Overseas qualifications

[Bradpaisley94]

Hello,

This is my first post on this forum. Thanks for having me. I am in a bit of an unusual situation, and I am hoping that you might be able to assist me in understand my options. I am a 25-year old Swedish Science graduate currently living in Australia. Last year I finished double Science majors, focusing on sustainable development and urban planning. I wanted to be a part of the system that builds the network of sustainable transport (trains). But, after re-considering my future, I am thinking about if I perhaps want to work on the trains themselves instead. And furthermore, I want to do it in Britain! I left Sweden for Australia initially, but the distance and the (very harsh) visa restrictions have turned me towards the UK.

So, back in Sweden we have 1-year university (sort of) courses to become a train driver. After completing a course, most people find employment. There is a huge shortage of train drivers in Sweden. We get around 500-1000 newly educated train drivers in employment every year. Certainly, or so I thought, this most be similar to the system in Britain. But, from what I’ve seen, it really is not. You apply for positions and get training while employed. The only issue is, for three straight days I’ve yet to see ONE available position (for not qualified train drivers) in any part of the country! So, either you don’t have the need for new train drivers as we have, or I am missing something?

I’m considering completing the 1-year course in Sweden before coming to look for employment in the UK. But, I am unsure if that would really help me in any way. If my Swedish qualifications are not valid in the UK, then there is no point in going through the education. So, I would like to help from you to sort out my position and help me to understand what the best path for me is.

Thank you!

 

[Mermoo]

Your Swedish qualification will likely not count for anything in the UK. However, your chances of getting work as a driver may be easier in Sweden. Good luck whatever you decide.

 

[on track]

Hello,

This is my first post on this forum. Thanks for having me. I am in a bit of an unusual situation, and I am hoping that you might be able to assist me in understand my options. I am a 25-year old Swedish Science graduate currently living in Australia. Last year I finished double Science majors, focusing on sustainable development and urban planning. I wanted to be a part of the system that builds the network of sustainable transport (trains). But, after re-considering my future, I am thinking about if I perhaps want to work on the trains themselves instead. And furthermore, I want to do it in Britain! I left Sweden for Australia initially, but the distance and the (very harsh) visa restrictions have turned me towards the UK.

So, back in Sweden we have 1-year university (sort of) courses to become a train driver. After completing a course, most people find employment. There is a huge shortage of train drivers in Sweden. We get around 500-1000 newly educated train drivers in employment every year. Certainly, or so I thought, this most be similar to the system in Britain. But, from what I’ve seen, it really is not. You apply for positions and get training while employed. The only issue is, for three straight days I’ve yet to see ONE available position (for not qualified train drivers) in any part of the country! So, either you don’t have the need for new train drivers as we have, or I am missing something?

I’m considering completing the 1-year course in Sweden before coming to look for employment in the UK. But, I am unsure if that would really help me in any way. If my Swedish qualifications are not valid in the UK, then there is no point in going through the education. So, I would like to help from you to sort out my position and help me to understand what the best path for me is.

Thank you!

Hi, my only advice to you if you want to become a train driver in the UK is go for it!. We have many many European nationals who are drivers at my depot. I cannot see any point in attending the train driver course in Sweden if the UK is where you want to be as it won't give you any advantage over here so you'll be wasting your time IMO.

You won't necessarily see adverts for trainee driver roles advertised every day so you'll need to be patient!. If you are flexible in being able to live/relocate anywhere in the UK then that will give you more options.

Just register for job notifications on as many TOC websites as you can and you'll be seeing vacancies soon!. As long as your application & CV are up to scratch you'll hopefully be getting invites to assessment days before you know it.

My advice is until that time make sure you do your research about exactly what is required during the assessment process and prepare yourself in advance as much as you can (this site is a very good place to start).

Yes there is a lot of competition for every trainee role, but by making your application, CV, and assessment preparation as good as you can you will already be ahead of a lot of that competition.

Of course there is uncertainty with the Brexit situation at the moment but until and if there is any change that might affect your future applications here you are as entitled as any UK national to apply, and if anyone is worried about that extra competition then that is of no concern to you!

 

[WCMLaddict]

Your qualification at this moment is not going to be valid. If you had EU train driving license it will most likely not require you to do assessments but you will have to do whole training course.

 

[Bradpaisley94]

Your Swedish qualification will likely not count for anything in the UK. However, your chances of getting work as a driver may be easier in Sweden. Good luck whatever you decide.

If it does not improve my chances in the UK, then I won’t do it. Thank you

Hi, my only advice to you if you want to become a train driver in the UK is go for it!. We have many many European nationals who are drivers at my depot. I cannot see any point in attending the train driver course in Sweden if the UK is where you want to be as it won't give you any advantage over here so you'll be wasting your time IMO.

You won't necessarily see adverts for trainee driver roles advertised every day so you'll need to be patient!. If you are flexible in being able to live/relocate anywhere in the UK then that will give you more options.

Just register for job notifications on as many TOC websites as you can and you'll be seeing vacancies soon!. As long as your application & CV are up to scratch you'll hopefully be getting invites to assessment days before you know it.

My advice is until that time make sure you do your research about exactly what is required during the assessment process and prepare yourself in advance as much as you can (this site is a very good place to start).

