loss / damage sustained. That's of course when these people are suddenly able to quantify it. Before that they struggle to even comprehend system safety. Oh yes - they understand 'all orange' and bump caps with not a crane or overhead hazard in sight and they can quantify the cost of a few hours in a project plan if it doesn't fit the 'master intergrated multi-disciplinary engineering delivery plan - or whatever this weeks buzz word is. OT from quite different disciplines there are remarkable similarities.

:cry:

 

[Ploughman]

We used to have dealings with one NR manager whose previous career was a shoe salesman.
He walked straight into the job.
(No pun intended)

 

[Old Timer]

........ OT from quite different disciplines there are remarkable similarities.....:cry:

They are very careful to recruit people who fit the "person-spec" in terms of attitude, then they send them to Westwood and programme their brains.

The outcome is a complete arsehole, who struts around like a demi-God, treating the principle Infrastructure Contractors and their senior staff akin to something very unpleasant that has been trodden in.

However, fear not their time under the microscope is not that far away. Questions are being asked, and the right people will soon want to know why it is necessary to have a complete structure that every other Industry manages to operate quite successfully without.

Its going to be interesting to watch when the unwelcome beam of the spotlight comes to focus on them, as they have made some very powerful enemies and have no friends.

 

[thefab444]

Its going to be interesting to watch when the unwelcome beam of the spotlight comes to focus on them, as they have made some very powerful enemies and have no friends.

I hope there's sustenance behind this childish rant.

 

[boing_uk]

I hope there's sustenance behind this childish rant.

I should think there probably is. Over the last couple of weeks I have head various railwaymen chatting amongst themselves (when they are sat behind you on the train its difficult to not overhear) from the train operators to NR staff who have all been very critical in the way NR have been handling things, certainly in the North West.

Apparently failures have been through the roof, signalling errors and problems, permenant way defects which are becoming dangerous and being ignored - that sort of thing.

But hey what do I know, Im just a passenger.

 

[TheSlash]

One's experience is that putting the name of one's current employer on one's CV devalues one's qualifications in the eyes of future employers.

 

[EM2]

Network Rail have operated a policy since day 1 of removing experienced Railwaymen from the organisation and and only employing new personnel who have no knowledge or interest in the Railway.

In the group that were recruited along with me, were staff from GNER, Southern, SWT, First and Eurostar.
They had been at King's Cross, Victoria, Paddington, London Bridge and Waterloo.
Some have a good few years railway experience, others only a couple but it was NOT the case that people with railway experience would not be considered.

However...this is in the Operations and Customer Service discipline, rather than Infrastructure.

 

[The Planner]

However...this is in the Operations and Customer Service discipline, rather than Infrastructure.

Ops and Customer service are no better, believe me.

 

[Stuart Galbraith]

Spotted in the jobs section of this evening's London Evening Standard (where of course all Railway engineers look :roll

Network Rail Projects (IP I think they now call themselves although no one is quite sure because they change their name like some people change their underwear) are looking for a variety of managers.

Salaries are set in the £35k to £55k range.

Only those without any Railway knowledge will be considered.

Key attributes sought will include ignorance, aggression, and a complete lack of any Railway knowledge. Special consideration will be given to those who have no personality, are unable to develop normal working relationships with others, have a well developed sense of arrogance and superiority, with a thick skin and a chamelion-like ability to change both their previous and current opinions in line with changing circumstances.

Those with delusional mentalities and latent behavioural disorders, who are unable to relate to their staff will receive fast-track promotion.

So guys if you know nothing about Railways at all or can pretend that you do not, you will be guaranteed an interview, so get those CVs warmed up.

This is one of life's few opportuniies where a knowledge of engineering and the Industry will not stop you from getting the job, indeed it will be warmly welcomed.

Perfect for me! Unfortunately Ive an intimate knowledge of Hornby and other OO gauge rolling stock, does this mean im excluded?