• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Best entry level jobs

Status
Not open for further replies.

srich82

Member
Joined
16 May 2016
Messages
29
Hey everyone,

I'd really like to hear your thoughts and opinions on some good entry level positions in the industry. Ideally I'd like to become a driver but appreciate I may need to build up my experience first, and where better than the railway?

Please could you give me some examples of entry level jobs? I have no prior experience in the industry.
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

srich82

Member
Joined
16 May 2016
Messages
29
may i ask what your age and experience is, outside of this industry?

I'm 28, most of my history is within Customer Services and Admin, but I've also been a manager at 2 of my jobs. I managed Customer Services mainly but also briefly helped manage our warehouse (furniture retail).
 

E&W Lucas

Established Member
Joined
21 Jan 2010
Messages
1,358
Thanks, I was really trying to gain a broader knowledge of railway jobs though :p
Another vote for Driver, based on the experience that you've quoted. Honestly, it frequently IS an entry level post. The training covers everything that you need to know, so there is abslutely no need to have experience elsewhere within the industry.
You could also consider conductor positions; there may be management opportunities that would suit too. Stations and the like. Such people frequently seem to have come from "the outside"

Good luck!
 

WestRiding

Member
Joined
21 Mar 2012
Messages
1,014
I think any job, whatever grade is entry level these days. I worked my way from the bottom but that seems to count for nothing these days.
 

Geeves

Established Member
Joined
6 Jan 2009
Messages
1,911
Location
Rochdale
Even the so called entry level jobs you still jump through the same hoops as driving, so you might as well just go straight there if you have the option. As has been said you get trained in every aspect of train driving so it makes no odds.

Anyone be it internal or external who has had dealings with railway HR will know you want to have as little to do with them as possible! Once is enough.
 

Bromley boy

Established Member
Joined
18 Jun 2015
Messages
4,611
I would echo the posts saying go for driver straight away. Trainee driver is an "entry level" job, open to people off the street. The attitude that people had to join the railway in a different role and "work up" seems to be long gone.

Speaking personally, I would not have wanted to do any other job on the railway, so I applied directly for the job I did want which was driver. The majority of drivers I have met that were recruited in the last few years have also come off the street.

From the TOCs perspective this also makes sense, as if they fill a trainee driver vacancy with a guard or shunter driver, they create a vacancy for the old post.
 

Clip

Established Member
Joined
28 Jun 2010
Messages
10,822
From the TOCs perspective this also makes sense, as if they fill a trainee driver vacancy with a guard or shunter driver, they create a vacancy for the old post.

And yet they still do recruit internally including guards, station staff, shunters and the like.

OP - If you want to try the railway out first then Ive seen a few Customer service service jobs of late on the First(GWR) website and personally I would say go down that route as its not somethign you see people crave for on here as everyone wants to be a driver, so personally, the TOC getting to know you first and you getting to know the railway is the way forward.

Unless you just want to join the near 1000+ people per post that gets advertised for drivers.
 

greatkingrat

Established Member
Joined
20 Jan 2011
Messages
2,749
It depends on where you live as well. In the London area there are plenty of TOCs to choose from and trainee driver jobs are regularly advertised, while in other parts of the country they may be much rarer and it might be easier to get in to the company in another role first.
 

scott118

Member
Joined
24 Feb 2015
Messages
927
Location
East Anglia
This argument seems to get put around quite a bi on here, but being an internal has never been a problem for anybody I know.

Really? Doesn't post #13 sum up, why it's an 'issue' sometimes? Depends on your TOC i guess, however i can show you more than a handful of applicants who have been denied through, either a replacement having to be sought, their poor attendance, or indeed, the simple fact, that the driver managers don't like them, for what ever reason..
 

Gemz91

Member
Joined
1 Feb 2013
Messages
674
Location
Garden Shed
Really? Doesn't post #13 sum up, why it's an 'issue' sometimes? Depends on your TOC i guess, however i can show you more than a handful of applicants who have been denied through, either a replacement having to be sought, their poor attendance, or indeed, the simple fact, that the driver managers don't like them, for what ever reason..

As you said, its possibly TOC dependant. But from my experience, people with a good attitude to work have never been overlooked for a drivers role when they have applied at the depots I have worked at. How ever, there have been some people who have been knocked back from driver roles, and to be honnest, I wasn't surprised, if I was a manager I wouldn't want them working under me.

I always thought it reflects good on a manager if people who work under them move on and progress in their careers. Thankfully I've always had managers who have shared this, and have been happy for their customer hosts/guards to move on and progress in their career.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top