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WMT recruiting

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Withoutabix

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6 Mar 2019
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akasutts said:
Still off. We received an email last week which basically said that in terms of training resuming, things are moving in the right direction. In that update however no date was given for when exactly we would return. I believe the update mentioned that industry level trials had been successful to this point but were still ongoing.
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Ah okay thanks for the update seems they are definalty taking there time over this which is slightly frustrating! They given any idea on the holdup? Is it classroom numbers or having two driver in one cab?
 
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akasutts

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Withoutabix said:
Ah okay thanks for the update seems they are definalty taking there time over this which is slightly frustrating! They given any idea on the holdup? Is it classroom numbers or having two driver in one cab?
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No worries. My impression is that in cab trials to this point have gone well and they just need to finalise how things will work across the rest of training. This update was sent last week so things are likely to have progressed further this week. Hang on in there, I’m sure that we will be back soon as the updates all seem to be positive.
 
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Withoutabix

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akasutts said:
No worries. My impression is that in cab trials to this point have gone well and they just need to finalise how things will work across the rest of training. This update was sent last week so things are likely to have progressed further this week. Hang on in there, I’m sure that we will be back soon as the updates all seem to be positive.
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Ye as ever in this process patience is key!
 
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birmz_

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Fozzy1 said:
Hi all, first time post on here but over the last few months I've found reading this forum really reassuring as we're all in the same boat. I was due to start the trainee driver course today having passed the DMI back in November last year and attended the medical almost two months ago. Understandably it's been pushed back, but is there any idea when they might start again? The recruitment team advised that there's a possibility of having to re-do the final interview again if the course doesn't start within 12 months of passing it originally. Considering everything is frozen at the moment and with no updates forthcoming, I'm starting to think this may be the case which makes me nervous because interviews usually go one of two ways with me - pretty good or terrible! However helpful the recruitment team have been over the last year, I'm starting to lose hope now that there is a plan to get us started any time soon. If anyone is aware of any developments I'd be very grateful if you could share them to give me some peace of mind. Thank you
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I had a update the other day from my instructor he said training should be resuming shortly, also had a letter from aslef stating we will be doing half of the normal shift to mitigate covid risk during in-cab training. We also have to have a 1 week refresher course on the rules. I’m guessing they will be starting you guys up soon so don’t lose hope mate. You’re almost there now.
 
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Fozzy1

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Morning all, unfortunately the Recruitment team still have no further information, they said they'll be in touch once they've received further updates from the training school and from the operations team. Hope everyone is keeping well
 
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andyccfc

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If you have to do the DMI again then so be it. You have passed it once so you'll pass it again. It'll be just a tick box exercise if you do anyway, I would say they are highly unlikely to reject you given they already put you on a course once before. I passed my DMI in June so personally looking like early next year all being well.
 
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LAC

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Fozzy1 said:
Hi all, first time post on here but over the last few months I've found reading this forum really reassuring as we're all in the same boat. I was due to start the trainee driver course today having passed the DMI back in November last year and attended the medical almost two months ago. Understandably it's been pushed back, but is there any idea when they might start again? The recruitment team advised that there's a possibility of having to re-do the final interview again if the course doesn't start within 12 months of passing it originally. Considering everything is frozen at the moment and with no updates forthcoming, I'm starting to think this may be the case which makes me nervous because interviews usually go one of two ways with me - pretty good or terrible! However helpful the recruitment team have been over the last year, I'm starting to lose hope now that there is a plan to get us started any time soon. If anyone is aware of any developments I'd be very grateful if you could share them to give me some peace of mind. Thank you
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Hi mate, I passed my DMI May last year and was offered a start date for September 19 but was unable to start then due to my previous job. I was then meant to start in June this year but due to COVID this was postponed and I'm still awaiting a start date. I haven't been told anything yet about having to do another DMI before I start so I wouldn't stress over it too much.

If they do ask me to do one though I'll let you know. Hope this puts you at ease a little
 
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Coach Carter

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LAC said:
Hi mate, I passed my DMI May last year and was offered a start date for September 19 but was unable to start then due to my previous job. I was then meant to start in June this year but due to COVID this was postponed and I'm still awaiting a start date. I haven't been told anything yet about having to do another DMI before I start so I wouldn't stress over it too much.

If they do ask me to do one though I'll let you know. Hope this puts you at ease a little
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Are you down for Worcester by any chance?
 
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trundlewagon

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Was wondering myself if there were any updates on when training might start kicking off again - there's a few courses to go ahead of me (was given next month as a provisional date), but would be nice to know when the cogs start turning again.

Did drop them an email a few weeks back, but didn't get a response - it was on the same day they put that new advert out though, so suspect it may well have been lost amongst tons of other queries.
 
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S-Car-Go

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There was a training/route learning trial with 3 TOCs a few weeks back. Results from that were evaluated by aslef, rssb, etc. TOCs are now taking that info to make appropriate changes, and get local agreements in place. Next step sounds like they will pick a few trainees at a time to go back to their activities in small 'bubbles' whether that's classroom or cab based, to see what works best, and progressively introduce more trainees back.
 
