Career change

[YOLO]

Hey everyone,

First post. I'm 28 year old looking to leave nursing and thinking of seeing how far I can get with train driver, it seems a good career with good pay and pension from what I have read...

I work in ICU so I'm no stranger to following protocols very strictly... although I'm not sure where to start or even freight vs passenger driving.

What do you guys think and how do I get the ball rolling on this? Would they even want an ex-nurse?

Any advice would be appreciated

 

[Vicpaul]

Why wouldnt they accept a nurse, Your as credible as any other candidate.

Passenger and freight differ quite a lot so carefully consider where you want to be.

Look at the train and freight companies that you can get to with 45 minutes of your location 24 hours a day and register your interest with the ones that you can.

If you want any help or advice feel free to Pm me

 

[Beveridges]

The way most people do it is start in one of the less desirable TOC's like Northern.

 

[HSTfan!!!]

To be honest I wouldn't worry about whether you want to go freight or passenger, it's such a hard job to get into that you can't really be picky. I had no luck at all applying for passenger companies, applied for freight in the end and that's now what I drive. Apply to anything you can and obviously do your research, there is a hell of a lot of information on this very forum that will help you through from applying to beginning a drivers course.

 

[Cherry_Picker]

The way most people do it is start in one of the less desirable TOC's like Northern.

I've been in the industry for donkeys years and have never heard that before. People go where the vacancies are, some TOCs and depots might have a higher turnover of staff than others but your advice is just bizarre.

 

[Fred Dinenage]

I've been trying for jobs for nearly a year Yolo and have had one go at the assessments, PM me if you want any info and i'll help where i can. As HSTfan says there's more than enough info on here to help you out, just takes a bit of searching and either making notes or taking screenshots ( i do on ipad ) for the important bits. Good luck and be patient, all the stages i've been through take a while and some on here have been trying for years.

 

[Beveridges]

I've been in the industry for donkeys years and have never heard that before. People go where the vacancies are, some TOCs and depots might have a higher turnover of staff than others but your advice is just bizarre.

You've heard it here first then. It's what I did at least anyway.

8 years ago, I knew I would have been wasting my time if I was applying for the top tier companies (eg) Virgin, Freightliner or DRS as an external.

 

[Class2ldn]

Virgin don't take on trainee drivers so you wouldn't have got far anyway Beveridges
Plenty of people have got jobs with Drs and fl though and it's not about them being top companies.

As said it all depends where you live.
Some companies won't take trainees anyway like virgin, East coast etc.

 

[47802]

All I would say it does strike me as being an area that's very difficult to get into and the moment due to the volume of applications.

So far I have applied for 2 trainee driver jobs, 2 trainee conductor jobs and haven't got past the application stage on any of them, this is despite being very well educated, technical background and a variety of customer service experience.

I don't want to put you off but a plan B might be a good idea of course it could just be i'm not what they are looking for in terms of skills etc

I suspect it also depends which part of the country you are in as with most jobs probably easier down south especially London than up north where I am

 

[TDK]

I've been in the industry for donkeys years and have never heard that before. People go where the vacancies are, some TOCs and depots might have a higher turnover of staff than others but your advice is just bizarre.

Bevs advice has always been bizzare

 

[Red18]

Hey, don't dis Northern.
They might not have the fancy trains but for working conditions it takes some beating.

 

[Beveridges]

Their MDD roles take some beating.

Mainline? Not sure if I'd like to take some of our "trains" any further than the end of a depot and back.

 

[Llama]

Can't beat trundling about restricted to 5mph.

Although at least not having to deal with the passengers might be a blessing for some, particularly at weekends.

 

[Beveridges]

No passengers is great for everyone, climbing into your unit in the yard to prep it for a shunt move and not a single member of the public onboard.

Drive around at a relaxing pace, get out and pull some points enjoying the fresh air and exercise, then get back on and do a bit more driving. What's not to like?

 

[Legzr1]

No passengers is great for everyone, climbing into your unit in the yard to prep it for a shunt move and not a single member of the public onboard.

Apply yourself, increase the shunt distance to 100 miles and double your wages.

Freight...

I'll also pass on your advice to a few ex-FL and DBS drivers I know who recently moved to Northern - obviously they're mistaken when they say it's one of the best moves they've ever made.

 

[YOLO]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I will keep my ear to the ground and apply!