Too old to change career ? merseyside region

[strawberry123]

I am currently a supply teacher aged 50 and have been thinkinig about a change of career want something more permanent and stable and am interested in rail work. Have checked out the following sites northern rail/merseyrail/network rail/virgin registered for job alerts) ,TPE tried to register for job alerts but site wanted a full resume which I did not want to fill in until I saw a relevant job and could tailor my details - hope ive done the right thing here.
Am I to old to be considered to work in rail - I am fit and active and normally work every day I can but I am fed up with ringing everyday for work and sometimes working in one school in the morning and another in the afternoon , wages are getting worse too with agency dropping 1/3 off daily rates take it or leave it attitude.
Dont want to waste my time or feel despondent applying - any advise please as to what sort of jobs I should aim for and are there any other TOC I should check out for my area.
Many thanks for any help - but please be gentle with any let downs !

 

[O L Leigh]

No, you're just fine. The railways can still get almost 15 years productive work out of you, so they'd be happy to invest in training you. We've certainly had trainee drivers coming through who were around your age.

O L Leigh

 

[CarterUSM]

Ditto above. Go for anything you feel takes your fancy mate, and best of british with it too! You're a youngster compared to some of my colleagues.

 

[strawberry123]

thanks to you both for your replies - makes me feel as though it would be worth while to carry on looking.

 

[wessex]

It is unlikely that many firms will consider you much past fifty, although I have heard of people being accepted as late as fifty-five.

Taken from here

I think as a teacher you will pick up the rules and traction pretty quickly, and may be just what a toc is looking for.

Good luck

 

[First class]

In terms of TOC vacancy opportunities, driver jobs are extremely, extremely unlikely to ever appear for Merseyrail or Virgin- both companies using existing "talent", mainly guards/train managers for promotion. There are often jobs available around the £15-20k mark every few months based at stations, usually customer service orientated.

Northern Rail seem to have a 'recruitment freeze' at present for a lot of their operations roles- I may have just been unlucky with the vacancies I have applied for, (and then told that the vacancy was no longer there).

Transpennine Express are also rather difficult to work for from the Merseyside region as they generally expect you to show how you can get into work within a certain time scale. As the nearest depot is in Manchester, you may become stuck on that one.

I think at the moment you're best bet is to aim fairly low in terms of rail jobs, go for an entry level job and work up, 15 years is lots of time to develop, perhaps not enough for train driving though due to existing staff having a lot more experience.

Also, try Arriva Trains Wales. They have staff based at Chester, never seen a vacancy there though, but keep an eye out.


Good luck!