A career as a signaller

[Alan77]

I'm on the 11th June start at York, might see you there!

Which box are you in mate? I’m still waiting to hear where I’m off for training.

 

[Alan77]

Fantastic , thank you for that. It's been over a week now for me since my interview . I've read people saying they've waited weeks and weeks to hear anything . Oh well I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed. Good luck with your training , and again congratulations on your new career.

I waited around 8/9 days to hear back, guess it depends how many people are being interview for the position as they’re not all done on the same day.....fingers crossed for you!

 

[Paulm36]

I waited around 8/9 days to hear back, guess it depends how many people are being interview for the position as they’re not all done on the same day.....fingers crossed for you!

Thank you Alan , the waiting is the hardest part . I'm sure I'll hear soon enough for good or bad .

 

[Lewis423]

Anbody going to signalling school on the 21st May in york?

 

[Malc77]

Congratulations for those off to signalling school. Any tips you can give for the application process would be most welcome. Just had another rejection for West Hampstead although that was a grade 8 !

 

[Cavan]

Malc - you have to apply for anything you can make work really in terms of commute or relocation.

 

[Teddyward]

Congratulations for those off to signalling school. Any tips you can give for the application process would be most welcome. Just had another rejection for West Hampstead although that was a grade 8 !

Commiserations. At least you got a response. Mine has sat at test complete since 2nd feb.

 

[Alan77]

Thank you Alan , the waiting is the hardest part . I'm sure I'll hear soon enough for good or bad .

Any news yet mate?

 

[Malc77]

Malc - you have to apply for anything you can make work really in terms of commute or relocation.

Thanks cavan

 

[Omega]

Commiserations. At least you got a response. Mine has sat at test complete since 2nd feb.

There was me getting a bit impatient at being left on "test complete" since the 1st of May... I know there are probably hundreds, if not thousands, of us applying but it would be nice to get a bit of a timeline for each step. I'd hate to miss out on an opportunity because I was late reacting to an email that could arrive at any time in the next 6 months.

 

[choochoobacca]

There was me getting a bit impatient at being left on "test complete" since the 1st of May... I know there are probably hundreds, if not thousands, of us applying but it would be nice to get a bit of a timeline for each step. I'd hate to miss out on an opportunity because I was late reacting to an email that could arrive at any time in the next 6 months.

Timeline varies place to place but it is generally a long wait between information. It’s a months long process rather than weeks. Some of the positions I’ve applied for have taken months to even get to the point of finding out you aren’t getting an interview. It’s frustrating but hopefully worth the patience ultimately.

 

[Cavan]

Anyone know what shifts Manchester roc work?

 

[Borocarl88]

Hi everyone, just a quick question, out of curiosity, how would you hear back after a interview if you are successful? I know if unsuccessful its just an email. But im wondering if its a phonecall or still an email? Thanks

 

[godfreycomplex]

Hi everyone, just a quick question, out of curiosity, how would you hear back after a interview if you are successful? I know if unsuccessful its just an email. But im wondering if its a phonecall or still an email? Thanks

Generally depends on the LOM. A phonecall is courteous but sometimes it's just an email.

 

[headshot119]

Anyone know what shifts Manchester roc work?

12 hours shifts.

Hi everyone, just a quick question, out of curiosity, how would you hear back after a interview if you are successful? I know if unsuccessful its just an email. But im wondering if its a phonecall or still an email? Thanks

Like most things it depends. Sometimes it's a phone call from the LOM, sometimes phonecall from HR, sometimes just an email.

 

[Paulm36]

Any news yet mate?

Hello mate, yes unfortunately I got the unsuccessful email a couple of days ago. But I got a good bit of interview experience , so I'll use that to my advantage and go again. Hopefully the lom I interviewed with will give me some feed back .

 

[Borocarl88]

12 hours shifts.



Like most things it depends. Sometimes it's a phone call from the LOM, sometimes phonecall from HR, sometimes just an email.

Awesome, thanks for your quick reply.

 

[Alan77]

Hello mate, yes unfortunately I got the unsuccessful email a couple of days ago. But I got a good bit of interview experience , so I'll use that to my advantage and go again. Hopefully the lom I interviewed with will give me some feed back .

Sorry to hear that mate, keep at it, something will come off eventually

 

[Omega]

12 hours shifts.

Perfect! I had a feeling they'd work shorter shifts and more days per week. Do you know what pattern they work by any chance? I do 4 on 4 off alternating between days and nights at the moment and love it.

 

[Cavan]

Perfect! I had a feeling they'd work shorter shifts and more days per week. Do you know what pattern they work by any chance? I do 4 on 4 off alternating between days and nights at the moment and love it.

