Any Trainee Train driver vacancies coming up

[Jaydon Jay]

Hello im new to this page and I've been told to join as there is a lot of advice given in this forum which is what I need. I'm based in Croydon and am looking for any trainee train driver positions. I've looked on southern and Thameslink sites and they never seem to show any trainee positions coming up. I would really like a change of career so I'm asking if anyone could help me or offer me some advice☺️ Thank you for reading and I look forward to your reply.

 

[James_D]

Hi Jay, there has been a similar stick thread on here for a while - here

But if you dont want to trawl through all that, the general consensus was (not sure how old you are) but get as much work experience as you can and set up career alert emails with all the TOC's, often the adverts are only displayed for a short amount of time so you'll need to get your application in quick when they do. Also, some TOC's may not let you relocate to take a trainee driver position so you may have to wait for one with a depot in your area in order to get a position. Best of luck!

 

[Jaydon Jay]

Thanks for your reply James, I have one more question which may seem silly to you☺️ I'm not that amazing at maths but when you do the maths test are you allowed to use a calculator? Also the bourdon test I've been practising a lot which I have got the hang of now, would you say that is the hardest test of the bunch we have to complete?

 

[Gemz91]

Thanks for your reply James, I have one more question which may seem silly to you☺️ I'm not that amazing at maths but when you do the maths test are you allowed to use a calculator? Also the bourdon test I've been practising a lot which I have got the hang of now, would you say that is the hardest test of the bunch we have to complete?

There are no maths tests for drivers least not what I can remember).

 

[Jaydon Jay]

Oh ok, that's a relief. I have signed up for notifications of trainee train driver positions on a southern and Thameslink web site. I was thinking of signing up for the one day train driver course tought by "How2become" what's your opinion on this course? Have you heard of it before? Sorry to ask so many questions mate

 

[Gemz91]

Think its covered on, I heard of it, but never bothered. I think the general opinion is that the course is a waste of money so save your money.

When I applied for a drivers job, I spent a good few hours searching through topics on here doing research.

 

[SPADTrap]

There are no maths tests for drivers least not what I can remember).

Some TOCs require a maths test, this isn't part of the standard driver assessment however; DRS are one example who require a maths test.

 

[Jamesb1974]

Deleted

 

[RanchuMTR]

Oh ok, that's a relief. I have signed up for notifications of trainee train driver positions on a southern and Thameslink web site. I was thinking of signing up for the one day train driver course tought by "How2become" what's your opinion on this course? Have you heard of it before? Sorry to ask so many questions mate

Everything you need will be sent by the TOC/FOC and all the info can be found in this forum also.

It may take a while to read through it all but it helped me out a great deal.

 

[Jaydon Jay]

Thanks very much for your help and advice in the matter. Did they let you use a calculator with the maths?

 

[Joof]

Lots and lots of recruitment for drivers at Northern this year and next. Watch this space

 

[Jaydon Jay]

Thanks mate, when you say recruit for northern, do you mean trainee drivers? Or already qualified drivers? Where would theses jobs be advertised? I may ask silly questions lol but it's better to know these things then just guess

 

[IKB]

Don't waste your money on the How 2 Become course. I gather they don't cover exactly the same tests you'll get on the assessment day. Pointless and unnecessary.

You can buy a test book for the Group Bourdon on Amazon. This I found useful to improve speed and accuracy:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Group-Bour...1462606246&sr=1-1&keywords=group+bourdon+test

Everything else will be sent to you by the relevant TOC should you get an assessment day.

 

[922011]

I used the Amazon books for the GB test but I found it pretty unreliable, when checking the answers after completing the section I found that I had sometimes found more groups of 4 dots than were stated......and yes I did double check and check again! Saying that, it was still useful to practice with and it must have paid off as I passed with no faults. Just remember that accuracy is just as important as speed!

 

[WCMLaddict]

Forget about applying for Northern vacancies. With so many candidates available locally, I'm pretty sure our HR will enforce the 'living within 45 minutes commute from the depot' policy.

 

[Kaptain]

The easiest way to find out about vacancies is, work out the train companies who have depots within 45 min of where you live. Then log onto their recruitment sections of their web sites a couple of times a day.
The vacancies are often only up for a short time and are took down when they have enough applicants.

 

[Jaydon Jay]

Thanks for all your advice guys I really appreciate it.