Network Rail recruitment timescales

[v16ull]

I am looking to get into the railway as a career change and have applied for 2 jobs with Network Rail, Mobile Operations Manager and Train Delay Attributer. I’m female, 43 and have a varied background in investigations, I am also an ex police officer. My MOM application has been showing “under consideration for assessment 2” since the 29th April which means (going by the email) they are deciding whether to interview me, I am waiting very impatiently for an update.

Are such long delays normal? I’ll be honest and say I don’t expect to get the MOM job and have applied for the TDA role as I think I stand a better chance of success. Do MOM jobs often go to people with no railway experience if they can show they have the right skills and experience? I am hoping to be put out of my misery either way next week….

 

[Fishplate22]

long delays are the norm I’d say 80/90% of moms come from been signallers so if it’s something your set on I’d definitely apply for a signaller role as there are more jobs and the operational experience you will gain will set you up nicely for a mom job saying that I know a lot of signallers who want to be moms and it’s very hard to get into saying that you clearly have a good background so I wouldn’t 100% rule you out for this application good luck

 

[v16ull]

Thank you for replying to me. I had started to assume that no update since the 29th April meant I had been unsuccessful (which may still be the case). I have heard that signalling is a good choice for career changers looking to enter the railway as its direct entry with a good salary, however I’ve not seen any roles available in my area. I’ll let you know if I get an interview for either role as I’ll be on here looking for tips.

 

[endofthetunnel]

One issue with the NR recruitment system is they will often leave unsuccessful applicants at the under consideration stage rather than turning them to ‘unsuccessful’ because it allows them to amend it if people drop out/fail medicals etc.
Having said that, a month is nothing in NR timescales, if there’s 2 hiring managers that need to agree on candidates and both had some summer leave taken, it could easily still be awaiting the decisions.

 

[amalek]

I am looking to get into the railway ans a career change and have applied for 2 jobs with Network Rail, Mobile Operations Manager and Train Delay Attributer. I’m female, 43 and have a varied background in investigations, I am also an ex police officer. My MOM application has been showing “under consideration for assessment 2” since the 29th April which means (going by the email) they are deciding whether to interview me, I am waiting very impatiently for an update.

Are such long delays normal? I’ll be honest and say I don’t expect to get the MOM job and have applied for the TDA as I think I stand a better chance of success. Do MOM jobs often go to people with no railway experience if they can show they have the right skills and experience? I am hoping to be out out of my misery next week….

Hi I’m in the same boat as you for the MoM vacancy. It’s been under consideration for assessment 2 since 29th April too. I will say I’ve applied for many roles at network rail and when unsuccessful they normally are quick to respond, I would take this as good news for now. Good luck to you!

 

[v16ull]

One issue with the NR recruitment system is they will often leave unsuccessful applicants at the under consideration stage rather than turning them to ‘unsuccessful’ because it allows them to amend it if people drop out/fail medicals etc.
Having said that, a month is nothing in NR timescales, if there’s 2 hiring managers that need to agree on candidates and both had some summer leave taken, it could easily still be awaiting the decisions.

Thank you, I suppose there is no way of knowing until I get confirmation, it just seems a long wait.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 31 May 2026 ==

Hi I’m in the same boat as you for the MoM vacancy. It’s been under consideration for assessment 2 since 29th April too. I will say I’ve applied for many roles at network rail and when unsuccessful they normally are quick to respond, I would take this as good news for now. Good luck to you!

Oh really? Have you applied for MOM vacancies before? I think I applied for an investigations role (non operational) a couple of years ago and was told instantly I had been unsuccessful so I did have a bit of hope. Are you an external applicant too? I expect there have been a lot of applicants and this is what is causing the delay.