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Crosscountry Trainee Driver vacancies nationwide

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Ferret

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Lots of applications in already folks, nailed on this will close early so hurry up if you’re not already in the hat.
 

Stigy

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I suppose by keeping these driving jobs within the rail industry family, the XC will have easier access to the performance history of potential candidates. By that I mean, sometimes it's hard for HR to chase up things like references from outside industries and through no fault of the candidates, I've known people have contracts of employment withdrawn at the 11th hour when something has been discovered about their past work history.

When I joined the police in 2003, one lad on my intake was immediately 'removed' from the job because of something that got flagged up during a DBS check - I don't know the whys and wherefores about the whole affair. I've seen it quite a few times with people in different careers when HR try their best to recruit the right people but a few skeletons appear a few months or even a few years down the line.

The point I'm making is that I get the impression Cross Country have ensured any potential candidates for these roles are potentially 'tailor made' people they can easily vet and check out - in a way a 'good to go' scenario that would make the HR's role a bit easier.

CJ
Staff records will be irrelevant unless said staff work for the same company and are internal. HR have to jump through the same hoops with externals within the industry as they would if an applicant came across from another TOC or FOC etc. Even more so these days with GDPR I believe.

I would imagine XC’s antics are more to do with the fact that whatever they do, they will get hundreds if not thousands of applicants, therefore why not filter out non-railway folk?

[tongue in cheek]They can basically do what they want - As long as they don’t just stipulate they’re actively seeking white, heterosexual males of course....that would be discriminatory[/tongue in cheek] :)
 

CloudDriver

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I never understand why these companies advertise the positions so widely.
Surely if they are looking to get the numbers who are applying down, they would realize interested candidates are already regularly checking their job page and should not invite the huge rabble from sites such as indeed.. fairness I suppose.
 
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43066

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I would imagine XC’s antics are more to do with the fact that whatever they do, they will get hundreds if not thousands of applicants, therefore why not filter out non-railway folk?

The issue I have with XC’s approach is the implied assumption that “railway folk” will automatically be better candidates for trainee driver positions than people from other industries. As I have witnessed first hand, that’s frequently not the case!

The drivers’ salary is now good enough to attract high quality applicants from a wide range of backgrounds. Indeed their earnings compare favourably to traditional “professional” roles, and rival those of salaried GPs and solicitors.

If XC’s intention is to attract the best people for the job, why limit the pool to those already working on the railway?
 
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Mike121

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The issue I have with XC’s approach is the implied assumption that “railway folk” will automatically be better candidates for trainee driver positions than people from other industries. As I have witnessed first hand, that’s frequently not the case!

The drivers’ salary is now good enough to attract high quality applicants from a wide range of backgrounds. Indeed their earnings compare favourably to traditional “professional” roles, and rival those of salaried GPs and solicitors.

If XC’s intention is to attract the best people for the job, why limit the pool to those already working on the railway?

I ain’t a fan of xc having worked for them for 6 years previously... but it does make sense to limit applications to people within the railway. They have a proven track record of things like shift work, safety elements and know their industry like the back of their hands. If it bothers you get a job as a guard or catering host and work your way up.
 

221129

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They even say on the ad it may close early if they get sufficient applications... if it’s still up on the 24th then I’ll eat my words! And maybe my hat too!
So it does, I was looking at the other one my apologies.
 

yorkie

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Can we please ensure that any disagreements are done politely.

I have had to remove a couple of posts that were rude; any posts that then referred to these posts also had to go unfortunately.

If you see a post that does not comply with our forum rules, please report it and do not refer to it, re-publish it, or react to it in any way. Thanks :)
 

godfreycomplex

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Apropos of nothing - it says “nationwide” on the advert. I suppose that New Street holds most of the vacancies given its size but does anyone know if there are any vacancies elsewhere, and if so, where?
 

43066

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Apropos of nothing - it says “nationwide” on the advert. I suppose that New Street holds most of the vacancies given its size but does anyone know if there are any vacancies elsewhere, and if so, where?

Leicester are very short of drivers, according to a XC driver I spoke to recently.

A bit of a strange XC depot, with a very low establishment. They only go from Birmingham - Notts via Leicester and via Derby, and only sign 170s, so not really “intercity” type work. They drive pretty much their entire route card every shift.

I gather XC have struggled to recruit due to their policy of not paying full salary until all routes are signed - which has meant qualified drivers would potentially be looking at a pay cut to move. Apparently this policy has now been relaxed.
 
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TheRailwayWay

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It skipped straight over step 4 for me, the job questions, that happen with anyone else?
 
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Aristo

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On the application did you guys put your qualifications manullay or is it okay to leave that bit considering they are all already on my CV?
 

MRIGuy

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Job advert has disappeared. I can only assume this means that they have received enough applications to begin a sift.

Good luck all who applied
 

Ferret

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Job advert has disappeared. I can only assume this means that they have received enough applications to begin a sift.

Good luck all who applied

Highly likely; I understand there’s been a large response! Best of luck everyone:)
 

Mark1505

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Anyone that's applied heard anything I've mot heard a thing yet another colleague got told unsuccessful....
 

ainsworth74

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This thread is now locked pending a full review of the behaviour by members within it. It will be re-opened in due course to allow discussion of the vacancies themselves. In the meantime I would recommend everyone review for the Forum Rules and keep them in mind in any other posts.
 

ainsworth74

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It is extremely disappointing that another thread where people could reasonably be expecting to find discussion related directly to the job roles in question has been totally overwhelmed by off-topic discussion. The topic of whether or not train drivers should be recruited internally or externally is a legitimate topic but one that needs to be discussed in a dedicated thread not in the middle of a thread where people will be seeking information and advice.

As such I have split the discussion out and it can now be found here. Please ensure your contributions to threads about job adverts are focused on helping people and not distracting with off-topic conversation.

Thanks,
ainsworth74
 
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