This has been asked before in the thread. No - NR signallers will not do a 4 on 4 off alternating shift pattern on 12s. There will be longer sets of shifts and longer blocks of days off.

 

[Highlandspring]

Typical 12hr resident base roster over 4 weeks in my part of the world looks like this where R is a rest day, B is a 12:00 to 00:00 backshift and N is a 00:00 to 12:00 nightshift -

S M T W T F S
N N N N R R R
R R R R B B B
R N N N R R R
B B B B R R R

This would be for a continuously open box with 4 resident signallers. Over the course of 12 weeks there’ll also be one additional rest day and one safety briefing/development day.

Edit - This isn’t the base roster for the Manchester ROC, sorry!

 

[Omega]

This has been asked before in the thread. No - NR signallers will not do a 4 on 4 off alternating shift pattern on 12s. There will be longer sets of shifts and longer blocks of days off.

Purely out of interest, do you know why they have a preference for longer blocks? We haven't changed our shift patterns at work for a few years now and I think some people would be interested in trialling alternative systems. I proposed 7 days on/off as that would give a weekend every set of days off but most people thought it would be too much.

I've been moved to Application Under Consideration now.

 

[Teddyward]

Take the job. Weekends off are overrated. Midweek days off to yourself are great.

 

[Omega]

Take the job. Weekends off are overrated. Midweek days off to yourself are great.

Agreed. I already work shifts and love it. The shifts wouldn't effect my decision. I'm just wondering what they're likely to be.

 

[nom de guerre]

Typical 12hr resident base roster over 4 weeks in my part of the world looks like this [snip]

S M T W T F S
N N N N R R R
R R R R B B B
R N N N R R R
B B B B R R R

Looks very similar to my 12hr roster (at a multi-manned box, several hundred miles away).

What's the history behind the (official) 0000/1200 changeover times north of the border? I presume they're never adhered to in reality ...? A mate at Edinburgh works 0700/1900, which is the standard down here too.

 

[Borocarl88]

Hi again everyone,
I have another question about interviews. I have been asked twice previously pretty much what I would do at work when there is nothing to do and to stop being bored.

So the question is, what sort of answere are they after? I reply with things like, making sure everything is clean and tidy, all the equipment is fit for purpose, keep up to date with safety bulletins, incident reports and the rule book, and any procedures. But I am sure this is the question I get marked down on, so am I completely off the mark of what they are after?

Thanks

 

[Lewis423]

Hi again everyone,
I have another question about interviews. I have been asked twice previously pretty much what I would do at work when there is nothing to do and to stop being bored.

So the question is, what sort of answere are they after? I reply with things like, making sure everything is clean and tidy, all the equipment is fit for purpose, keep up to date with safety bulletins, incident reports and the rule book, and any procedures. But I am sure this is the question I get marked down on, so am I completely off the mark of what they are after?

Thanks

That is pretty much what I said when asked that question. It will all come down to how everyone else has done. Keep your head up

 

[Borocarl88]

That is pretty much what I said when asked that question. It will all come down to how everyone else has done. Keep your head up

Cheers Lewis, I have been unsuccessful twice, the first time was because I was up against internals and second time was down to one answere which I can assume was that question, I am going to keep trying though.

 

[Lewis423]

Cheers Lewis, I have been unsuccessful twice, the first time was because I was up against internals and second time was down to one answere which I can assume was that question, I am going to keep trying though.

It took me 5 applications to get an interview and I got lucky as I got the job on the first interview but honestly dont let it get you down, you’re getting interviews which is excellent

 

[Highlandspring]

What's the history behind the (official) 0000/1200 changeover times north of the border? I presume they're never adhered to in reality ...? A mate at Edinburgh works 0700/1900, which is the standard down here too.

When 12hr rosters were being negotiated the management side agreed but only on the basis that they could pick the times, and they picked 1200/0000 to make things as difficult as possible. Virtually everywhere keeps domestic hours agreed locally; Edinburgh SC picked 0700 and 1900 as you say but the majority of locations change over at 1030/2230 or 1130/2330. It’s actually a very easy roster to work (no issues with being rostered nightshift into a rest day or annual leave for example) but the nightshift can be tiring towards the end. The trouble with the domestic changeovers is that if you’ve no relief or there’s some other issue such as late running trains where a box is booked to close overnight, you can in theory be held to your booked time. It’s not so bad if you’re only waiting an extra half an hour before closing the box when your relief doesn’t turn up but this reared its head at Edinburgh during a strike a few years ago where the nightshift who would usually finish at 0700 were required to stay till 1200 for some reason.