Vacancy for Conductors - Brighton Depot (GTR/Southern)

[SNDave]

Link: https://gtrailwaycareers.com/templa...66A62786248526A4C73366B7A2F4C784A4F384B622B67

Closes on the 14th June.

Best of luck!

 

[Sky9417]

Could someone explain the difference between a conductor and an OBS. I am currently in a talent pool for the OBS position at Brighton and now see they are advertising for Conductors. Would I need to start a new application for the Conductors role?

 

[387star]

Conductors work 313s only at Brighton and close train doors and are safety critically trained
Presumably they will all be OBS in a few years

 

[SNDave]

Could someone explain the difference between a conductor and an OBS. I am currently in a talent pool for the OBS position at Brighton and now see they are advertising for Conductors. Would I need to start a new application for the Conductors role?

Give recruitment a call (or e-mail) and ask them. Bear in mind, you will have to return to the assessment centre and pass the infamous group bourdon (dots) & SCAAT tests + medical.

 

[Sky9417]

Thank you SNDave, I have emailed recruitment to see where I stand. Quite happy to go back to the assessment centre for further tests. Think I need to speak to them though as it seems a big difference in wage between Conductor (Qualified £31,496) and OBS (Qualified £34,980). Appreciate the advice.

 

[Stigy]

Could someone explain the difference between a conductor and an OBS. I am currently in a talent pool for the OBS position at Brighton and now see they are advertising for Conductors. Would I need to start a new application for the Conductors role?

Conductors are safety critical where as OBS aren’t (hence the big disputes over the past few years). I would have assumed new entrant conductors would have been on better money given the added responsibility? I’m surprised they are even recruiting new conductors to be honest?

 

[SNDave]

Thank you SNDave, I have emailed recruitment to see where I stand. Quite happy to go back to the assessment centre for further tests. Think I need to speak to them though as it seems a big difference in wage between Conductor (Qualified £31,496) and OBS (Qualified £34,980). Appreciate the advice.

For conductors Sundays are outside of the working week (contractual overtime). Considering the number of sunday turns in a year your annual salary would be about £3k higher so pretty much the same as what OBS's earn.

 

[tsr]

Conductors can give away Sundays if they can find a colleague who is willing to cover them, which is an option quite a few of them do use (it is also possible to ask Rosters cover Sundays, but this is usually about as successful as a chocolate teapot). So some conductors will earn considerably more than others, depending on how much overtime they want, or how many weekend commitments they have.

There are upcoming pay talks for conductors which may (or may not) put them on a more appropriate basic salary compared to OBSs.

To some degree, the OBS salary could well end up being both a stick to beat them with (eg. “as we’re paying you this much, you need to do other stuff as well”) and also is a retainer, given the OBS job can be quite dull at times. Conductors basically always have something to do, as they are constantly dispatching their own trains (especially on the coast, where stops are really close together), but some OBSs will pass a whole shift barely doing anything at all beyond a couple of walks through an almost empty train and a handful of announcements.

Brighton Depot (and Barnham) will probably all become OBSs after the Class 313 trains are replaced, unless some sort of major change occurs and the next franchise / management contract (post GTR) decides it wants traditional guards/conductors on trains - you never know.

 

[Sky9417]

Great responses, much appreciated.