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Patiently_wait

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First post on here so a bit of an introduction, I applied for trainee driver in February 2019, passed DMI in November 2019, I was given a provisional start of September 2020 but then obviously Covid put a stop to that.
So I appreciate there are courses to re-commence and new courses prior to me and but is there any update on the situation? Have those furloughed trainees resumed training? Are they still learning remotely? I've emailed recruitment but got a generic reply of they don't really know but they'll let me know when they have an update. Many thanks.
 
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akasutts

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Patiently_wait said:
First post on here so a bit of an introduction, I applied for trainee driver in February 2019, passed DMI in November 2019, I was given a provisional start of September 2020 but then obviously Covid put a stop to that.
So I appreciate there are courses to re-commence and new courses prior to me and but is there any update on the situation? Have those furloughed trainees resumed training? Are they still learning remotely? I've emailed recruitment but got a generic reply of they don't really know but they'll let me know when they have an update. Many thanks.
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Hi

I started in March this year and have been off since completing my first week.

The last update that we had basically said that a local trial would begin shortly which would be a follow up to the national trial that has taken place over recent weeks/months. The trial would consist of taking a small number of trainees that were the closest to passing out and using them to test the safety regulations etc that have been put in place. If this is successful they would then look to get more trainees back. I’m unaware if the local trial has yet started and unsure as to how long it would take to complete.

We were however informed yesterday that we could still be off for a minimum of a couple of weeks yet and that it could possibly be longer than that.

Our course have not completed any remote learning due to us being at such an early stage of training. We were mainly focusing on completing home learning with regards to functional skills. As far as I’m aware the course that are ahead of us (started Nov 2019) have been completing various assignments from home to keep the knowledge they have gained up to date.

So as it stands at the moment we are still waiting patiently at home awaiting further news. I think that things are still being discussed and finalised behind the scenes, so in fairness to the recruitment team they probably genuinely don’t know at this point which is the reason for the generic reply.

Fingers crossed for you that things start to move in the near future.
 
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trundlewagon

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Evening folks,

Firstly, just wondered if there was any update on the above in the last couple of weeks?

Secondly, got a query I need to drop them a line about, does anyone have an email address for (someone in) recruitment? All the communication I'd recieved was from Abi Thompson, but tried emailing her a few months back and didn't hear anything back so not sure if she's still there?

Cheers!
 
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Withoutabix

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trundlewagon said:
Evening folks,

Firstly, just wondered if there was any update on the above in the last couple of weeks?

Secondly, got a query I need to drop them a line about, does anyone have an email address for (someone in) recruitment? All the communication I'd recieved was from Abi Thompson, but tried emailing her a few months back and didn't hear anything back so not sure if she's still there?

Cheers!
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I don’t things have moved much atm

But like you I’ve emailed Abby around 2-3 weeks and had no response which I thought was unusual because she was always helpful and prompt with her responses so maybe she isn’t there anymore or has been advised not to respond directly etc
 
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Fozzy1

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trundlewagon said:
Secondly, got a query I need to drop them a line about, does anyone have an email address for (someone in) recruitment? All the communication I'd recieved was from Abi Thompson, but tried emailing her a few months back and didn't hear anything back so not sure if she's still there?
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I understand that Abi Thompson left around June and her replacement is Michelle Rake. Her phone number is 0330 095 5116, hope that helps?
 
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trundlewagon

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Fozzy1 said:
I understand that Abi Thompson left around June and her replacement is Michelle Rake. Her phone number is 0330 095 5116, hope that helps?
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Brilliant - Thanks.

Now you mention the name, I remember emailing her about something when it was time to book the stage 1 all those many months ago but presumed Abi had replaced her at some point in the process.
 
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Dante

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27 Jul 2018
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You should all get an email today, I've just had mine. Nothing I didn't expect - let the wait continue.
 
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Withoutabix

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Dante said:
You should all get an email today, I've just had mine. Nothing I didn't expect - let the wait continue.
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Ye had mine, next year as expected but so frustrating having just the medical to go and them now mentioning possible test retakes etc
 
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trundlewagon

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Withoutabix said:
Ye had mine, next year as expected but so frustrating having just the medical to go and them now mentioning possible test retakes etc
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Think I saw on here recently that the DMI is valid for a year, but how long are the assessments and MMI valid for? Is it 2 years for them?

Reading between the lines about how they'd review these once they've got new start dates in the plan kind of suggests it might not be a massive issue if they've recently lapsed.
 
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andyccfc

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Yeah same for me. Only medical to go with me too. Not a big surprise in the slightest but still struggling to see where we go from here and surely they aren't going to be taking on new trainees with passenger numbers so low?
 
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Red Devil

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6 Jan 2016
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Don't be disheartened. The problem is well at least at my Toc and should think it applies everywhere is the amount of existing trainees and more coming through schools have just overwhelmed the existing structure that has been shut down through Covid. Don't forget there's existing driver's who have been shielding to come back and depending how long they have been off will require route refreshers and even full route learning again. Then there's traction refreshers to do and all this before a Covid safe MOW has been put in place, though this is being implemented as we speak at my gaff.
TOC's are just buying themselves a bit of time delaying you, frustrating as it is
 
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