Trainee Drivers (First Capital Connect)

[91101]

I think the "bolshie" comment was just meant to mean "strong", I am not sure what the compliment is, but they have over 90 M-F turns at Bedford, comparitively, Brighton has about 30 and Blackfrairs about 15-20.

HH, do you work at Bedford? Am I incorrect in the assumption that if a company wants to move work away from a given depot, they have to have the unions permission to reduce the compliment at at a given depot?
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Regarding advice for the interviews and assessments obviously all of the standard things apply for any Train Driver application and assessments, but it might be worth having a look at http://www.theopc.co.uk/tests/transport/detail.jsp?gfx1=&id=42 since that is the type of interview you will be facing.

Make sure that you actually research the company too, when one candidate was asked "where does FCC run to and from" they lost the interviews when they responded "Er well I think I was on an FCC train from Northampton?"

Don't come accross as Spotterish either!

 

[Coxster]

Hi All,

Im a new user to this forum. I have applied for the trainee drivers jobs at FCC. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, or if any other people have applied and want to chat about it, feel free to give me a shout.

Happy new year to you all

Lots to read but definitely worth it at:- http://www.railwayregister.care4free.net/becoming_a_train_driver.htm

 

[mackenzie_blu]

Thank you - I was just trying to make the point that I didn't miss it ;D


Oh well, there we go - I shall just have to see what LU find for me, and at 21 if I think my opportunities are better upstairs then I shall have to re-assess at the time

Good attitude to have mate. If you really want it, spend some time learning more about it so when you can apply you can really go for it. And good luck with whatever you do go for. It took me Nearly ten years to get into the railways and I've never looked back.

 

[francisoldfield]

i have applied for brighton position at the moment, although i currently live in Portsmouth.

up till now whenever i have applied for a position that isnt close to me i get rejected straight away eben though i am prepared to move.

This time though there was a question asking what would i do to get closer to the depot if i was offered the job so fingers crossed.

im hoping that as i am already First employee, that might help.

After reading the user from Australia being invited to apply I am more confident about my distance away from the depot!!

we shall just have to see!

 

[francisoldfield]

anyone who applied for this heard anything yet.?

theres nothing worse than waiting for someone to decide whether you will be good enough!!

 

[navydavy1968]

I heard nothing yet mate, but if you go to first website and log on to your account and look at 'application submission history' it should tell you whether you have been turned down or not.

By the way I also got an email when I was turned down by first for a previous ttd position.

 

[E&W Lucas]

A few thoughts from someone who became a driver a decade ago, towards the start of widespread "Off the Street" recruitment:

1. Do not sit about waiting for driver jobs to be advertised. They frequently aren't, as companies are inundated with speculative applications.

2. Jump the queue. Take the Train Driver Assessment at your own expense, then apply. It should help to get you noticed.

3. Do some research. Not all companies train their own drivers, and even those that do will not have trainees at all depots.

4. Take a look in the mirror. If you're advertising a £40+K job, that only requires you to work a 35 hour week, you're going to get 40k caliber people applying for it. Most trainee drivers will have had a significant level of responsibility in their previous roles. You need to be used to taking decisions. Some of the posts above are from people that are barely able to write English. How are you going to get on writing reports & filling out fault books? Harsh, but please be realistic. Drivers have a significant level of responsibility; you do not give the job to just anyone.

5. If you get an interview, turn up on time, and WEAR A SUIT.

6. There is no such thing as a "Line of Promotion" any more. Internal candidates do not seem to have a particular advantage.

 

[Flyboy]

E&W - Good post with some interesting points, particularly item 6 regarding 'internals' not appearing to have an advantage anymore.

As an airline pilot one would think (as I naively did) that I'd be an appealing candidate, but I've been writing frequently to several operators since late 2008 and the response has been totally underwhelming! On the plus side I have had an almost 100% response rate to my enquiries (very rare in aviation!) and that even includes replies direct from CEO's, but overall I think there's almost a blanket ban (with a couple of exceptions) on recruiting trainees at the moment.

The most frustrating response is from HR departments that recommend joining in other roles such as on-board CSAs or Conductors. Now whilst I accept that that may have been the norm in the distant past, I wish they'd realise that there's virtually no technical or personality skills crossover whatsoever between those roles and a driver's position. A customer-facing role requires a completely different type of personality, for example there's no way I could do a cabin attendant's job, so I didn't join as one!

