Previous career?

[Barney07]

I was a Senior Conductor at my last Toc for 13 years then moved to my new Toc as a Trainee Train Driver based in Devon, currently working from home awaiting a return date, im 39.

 

[Stigy]

Im not being funny but, salary and benefits are surely the first question one would ask of any job or career? Why else do you go to work?!

The salary is of course a factor, but I didn’t apply based on the salary. If train drivers earned £35k a year and that was the norm, I probably would still have applied. As long as it wasn’t a pay cut, I’d be happy.

A friend of mine took a £10k pay cut to join the Ambulance Service as an Emergency Care Assistant. He wanted a job which was rewarding and it’s what he wanted to do.

I think when you start basing your sole decision for applying for a job on salary, you soon potentially become bored. This job can be very samey at the best of times, but if you become a train driver and have no interest in the nature of the work, it can be dangerous and lead to complacency.

 

[EvoUK]

The salary is of course a factor, but I didn’t apply based on the salary. If train drivers earned £35k a year and that was the norm, I probably would still have applied. As long as it wasn’t a pay cut, I’d be happy.

A friend of mine took a £10k pay cut to join the Ambulance Service as an Emergency Care Assistant. He wanted a job which was rewarding and it’s what he wanted to do.

I think when you start basing your sole decision for applying for a job on salary, you soon potentially become bored. This job can be very samey at the best of times, but if you become a train driver and have no interest in the nature of the work, it can be dangerous and lead to complacency.

Tbh, I know of at least several avid railway enthusiasts train drivers that had SPAD's due to losing focus for a variety of reasons (including one that was fixated on a passing steam engine locomotive)..

Regardless of prior interests in the industry, I think the traits of a good driver imho, is always being professional in your role and using tried and tested PPS techniques to always maintain SA (which is probably true for most other safety critical roles).

 

[Stigy]

Tbh, I know of at least several avid railway enthusiasts train drivers that had SPAD's due to losing focus for a variety of reasons (including one that was fixated on a passing steam engine locomotive)..

Regardless of prior interests in the industry, I think the traits of a good driver imho, is always being professional in your role and using tried and tested PPS techniques to always maintain SA (which is probably true for most other safety critical roles).

I’m not for one minute suggesting drivers should be enthusiasts by any stretch of the imagination, but wanting to drive trains rather than solely wanting £60k a year more than likely has its benefits.

Anybody can have an incident, regardless of interests etc, as we all know.

 

[andyccfc]

At the end of the day it’s a job, and you go to work to earn money to pay your bills and enjoy things in life. That’s the whole reason for working in my mind. I have absolutely zero interest in trains, however it’s a job I believe I’ll be good at going on my previous roles in the police and so look at it as progression and also a chance to earn more money. There are many in my current job that love working for the police far to much for my liking and quite often it’s those people that don’t make the best officers. If you treat the job as just that, and respect it as that, you can’t go far wrong.

 

[Stigy]

At the end of the day it’s a job, and you go to work to earn money to pay your bills and enjoy things in life. That’s the whole reason for working in my mind. I have absolutely zero interest in trains, however it’s a job I believe I’ll be good at going on my previous roles in the police and so look at it as progression and also a chance to earn more money. There are many in my current job that love working for the police far to much for my liking and quite often it’s those people that don’t make the best officers. If you treat the job as just that, and respect it as that, you can’t go far wrong.

Wait, so you’re not a driver yet?

I assume you weren’t 100% truthful in your DMI about your reasons for wanting to be a driver?

 

[LCC106]

We have several people who have "downgraded" from jobs paying well over £100k to enjoy better job security, far better time off/work life balance and a job that doesn't come home with you. It's not always about money. The other perks of the job rate highly too.

Yep. I wasn’t on that kind of money although my day rate was more than we earn now, but definitely joined for all those reasons you mentioned.

 

[andyccfc]

Wait, so you’re not a driver yet?

I assume you weren’t 100% truthful in your DMI about your reasons for wanting to be a driver?

Whether I’m a driver yet or not is irrelevant to be honest, the reasons for changing careers are though. And if the trains paid less than the cops, I wouldn’t be leaving.
Yep I was honest though, salary was one of a few reasons for changing careers, interest in trains etc wasn’t one of them. So just selected the most relevant answer to their question.

 

[EvoUK]

Wait, so you’re not a driver yet?

I assume you weren’t 100% truthful in your DMI about your reasons for wanting to be a driver?

I dont know about you but I personally dont recall any questions during my DMI that focused around how much I liked trains etc? The questions were mainly regarding motivation for my career change (money, benefits and stability - one or more which was missing in my previous career). The other questions focused on how I think i would cope in the new role? E.g. concentration for long periods, shift work and studying etc.

I think by passing the great plethora of psychometric tests gives the TOC a large degree of confidence of our suitability within the new role.

 

[Stigy]

I dont know about you but I personally dont recall any questions during my DMI that focused around how much I liked trains etc? The questions were mainly regarding motivation for my career change (money, benefits and stability - one or more which was missing in my previous career). The other questions focused on how I think i would cope in the new role? E.g. concentration for long periods, shift work and studying etc.

I think by passing the great plethora of psychometric tests gives the TOC a large degree of confidence of our suitability within the new role.

