Hi there!
Shifts are kept roughly the same during the week, you HAVE to have 12 hours rest between shifts so that's how they work it out. However I've had occasions where I've been on earlies Monday to Wednesday and then Thursday I've been on a late which mucks your body clock about a bit!
FSL stands for Front Set Lead which is what they call the Hosts that are in place of the competent person on the front set of a ten car IET. Basically you're a stand in for the TM in any problematic situations because they can't walk through the train, but they're still in charge and contactable via the intercom etc. FSL get overtime for the shift that they are in that position which is great if they ask you to cover between Reading and Pad while on a ten hour shift, for example, because you'll get overtime for the whole ten hours!
FSLs are also the point of contact between the passengers and TMs, so need to regularly walk through and answer any questions etc, and just generally be visible.
And in answer to your other question I loved it! I would've happily stayed in that role, but I got the opportunity to go for driver. If you like chatting and being around people it's perfect and overall it's a very easy job for what we get paid, although you are getting paid for when it goes wrong - it's important to remember that when you've been stranded for 2 hours in the snow, hot water is running low, and of course it's all your fault because you're in uniform!
Also it is a very good foot in the door to other roles on the railway, I went straight to driver, I know multiple who have gone straight to management, and others have gone to various planning and maintenance roles etc. and of course many go onto guard or TM. I'm trying to get my younger brother to apply because I wish I'd done it sooner!