Furthermore, would it not be misleading of me to apply for a role that I intended to fill purely as a means of providing a stepping stone to the position I actually wanted?

 

[O L Leigh]

2. Jump the queue. Take the Train Driver Assessment at your own expense, then apply. It should help to get you noticed.

I wouldn't necessarily call this "jumping the queue", but if you have already passed the psychometric tests you will certainly be at an advantage as you can demonstrate that you meet the required standard.

On the flipside, it's quite an expensive route to take, especially if you fail. My preference would always be to properly tailor an application to the requirements of the job in order to be successful in the "sift" and then let the company pick up the tab of the psychometric assessment.

6. There is no such thing as a "Line of Promotion" any more. Internal candidates do not seem to have a particular advantage.

At the company where I work, internal candidates are guaranteed a place on a psychometric assessment and consequently do not have to get through the "sift". Given the number of applicants for each job I would call that quite an advantage.

O L Leigh

 

[E&W Lucas]

At the company where I work, internal candidates are guaranteed a place on a psychometric assessment and consequently do not have to get through the "sift". Given the number of applicants for each job I would call that quite an advantage.

O L Leigh

Our experiences differ there, so it's probably better to say that this varies between TOC's.

One TOC which advertised <10 vac's internally recently, failed to fill them all from the (multiple hundred) applicants. At one depot, only a handful were given a preliminary interview; of those none were sent for the psychometric.

Similarly, even if someone passes the tests, it does not guarantee them a job.

Off the street recruitment has been a learning exercise for the management too. After over a decade of doing it, they know that if all someone has on their CV is "platform staff", then there will probably be far stronger external candidates.

Flyboy has summed it up perfectly:

"The most frustrating response is from HR departments that recommend joining in other roles such as on-board CSAs or Conductors. Now whilst I accept that that may have been the norm in the distant past, I wish they'd realise that there's virtually no technical or personality skills crossover whatsoever between those roles and a driver's position. A customer-facing role requires a completely different type of personality, for example there's no way I could do a cabin attendant's job, so I didn't join as one!!"

 

[ry34081]

Just wondering has anybody had any response yet i put my application in end of december. I also would just like to say hi to every1 1st post on here.

 

[francisoldfield]

Hi all,

just for those who have applied for any of the above positions...

I spoke to FirstGroup recruitment today who have told me that they received well over 1000 applications for the drivers jobs. As you can imagine it is going to take a while for them to shortlist those who are appropriate and they told me not to expect to hear from them until AT LEAST end of FEB.

It might be worth saying also that without no way of knowing how many vacancies are at each depot and how many of the 1000+ people applied for each depot you have a somewhat small chance and have a lot of people to beat to these roles. I personally really want this job but I have decided not to raise my hopes.

good luck all

 

[Flyboy]

I spoke to FirstGroup recruitment today who have told me that they received well over 1000 applications for the drivers jobs.

They would say that wouldn't they. :roll:

Personally I always view such quoted figures with a little scepticism, purely because airlines come out with comments like that which in the past I've known to be complete tosh.

On the other hand let's believe that it is true; the answer is simple - give 10 responsible or supervisory members of staff (in or around the HR department) a batch of 100 applications each and tell them to do an initial sift based on pre-determined standards and criteria. I could slim 100 applications down quite considerably in a couple of hours.

We all know that some people (and departments) make their jobs appear to be a lot more difficult than they actually are in order to justify their position(s) and/or budget, and no reply before "at least the end of Feb" seems to fit that bill. Additionally, given the bad press FCC have recently received, they need to get new recruits selected and on-board ASAP in order to get the whole operation back on its feet again.

 

[herdster]

I have to agree with flyboy , end of Feb is a ridiculous amount of time to sift through 1000 applicants . Ok i appreciate they have other tasks to do but just two people for 4 hours a day and it would take no mor than two weeks.

Look at ATW they have had probably 3/400 applicants for their trainee positions , the closing date was 24th Jan and they have stated they are doing telephone interviews ( i presume after an initial paper shuffle) the 1st week of Feb .

Herdster

 

[francisoldfield]

oh i agree with both of you... its a massive amount of time to do something that shouldnt take that long. im just relaying a message...

seeing as how an earlier post mentioned that assesments would be mid feb in london and the fact that it takes a year or so to train the sucessful recruited persons, they really could do with getting their backsides in gear!

