Becoming a South Eastern Train Driver

[Dangerous1981]

Hello all,

I’m a new member, so hello to all of you. I’m interested in changing careers and becoming a South Eastern train driver. It seems that jobs are few and far between. Any advice on how I should go about this?

Thanks!

 

[Red1980]

Welcome!

Best way is make sure your application/CV is already up to date and ready to submit as when vacancies are advertised they're not about for long. Make sure your CV and application is of the highest quality.

Trawl the internet daily for vacancies as they can pop up when you least expect it.

Show as much flexibility as possible. If you're desperate to do it and have the flexibility don't sit around waiting for southeastern or just the driving grade for that matter. Look at companies and grades that may not be your first choice just to get your foot in the door, showing flexibility could cut the amount of time it takes to get where you want in half at least.

Trawl these boards as well....there's plenty that are currently in the recruitment system or have got through it successfully on here to give advice.

Do your research on the industry as well as the job and company you're applying to.. Make sure you're going into a recruitment phase with as much ammunition as possible. You'd be surprised at the amount of people that go into interviews not knowing basic things such as the routes the company operates, how long the franchise has to run, who owns the company etc...one thing I've learned about railway recruitment is small things make huge differences.

The most important thing I can advise is to be patient. You'll see on here many examples of people becoming frustrated at sitting in talent pools etc. Yes it's not nice but railway recruitment can be notoriously slow but that's just the way it's always been and probably always will be. Be prepared for this to take time.

Be prepared to be in competition with hundreds if not thousands of others..... especially most safety critical roles, even more so for trainee driving positions.

I wish you the best of luck.

Red

 

[Dangerous1981]

Thanks Red,

I really appreciate your response. Basically, I'm in my late 30's and having had a successful admin career, want to do something that I have always wanted to do, which is drive trains, before it is too late!

Do you know what types of questions you may get asked in interview? And what kinds of tests there are?

Good luck to anybody that applies. I wish you all the best of luck.

Best wishes...

 

[Red1980]

Thanks Red,

I really appreciate your response. Basically, I'm in my late 30's and having had a successful admin career, want to do something that I have always wanted to do, which is drive trains, before it is too late!

Do you know what types of questions you may get asked in interview? And what kinds of tests there are?

Good luck to anybody that applies. I wish you all the best of luck.

Best wishes...

No worries mate I wish you well.

Ooh things like a time you've had an emergency situation. Time you've had a positive outcome from a tricky situation. A time you've attended a long training course. A time where you've shown good customer service. They'll ask why you want to be a driver? What you can bring to the role no one else can. A time you've worked to rules and regulations. How you feel about working alone for long periods.

Just those sorts of things really but there's plenty more they could ask....not all in the same interview obviously lol.

Test wise it'll probably be group bourdon, yellow pages test, glop test, situational judgement, concentration and possibly a couple of others...it's been nearly 6 years since I did mine so I apologise if I've forgotten any.

I wouldn't go thinking down the lines of "before it's too late" mate you'll put a lot of pressure on yourself thinking that way. I didn't get my driving job until mid 30's. You've plenty of time...one of the lads on my course celebrated his 50th when we were there too.

 

[RPOMan]

In the time I have worked there, trainee driver roles seem to come up twice a year. I am waiting for the next roles to go up myself! I check the jobs page mostly every day, you can register on the careers page and receive email updates when jobs go live, like Red said, they don't stay up for long!

 

[ComUtoR]

Charing Cross and Vic are heavily recruiting. Those are currently your best options.

 

[Dangerous1981]

No worries mate I wish you well.

Ooh things like a time you've had an emergency situation. Time you've had a positive outcome from a tricky situation. A time you've attended a long training course. A time where you've shown good customer service. They'll ask why you want to be a driver? What you can bring to the role no one else can. A time you've worked to rules and regulations. How you feel about working alone for long periods.

Just those sorts of things really but there's plenty more they could ask....not all in the same interview obviously lol.

Test wise it'll probably be group bourdon, yellow pages test, glop test, situational judgement, concentration and possibly a couple of others...it's been nearly 6 years since I did mine so I apologise if I've forgotten any.

I wouldn't go thinking down the lines of "before it's too late" mate you'll put a lot of pressure on yourself thinking that way. I didn't get my driving job until mid 30's. You've plenty of time...one of the lads on my course celebrated his 50th when we were there too.

Thanks Red - I really appreciate the response and advice.

Best wishes...

 

[Dangerous1981]

Charing Cross and Vic are heavily recruiting. Those are currently your best options.

Thank you!

 

[Red1980]

Thanks Red - I really appreciate the response and advice.

Best wishes...

Best of luck mate

 

[Dangerous1981]

Thank you!

Thanks Red,

Your responses and everyone else's cheered me up. I've had a very successful career but the time spent away from my family became too much recently so I had to walk away. People said that I was crazy to walk away from a good salary and job, but ultimately, I haven't had chhhildrent to never see them and there's no point in having money and being miserable.

This community seems really supportive and I am glad I joined it. Hopefully a driver opportunity will come up soon.

Best wishes...