I’m visually impaired and interested in working in Passenger Assist Call Centre/Customer Service or Ticket Office

[Kath123]

Hi

I’m visually impaired and interested in working in any of the above roles.

I am looking for a part time position (upto around 20 - 25 hours per week).

I have previous experience working in admin and also with assessing Customer Service.

I am wondering if anyone has any tips for getting into these roles or knows of any vacancies? I currently live in Somerset but may consider moving if a suitable vacancy arises elsewhere.

I would be grateful if anyone could point me in the right direction of any contacts they have who might be willing to talk to me more about the roles and their suitability for me.

My final question - to work taking Passenger Assist calls would I definitely have to move to Sheffield or are positions available in other parts of the country for this?

Many thanks in advance for any assistance.

 

[OliverH68]

Hi Kath,
As someone who is also visually impaired, whilst I can't speak for the above roles (I work in planning which is office based) - they are not deemed as safety critical, meaning there shouldn't be a reason why you can't do them pending any reasonable adjustments needed, if you do require any.

The only roles that are definitely off-limits would be something like platform despatch, which is safety critical as are guards & drivers. But something like the ticket office or customer service related off platform is well suited.

Take a look at all the TOCs every so often - as you live in Somerset, GWR would be a good starting point. Most, if not all TOCs have Disability Confident accreditation so you should at least be considered for assessment & interview.

Good luck

 

[Horizon22]

My final question - to work taking Passenger Assist calls would I definitely have to move to Sheffield or are positions available in other parts of the country for this?

Why did Sheffield come up? Such roles may be available elsewhere, but normally only a few control rooms or other customer service centres so options may be limited.

 

[Kath123]

Hi thanks for the replies.

Why did Sheffield come up?

Sheffield came up because I know from being a Customer of GWR Passenger Assist that their Assisted Travel bookings are taken by a call centre there.

 

[Geeves]

I didn't know that the office in Sheffield also did GWR as our customer service team for Northern is also based there, makes sense to do more than one TOC for sure. I was always under the impression it was just Northern there!