 

[E&W Lucas]

A lot of HR types are very wary about what they will say on the 'phone. They certainly will not tell you the outcome of an application.

I suspect that will have already shortlisted, and have invited the first batch in for testing, ie the ones who scored highest off the form. If they don't get enough passes, they'll go for the next batch down, and so on. When they've filled the courses, they'll send the "Dear John..." letters out. As there will be nearly a thousand of them, the end of Feb might not be an unrealistic date!

The forms will have been marked against specific criteria, eg recognising that the job requires anti social/ flexible working, mechanical comprehension, understanding what drivers have to do, apart from driving, taking responsibility, etc. doesn't take very long to do that.

 

[Aictos]

Well I can safely say that if anyone's application wasn't submitted by the beginning of last week then don't bother applying as FCC aren't taking on any more applications other then the already submitted applications, this comes from a very high source within the driver management team.

This is despite the fact that First Group are still advertising FCC positions on the GN on the First Group website as of Sunday, not sure if they're still there.

 

[joeynova27]

I still not heard anything. I work for London Underground so hoping my experience there will hold me in good stead but after hearing 1000 applications, not getting excited

 

[francisoldfield]

im the same bud. not getting excited at all. i work for FirstGroup with Greyhound and also worked as a senior conductor with CrossCountry so I am hoping that experience might help. But we'll just have to see!

 

[ry34081]

Just found out i didnt make it thru 1st heardle this time. Seems strange seeing as i had almost exactly the same application as when i went for a position at great western. That time how ever i failed the computer test but i have since past it with dbs in sept last year. Hopefully there will be more vacancies this year if anybody no.s of any tocs that maybe taking on it would be nice to no. Just a shame 1st do not let you no what criteria i did not meet.

 

[navydavy1968]

Just found out i didnt make it thru 1st heardle this time.

Yes mate I didn't get through either, but probably the fact that I lived absolutely nowhere near any of the depots had something to do with it! (Either that or my application was rubbish!!)

Hopefully there will be more vacancies this year if anybody no.s of any tocs that maybe taking on it would be nice to no.

Have you seen the ad for speculative application for London Midland (Brum and Northants)? Rumour has it that they may start to look at recruiting in the spring - all the best!!

 

[O L Leigh]

Just found out i didnt make it thru 1st heardle this time. Seems strange seeing as i had almost exactly the same application as when i went for a position at great western. That time how ever i failed the computer test but i have since past it with dbs in sept last year. Hopefully there will be more vacancies this year if anybody no.s of any tocs that maybe taking on it would be nice to no. Just a shame 1st do not let you no what criteria i did not meet.

Bad luck.

If you had already passed the psychometric assessment (even at your own expense), you should really be stating this fact prominently in your application. This sort of detail signals to a prospective employer that you are cut from the right cloth and saves them the hassle and expense of putting you through the tests again. It is a BIG advantage compared to all the other applicants who have not already sat (and may yet fail) the psychometric assessment.

O L Leigh

 

[joeynova27]

How did they let you know you was not through? email or letter?

 

[ry34081]

Hi there, yes it was email i was contacted by, think my location may of been the problem as i do live in hinckley. As for london midland i submitted my speculative form in sept last year and when i rang up beginning of this year they told me there was no plans to take any trainees on at the moment so not holding my breath on that one.

 

[francisoldfield]

I still havent heard anything. Im waiting until the end of Feb like they said. I dont live particulary close to Brighton (60 miles).

 

[DavidBusDriver]

Hi there all,

Been accepted for assessment on the 4th of March and been practicing away at the Group Bourdon tests - they are 'interesting' to say the least!

Just wondering if anyone else will be there?

 

[Topgun]

When were you told about this? Did you get a phone call or an email?
I'm still waiting to hear.

 

[francisoldfield]

ditto I am still waiting as well. where did you apply for? maybe they are doing each depot in turn.

 

[DavidBusDriver]

I applied for any depot location, due to the fact I would be relocating from the North East to take up a position.

Was informed via an e-mail, just spent the last two days stressing about my documents to prove my eligibility to work in the UK, my passport is expired and new one still hasn't arrived!

 

[joeynova27]

I have still not hard anything at all from FCC. Anyone else having more luck then me?