Tyne and Wear Metro recruiting

[slowtraincomin]

Happy new year to all...the countdown to December 2016 and the end of my two years in the holding bank has well and truly begun.

Can anyone confirm if there was another intake class started February?

On a related note - I see DB are under quite a lot of fire for the recent running of the Metro...anyone wish to speculate on the liklihood of future trainee driver intakes?

Thanks.

 

[Frankfurt]

Happy new year to all...the countdown to December 2016 and the end of my two years in the holding bank has well and truly begun.

Can anyone confirm if there was another intake class started February?

On a related note - I see DB are under quite a lot of fire for the recent running of the Metro...anyone wish to speculate on the liklihood of future trainee driver intakes?

Thanks.

New class start tomorrow.

They will take on as and when required, plenty drivers looking to move on and plenty who can retire or are due to retire. Wouldn't worry about the 2 years, they'll extend it if needed.

 

[Ratty81]

Happy New Year to you too. I think they did three intakes last year which I realise doesn't mean they will do in 2016. Can but wait although my fingers and toes are starting to hurt a little as I've had them crossed a year now

 

[barcode]

Hello!

Has anybody in the know heard any rumours about any possible metro training courses for this year? Cheers all.

 

[slowtraincomin]

Hey, sorry I can't answer your question, but I'd like to know too! My suspicion is, if there is another June intake, we should have been contacted by now :cry:

What with DB not having the contract renewed for running the Metro, I'm even less hopeful of hearing from them...but fingers crossed (as they have been since December 2014!).

Anyone able to offer us any news? Thanks.

 

[142094]

There is currently a course doing out of service training but after that there is nothing planned. There are already a few drivers from the last course who do not have a line on the roster and are being used as permanent spares.

 

[Ratty81]

Ummm not sounding promising is it? Still can but hope for a flurry of retirements. Hope its true that the 2 year assessment expiry will be extended. Had so many hopes on this, still hoping. As always thanks for any info. Much appreciated

 

[Driver068]

I have been hearing unconfirmed rumours that the Metro's are recruiting train drivers, this apparently was seen on there website yesterday. Does anyone know the truth regarding this. I have looked on their website but nothing, Has it been on and pulled off or not been on at all. Many thanks

 

[ModernRailways]

I have been hearing unconfirmed rumours that the Metro's are recruiting train drivers, this apparently was seen on there website yesterday. Does anyone know the truth regarding this. I have looked on their website but nothing, Has it been on and pulled off or not been on at all. Many thanks

They won't be recruiting for a good few years now.

Those interviewed, and tested at the last recruitment are still in line so recruiting would be a waste of time.

And as mentioned by 142094, they actually have too many drivers currently (a number will however be leaving/retiring hence the large previous intake).

 

[slowtraincomin]

Hey all,

First, thanks for the updates, it's good to see there's still a bit of life (and maybe hope) left in this thread for those of us in the holding bank.

I couldn't see anything on the website about recruitment, and I'm somewhat relieved to hear another recruitment drive would be pointless with so many presumably still in the pool.

As I think I've said before, whilst it's pointless speculating about how many are in the holding bank and where we all sit in the rankings, but I'd dearly love to know where I'm placed. Not knowing whether you passed with flying colours (along with 100s of other candidates) or just barely scraped in - neither scenario which offers much chance at a call up! - is so frustrating.

Fingers crossed, as always, for anyone in a similar position. Thanks again for posting any updates - any info, wild speculation or rumour, is very welcomed by me!

 

[Ratty81]

I think the question I would like a definite answer to is whether or not those in the current talent pool will be offered a position even if it's another couple of years away. It's the Doncaster assessment which lasts two years which is on my mind. How long could they potentially extend that for?
As always thanks for all replies

 

[ModernRailways]

As I think I've said before, whilst it's pointless speculating about how many are in the holding bank and where we all sit in the rankings, but I'd dearly love to know where I'm placed. Not knowing whether you passed with flying colours (along with 100s of other candidates) or just barely scraped in - neither scenario which offers much chance at a call up! - is so frustrating.

I'd say knowing how well you did may be unwise. If you know you passed with flying colours but didn't make it I'd be kicking myself!

I think the question I would like a definite answer to is whether or not those in the current talent pool will be offered a position even if it's another couple of years away. It's the Doncaster assessment which lasts two years which is on my mind. How long could they potentially extend that for?
As always thanks for all replies

Your best bet would be to contact Metro HR and ask them. They may keep your application/interview details, and just require another test at Doncaster should the 2 year period expire. Might well be worth firing them an email just asking, it helps you to move on and stop wondering if there's ever a chance or if you'd need to go through the process again in the future.

 

[slowtraincomin]

ModernRailways: thanks for the suggestion about contacting HR, and I guess you never know unless you try...but my understanding was that they couldn't tell us where we were placed in the holding bank, and could only confirm if another intake was planned/that successful candidates would have been notified.

I think the question I would like a definite answer to is whether or not those in the current talent pool will be offered a position even if it's another couple of years away. It's the Doncaster assessment which lasts two years which is on my mind. How long could they potentially extend that for?
As always thanks for all replies

This hits the nail on the head! From earlier posts on the forum, iirc, it sounds as though this 2 year cut-off period may be extended at the discretion of the hiring company.

I'd like to think that they wouldn't bother with another costly(?) recruitment drive with people still in the holding bank, but a lot can happen in 2 years...maybe it'd be easier for them to hold another recruitment drive rather than phoning around seeing who's still up for the job?!

I imagine it may also depend on how highly we scored in the assessments. If we only got borderline passes, maybe they'd prefer to re-run the assessments to try and get another batch of higher-scoring applicants?

So could anyone clear this up? Does anyone know of candidates in the holding bank who have NEVER been contacted (btw I don't mean after like 10 years!)?

As always, thanks to everyone for keeping us posted. And good luck to anyone trying to squeeze some info out of HR!

 

[142094]

The rumours going around now is that there potentially could be another recruitment drive, and Nexus would want this to happen before April next year as of course DB will have to pay for this to happen. However there is nothing definite at the minute. Again with the current school it now means upto 12 drivers will not be allocated a line and will be permanent spare until a line becomes available (i.e. when someone retires or leaves).

 

[Ratty81]

So if they recruited would people in the talent pool have to re-apply?

 

[142094]

Unfortunately I can't answer that but I would hope that those in the pool would get used and then any further vacancies would be covered by the new applications.

Again might be good to give HR a ring to see what they say.

 

[slowtraincomin]

Hmm, if I was going to spend a lot of time/money re-recruiting, I'd be looking to pick the best applicants for the job...meaning anyone scoring higher than those still in the holding pool

I really hope I'm wrong and it's just a case of us in the holding pool waiting patiently for new openings as and when they come.

Anyone know anything about people being passed over who were in the holding pool from the recruitment drive BEFORE the 2014 one? If they're all drivers now that would give me some hope!

Thanks.

 

[slowtraincomin]

Usual quarterly question: anyone heard anything new? Thanks.

 

[Ratty81]

Not a sausage

 

[slowtraincomin]

This is very wishful thinking, but I'm hoping some of the current Metro train drivers have applied for the new Virgin fleet. Best of luck to anyone into the assessment stages!

 

[Ratty81]

Hey u never know. Can't believe it's now two years since we applied for Metro! Time flies !

 

[slowtraincomin]

Hey Ratty, glad to see I'm not the only one still hanging around this thread hoping for the call up. Hopefully everyone else has given up and moved on and it will be just us two waiting for a couple of openings now! Time has flown by indeed...here's hoping for some good news for us both in the New Year (or before...!).