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What were you before you joined the railway?
- Thread starter Dark Lightning
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RailUK Forums
EM2
Established Member
Student.
S&T trainee technician. Didn't like getting cold and wet, so quit.
Retail menswear.
Office administration.
More retail (duty-free).
Warehousing.
More administration (machinery sales).
More retail (bookshop).
More administration (garage doors).
Railway - Customer service assistant to station controller to shift station, manager to operational planning.
Leaving the industry the first time, instead of finding a nice warm office, was the biggest mistake I've ever made.
S&T trainee technician. Didn't like getting cold and wet, so quit.
Retail menswear.
Office administration.
More retail (duty-free).
Warehousing.
More administration (machinery sales).
More retail (bookshop).
More administration (garage doors).
Railway - Customer service assistant to station controller to shift station, manager to operational planning.
Leaving the industry the first time, instead of finding a nice warm office, was the biggest mistake I've ever made.
RBSN
Member
- Joined
- 14 Jul 2014
- Messages
- 383
International Spy
Or was it ?
I tend not to have any regrets as everything I've done has brought me to where I am. If you stayed at S&T you may still be there today, still out in the cold, still getting wet. That decision for you to leave helped you to find yourself a bit. Retail/Office does give you some essential skills and success in Retail often means Management. Cutting your teeth on the shop floor gives you good customer service skills. All those skills gave you the experience to succeed.
I also have a Retail background and in my current role I firmly believe that I wouldn't be here if I didn't have it. My MMI example was job related and the role I'm in has a firm foundation from my Retail days.
I think sometimes that we need to make these big decisions to quit and find a new direction to become what we are today. If I didn't quit the job I had prior to becoming a Driver I would still be a slave to the grind.
The railway is great and certainly money for old rope but if I wasn't a Driver, I don't think I'd stay.
EM2
Established Member
But I wouldn't have stayed in S&T. I'd have gone to rostering, or stores, or planning, or personnel, or payroll, or...
PudseyBearHST
Member
100% agree with this.
My experience in the bus driving customer service role and in the bus controller office role, I believe, formed a great base for my train driver application.
Dave_blood
Member
- Joined
- 5 Mar 2019
- Messages
- 15
Currently a serving police officer for 10 years. Now desperately trying to get out
700007
Established Member
Was this a happy accident?
EM2
Established Member
I know a driver that joined the railway from working in Blockbusters.
martin2345uk
Established Member
I start my training this month having spent 13 years in office jobs in a pharmaceutical manufacturer. That’s pretty normal no..?
Do it. Did 11 years myself and now driving. Really is the best decision I have ever made. You won’t regret it.
keep truckin
Member
- Joined
- 1 Oct 2013
- Messages
- 47
Skint.
Last edited:
Only the 4i, and don't have time for that. Life and work gets in the way lol.
Congratulations on getting a job, it's very hard to get into as you know.
Although I wish I’d pursued being a driver before now, I agree with what you’re saying. I’ve had a good run in my current job and it formed the basis of many an interview example. I don’t dislike my job (the roster is about the best I’ve ever had, money is fantastic and I’m generally left to my own devices). There comes a time when you have to move on to fresh challenges. I’ve done everything I set out to do here, so now is definitely the time to knuckle down and pursue the driving career. If driving doesn’t work out, I’ll do something else operationally within the railway.
I’m never leaving the railway. Unless I’m kicked out, retire or die.
I'm not sure what that job involves but being about pharmaceuticals probably not just a normal every day office job?
martin2345uk
Established Member
Ha, it was exactly normal everyday office jobs
sat at a desk in an open plan office, emails, meetings, telecons, appraisals... almost stereotypical office jobs I’d say! Hope I don’t end up missing it too much :-/
Dark Lightning
Member
Ha, it was exactly normal everyday office jobs
I’d be curious to get a general overview in the ways which you answered the MMI questions, as they’re often geared towards health & safety or regulation based roles, which most office based roles usually aren’t.
martin2345uk
Established Member
That was my worry too, but as it turned out it’s geared towards experiences in general and not necessarily work related. So I used examples like regularly driving between Manchester and Essex; a time I witnessed a RTA, a class I’d taken outside work... and for work ones I used things like rules and procedures as every workplace has these, they don’t have to be life and death but they’re there....
I would have thought passing all the tests was more important? I mean you could be ex navy seal but if you have the concentration of a 7 year old in a sweet shop what is the point?
martin2345uk
Established Member
I don’t follow. I wouldn’t have got to the MMI if I hadn’t passed the tests.
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