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Station Control Assistant - Birmingham New Street

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petermiller36

Member
Joined
15 Jul 2013
Messages
19
Hello all!

There's three vacancies currently at Birmingham New Street for the role of Station Control Assistant. It's a great role with plenty of opportunities for development and training which could lead to roles such as Co-ordinator, SSM, signalling to name just a few.

These can be found on the Network Rail Careers site: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/careers/

Any questions then I'll be happy to help.
 
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hsharma25

Member
Joined
6 May 2016
Messages
55
Hi
I have applied for this role. Do you currently work as station control assistant?
 

hsharma25

Member
Joined
6 May 2016
Messages
55
Brilliant
I have worked on the railway for approx 6 years in revenue protection & ticket office and after reading the job description seems i have done/have experience in most of the jobs listed. Main reason for applying is career progression as you have mentioned it can lead to further opportunities
As to the questions i have:
1- when is it that the vacancy is anticipated to start?

2- is it based in the control room or is it more platform/concourse based?
 

petermiller36

Member
Joined
15 Jul 2013
Messages
19
1. I'm not 100% sure but we have three vacancies right now, so once all the HR stuff is done then it would be an immediate start (I would guess).
2. It is indeed Control Room based. There's four main working stations in the Control Room: two SCA's working together, one coordinator and one station chief. It's a good atmosphere in there and I personally love the job as it's really getting stuck into the running of the railway.
 

hsharma25

Member
Joined
6 May 2016
Messages
55
Sounds good, just the sort of thing i would be interested in.
I notice the closing date for applications is 11th december so they haven’t advertised for long which may indicate they are looking to recruit quickly.
I hope my application gets through the sift and i get called for an interview

If you hear anything else please feel free to share...thanks for the info.
 

petermiller36

Member
Joined
15 Jul 2013
Messages
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Yeah that and the fact the advert went up later than hoped! Thankfully it's there now. Also, last time they were advertised it was very popular so the window doesn't need to be that long.

Good luck!!
 

petermiller36

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15 Jul 2013
Messages
19
Hmmm pass. But it's around £22.5k before tax so I'm sure that's easy to work out depending on your tax situation.
 

petermiller36

Member
Joined
15 Jul 2013
Messages
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Currently, it's a nine week roster which has a week of nights in there. And there can be overtime, yes.
 

Lauren50

Member
Joined
7 Dec 2017
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5
Hi

What do you mean by a 9 week roster?

Could you explain further please

Thanks
 

cin88

Member
Joined
16 Oct 2015
Messages
236
Location
WCML
Hi

What do you mean by a 9 week roster?

Could you explain further please

Thanks

Your rostered shifts rotate around on a 9 week basis.

I'm in the same role at a different station and we have a 12 week roster so you do a week of nights once every 12 weeks followed by a week of rest days. At least two weeks are general purpose relief and the rest are a mix of earlies and lates on the various desks (mine has three, one of which is public facing). Overtime is incredibly easy to come by if you're willing to do it and extra training to cover other roles in the station. We get paid less than Birmingham do though.
 

Lauren50

Member
Joined
7 Dec 2017
Messages
5
Your rostered shifts rotate around on a 9 week basis.

I'm in the same role at a different station and we have a 12 week roster so you do a week of nights once every 12 weeks followed by a week of rest days. At least two weeks are general purpose relief and the rest are a mix of earlies and lates on the various desks (mine has three, one of which is public facing). Overtime is incredibly easy to come by if you're willing to do it and extra training to cover other roles in the station. We get paid less than Birmingham do though.

Thanks for that information. What do you do in this role on a day to day basis?
 

cin88

Member
Joined
16 Oct 2015
Messages
236
Location
WCML
It depends on what desk you're on. Some days i'll be keeping the CIS up to date and announcing trains/other relevant info, others i'll be controlling access barriers and coordinating the customer care jobs (no fancy customer care coordinator at my station, they won't pay for one). Then there's train info, where my time is spent answering all manner of questions from the travelling public. You're also expected to liase with TOCs, signallers and the resident cleaning company to get various day to day issues fixed.
 

Lauren50

Member
Joined
7 Dec 2017
Messages
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It depends on what desk you're on. Some days i'll be keeping the CIS up to date and announcing trains/other relevant info, others i'll be controlling access barriers and coordinating the customer care jobs (no fancy customer care coordinator at my station, they won't pay for one). Then there's train info, where my time is spent answering all manner of questions from the travelling public. You're also expected to liase with TOCs, signallers and the resident cleaning company to get various day to day issues fixed.

I assume all the relevant training is provided? Also what are shift patterns like on a day to day basis?