Once again, I wasn’t suggesting anything about having an interest in trains. I don’t have an interest in trains either. What I was saying was that it’s beneficial to want to become a train driver because you want to drive trains. That could be for a number of reasons.

I can’t remember what I was asked in my DMI, but most were competency based questions admittedly. However, it’s not uncommon to be asked “why do you want to be a train driver”, and it’s prudent to be a bit more elaborate than just saying it’s because of the salary and the T&Cs. Admittedly you’d have to say a bit more than “I just want to drive trains” too.

Whether I’m a driver yet or not is irrelevant to be honest, the reasons for changing careers are though.

Apologies, your post came across as though you’d been a driver for a fair few years. For somebody not a driver yet (or indeed someone who’s not long gone through the process), I sensed an air of arrogance. It may just be how it came across.

 

[DriverEight]

It's not all about salary for me, but it is a factor. I'm looking to be a Train driver because I'm ready for a change. I've been driving trucks for 30 years and it's no longer challenging. I had an accident recently which left me on SSP (£95 per week) for months, and that's something I don't want to go through again. I need a job that's mobile, I couldn't work in an office or factory. I'm fed up with sleeping in laybys and industrial estates and taking showers in motorway service areas. I don't mind working weekends, early starts and late finishes are second nature to me and I enjoy the solitude of being alone in the cab (but I will miss the Ken Bruce show. I guess "we stop for Popmaster" isn't allowed on the ECML). All of this makes train driving an obvious choice. Even at the lower end of the range the salary is double what a truck driver would normally expect for fewer hours, which, to me, is very desirable....but it's not the be all and end all.

 

[Stigy]

It's not all about salary for me, but it is a factor. I'm looking to be a Train driver because I'm ready for a change. I've been driving trucks for 30 years and it's no longer challenging. I had an accident recently which left me on SSP (£95 per week) for months, and that's something I don't want to go through again. I need a job that's mobile, I couldn't work in an office or factory. I'm fed up with sleeping in laybys and industrial estates and taking showers in motorway service areas. I don't mind working weekends, early starts and late finishes are second nature to me and I enjoy the solitude of being alone in the cab (but I will miss the Ken Bruce show. I guess "we stop for Popmaster" isn't allowed on the ECML). All of this makes train driving an obvious choice. Even at the lower end of the range the salary is double what a truck driver would normally expect for fewer hours, which, to me, is very desirable....but it's not the be all and end all.

And that’s what I was basically talking about. maybe I was too vague in explaining myself

Good luck with it.

 

[king_walnut]

Before I was a train driver I was a revenue officer, and before that I worked in Asda. I'm 31.

 

[Parallax]

15 year Airline pilot, made redundant due to COVID. Going through selection with GTR now, awaiting assessment day.

 

[andyccfc]

Once again, I wasn’t suggesting anything about having an interest in trains. I don’t have an interest in trains either. What I was saying was that it’s beneficial to want to become a train driver because you want to drive trains. That could be for a number of reasons.

I can’t remember what I was asked in my DMI, but most were competency based questions admittedly. However, it’s not uncommon to be asked “why do you want to be a train driver”, and it’s prudent to be a bit more elaborate than just saying it’s because of the salary and the T&Cs. Admittedly you’d have to say a bit more than “I just want to drive trains” too.


Apologies, your post came across as though you’d been a driver for a fair few years. For somebody not a driver yet (or indeed someone who’s not long gone through the process), I sensed an air of arrogance. It may just be how it came across.

For saying I believe I’ll be good at it? That’s not arrogance, I wouldn’t have applied if I didn’t think I could do the job!
Anyway, things often get taken out of context on forums etc but I’m in no way arrogant believe me. But you have to be confident in yourself, something I know some people can get confused between the two.

 

[Mattydo]

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[387star]

Most come into it purely for the money alone, they seem to think it’s all sunlit uplands, until they get a key and realise that there’s a bit more to keeping a clean licence than first meets the eye. Quite a few lose the said key quite quickly once the incidents start stacking up.

There’s been a few recently at my TOC who’ve been removed from the grade not long after passing out due to incidents.

Yes very true. There are also some trainees who raise eyebrows. One I know of failed their final pass out THREE times before being given another role. You always get money chasers who sometimes learn the hard way.

 

[Slipper]

Yes very true. There are also some trainees who raise eyebrows. One I know of failed their final pass out THREE times before being given another role. You always get money chasers who sometimes learn the hard way.

I have not started training yet, so excuse my ignorance on this.
If you fail initial training are you offered another role or are you laid off? Also what happens when qualified if you have a build up of incidents and your key is withdrawn? Are you offered a non driving role, or again dismissed.

Cheers

 

[Stigy]

If you fail initial training are you offered another role or are you laid off? Also what happens when qualified if you have a build up of incidents and your key is withdrawn? Are you offered a non driving role, or again dismissed.

Cheers

It depends on the TOC, but at GWR, they will endeavour to find you something else, and you’ll get priority in internal recruitment vacancies (same with SWR) if suitable obviously. However there’s no guarantee of a job. In the grand scheme of things, not many people fail. Or lose their licence.

 

[Slipper]

Thanks Stigy