Yes there is a lot of competition for every trainee role, but by making your application, CV, and assessment preparation as good as you can you will already be ahead of a lot of that competition.

Of course there is uncertainty with the Brexit situation at the moment but until and if there is any change that might affect your future applications here you are as entitled as any UK national to apply, and if anyone is worried about that extra competition then that is of no concern to you!

Thank you for such a thorough reply. Yes, I agree that it would be waste of time. Do you have a shortage for train drivers in the UK? In any part of the country in particular? As I am flexible to move anywhere if the opportunity would present itself. I just have to ask, what is “TOC”? I am a bit unsure about what to put in my CV as I have no previous work experience on the rail? What is good to highlight? How does the assessments work? I know that I should be of good health and all that, but that is nothing I can “prepare” for? I thought that the assessments were made when already on the trainee programs?

Your qualification at this moment is not going to be valid. If you had EU train driving license it will most likely not require you to do assessments but you will have to do whole training course.

EU train driving licence? I tried to google it, but I could not find any useful information about how to get such a licence?

 

[theironroad]

If it does not improve my chances in the UK, then I won’t do it. Thank you



Thank you for such a thorough reply. Yes, I agree that it would be waste of time. Do you have a shortage for train drivers in the UK? In any part of the country in particular? As I am flexible to move anywhere if the opportunity would present itself. I just have to ask, what is “TOC”? I am a bit unsure about what to put in my CV as I have no previous work experience on the rail? What is good to highlight? How does the assessments work? I know that I should be of good health and all that, but that is nothing I can “prepare” for? I thought that the assessments were made when already on the trainee programs?


TOC = Train Operating Company - these are companies that run passenger trains
FOC = Freight Operating company.

Freight companies are recruiting but in general passenger toc work is more secure and has better benefits.

EU train driving licence? I tried to google it, but I could not find any useful information about how to get such a licence?

Google European Train Driving Licence UK and it will take you to the government department that oversees them. they are very new and it was only by October 2018 that all uk drivers had to have been issued one. in the uk they all exsiting drivers were issued them on the basis of their current training and competence.

at the moment, they seem to be staying but after brexit the UK government could abolish them and return to the old system, but probably unlikely. you don't need to worry about applying for one as all training is currently employer based and you need to get a trainee driver job. there has been some talk about changing the training system but i don't think anything concrete has occured yet.

im afraid that brexit may have an impact unless you have or will have the right to live and work in the uk post 29 march (brexit leave date) as uk toc's dont sponsor people for visas.

 

[tiptoptaff]

No, there is no real shortage of train drivers in the UK, and certainly no shortage of people trying to become one

 

[on track]

If it does not improve my chances in the UK, then I won’t do it. Thank you



Thank you for such a thorough reply. Yes, I agree that it would be waste of time. Do you have a shortage for train drivers in the UK? In any part of the country in particular? As I am flexible to move anywhere if the opportunity would present itself. I just have to ask, what is “TOC”? I am a bit unsure about what to put in my CV as I have no previous work experience on the rail? What is good to highlight? How does the assessments work? I know that I should be of good health and all that, but that is nothing I can “prepare” for? I thought that the assessments were made when already on the trainee programs?



EU train driving licence? I tried to google it, but I could not find any useful information about how to get such a licence?

TOC stands for Rail Operating Company, and these are the individual companies that run rail services throughout the UK and are who you will employed by if successful in your application as a trainee train driver.

Google for the full list of TOCs in the UK, find their careers website, and register on there for email alerts for whenever trainee train driver roles come up.

Don't worry about not having previous railway experience. In my company around 90% of the trainees taken on in each intake have no railway experience. Your application and CV, as well as the formal assessment tests and final interview are what the TOC's use to see if you have the relevant skills and personality traits they are looking for. Google for information to find out what criteria they are looking for and use that to highlight relevant areas of your CV and when it comes to answering some of the application questions. You'll find some of the traits looked for are safety oriented (not a risk taker), high attention to detail, someone who checks things before acting, able to work by yourself, strong communicator, calm under pressure, etc,etc.

As mentioned by others there is no shortage of train drivers in the UK. Trainee positions are advertised as and when required to fill vacancies, and each advert attracts thousands of applications. That's why I suggest spending some time reading through the 'sticky' forums in this site (like 'Becoming a Train Driver' and 'Group Bourdon') to fully understand what the process involves so you don't waste your chance when an opportunity arises.

If you apply for a position and your application & CV make it through the initial sift, you will be invited to an assessment day. You are only allowed to fail any test on the assessment day once. If you fail anything you must wait 6 months before you can apply to take the assessments again. Fail any assessment test again and that's it, you cannot apply to be a train driver again ever.

Preparation is key. Don't be intimidated by the thousands of others applying for the same role. Just concentrate on making your CV and application the best you can, and if you're lucky enough to be invited to assessment just make sure you understand what tests are involved and you have practised any tests that can be practised (Group Bourdon is definitely one of those).

Finally, nobody knows how Brexit will affect European nationals applying for UK trainee positions so I wouldn't let that stop you from applying. Whatever happens is out if your control so just apply when you're ready and whatever happens with Brexit happens. If Brexit ends up being delayed you may even end up being bagging a trainee driver role before it comes in, while knows!.