Thanks
 

cin88

Member
Joined
16 Oct 2015
Messages
236
Location
WCML
Training is provided from the get go, they say it'll take around three months to pass out but there's no hard limit, it's done on the job apart from safety briefings that you'll do on day one and a week long CSA induction course which you might not end up on until after you pass out, i'm still waiting for mine despite being passed out. Shifts vary from early (07:00-14:30), late (14:30-22:00), nights (22:00-07:00) and GPR (10:00-17:00 if not required to cover another shift) on weekdays, weekends tend to be 12 hour shifts.
 

lammergeier

Member
Joined
5 Oct 2017
Messages
506
Applogies for the off topic post, but to those who already work in this role who posted above can you please please do something about the god awful safety announcements recorded by kids? The poor passengers (who pay a lot to travel) visibly cringe when they play and during disruption they make the staff on the ground (including train crew passing through, ie us) look like idiots. We're trying to help passengers and some kid is prattling on about the yellow line, makes it seem like the railway is run by kids. Thanks!
 

cin88

Member
Joined
16 Oct 2015
Messages
236
Location
WCML
Management won't let us. As has been said in other threads, they're the default solution to a percieved problem.
 

petermiller36

Member
Joined
15 Jul 2013
Messages
19
Applogies for the off topic post, but to those who already work in this role who posted above can you please please do something about the god awful safety announcements recorded by kids? The poor passengers (who pay a lot to travel) visibly cringe when they play and during disruption they make the staff on the ground (including train crew passing through, ie us) look like idiots. We're trying to help passengers and some kid is prattling on about the yellow line, makes it seem like the railway is run by kids. Thanks!
I think the idea is to have different types voices so that passengers listen more. But I've taken that on board and will feed it back. I can see your frustration.
 

petermiller36

Member
Joined
15 Jul 2013
Messages
19
Training is provided from the get go, they say it'll take around three months to pass out but there's no hard limit, it's done on the job apart from safety briefings that you'll do on day one and a week long CSA induction course which you might not end up on until after you pass out, i'm still waiting for mine despite being passed out. Shifts vary from early (07:00-14:30), late (14:30-22:00), nights (22:00-07:00) and GPR (10:00-17:00 if not required to cover another shift) on weekdays, weekends tend to be 12 hour shifts.
Those aren't our shifts, but are similar. Additionally, training lasts generally lasts 6 weeks. It can be quicker if you have a background in the railway already. Or it can take longer :s

Here's our CURRENT shifts. There's no obvious pattern to which you work but it's on a nine week loop and you get into a routine quickly.

M-F
06:45-13:45
07:30-14:30
13:30-20:30
14:30-21:30
21:00-07:00

Sat
06:45-13:45
07:30-14:30
13:30-20:30
14:30-21:30
21:00-09:00

Sun
09:00-21:00
10:30-22:30
22:30-07:00
 

lammergeier

Member
Joined
5 Oct 2017
Messages
506
I think the idea is to have different types voices so that passengers listen more. But I've taken that on board and will feed it back. I can see your frustration.

Thanks for responding, I accept and understand the reasoning behind it but feel that using kids is a bit much.
 

IanXC

Emeritus Moderator
Joined
18 Dec 2009
Messages
6,331
Management won't let us. As has been said in other threads, they're the default solution to a percieved problem.

I do tend to sit in the 'cringe' camp, but I can absolutely see where the concept is coming from.

I think if the kids were a few years older, they would seem more aware of the issues (rather than the impression they have been given a script) and also much less cringe worthy.
 

Ash92

New Member
Joined
12 Dec 2017
Messages
2
Hi,
I recently received a Email about the online assessment for this vacancy.
Do you have any information on the kind of assessment this is please.
I'd like to do maybe a few practice ones before I jump into the assessment.

Thanks in advance.


Hello all!

There's three vacancies currently at Birmingham New Street for the role of Station Control Assistant. It's a great role with plenty of opportunities for development and training which could lead to roles such as Co-ordinator, SSM, signalling to name just a few.

These can be found on the Network Rail Careers site: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/careers/

Any questions then I'll be happy to help.
 

petermiller36

Member
Joined
15 Jul 2013
Messages
19
Hi,
I recently received a Email about the online assessment for this vacancy.
Do you have any information on the kind of assessment this is please.
I'd like to do maybe a few practice ones before I jump into the assessment.

Thanks in advance.
Hello. I believe all the details should be in the email including a link to some practice questions. Definitely do the practice as it gives best insight as to what the assessment is. If it's the same one I did then it's a paragraph with information and then a question based on that paragraph. You then have to draw out the relevant information. Good luck!
 

Ash92

New Member
Joined
12 Dec 2017
Messages
2
Hi,
Thanks for the reply I have doubled checked the email and no Link for a practice test just an attachment for the invitation to complete the test.
I will try Google some tests from your description of the test.

Thanks.
 

petermiller36

Member
Joined
15 Jul 2013
Messages
19
Turn up ahead of time, be smartly dressed, friendly and practice some answers beforehand to some of the obvious questions that will come up. Do you research on the railway and station. Good luck!
 

SoupG886

Member
Joined
31 Aug 2019
Messages
11
Location
Manchester
Hi

I know this thread is old but I'm wondering if anyone could advise, I'm thinking of applying for this role but it is in Manchester, it doesn't say which train station though? I'm guessing it is Piccadilly.

Does anyone currently work there? What are the shifts? It says 2 positions available to fill, it doesn't state if full or part time? What are the day to day duties of SCA? Sorry for all the questions
Thanks
 

greatkingrat

Established Member
Joined
20 Jan 2011
Messages
2,749
If it's a Network Rail job it must be Piccadilly as that is the only station in Manchester they manage. Generally you can assume all jobs advertised are full-time unless specifically stated otherwise.
 
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