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Trainee Train Driver - Virgin Trains East Coast

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SkinnyDave

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Brian88 said:
I think they are more likely to take people with no experience. It's easier to teach from fresh than to remould somebody's bad habbits
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Is it really? Do tell?
Do you drive trains at the moment? and please define "bad habits" for me..
 
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E&W Lucas

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Brian88 said:
I think they are more likely to take people with no experience. It's easier to teach from fresh than to remould somebody's bad habbits
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Will you be attempting to remould a driver trainer then?
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ballast rat said:
I think there seems to be a common misconception here that if you're not a spotter, or don't have an interest in trains then you're no good for the job and are in it for the money.

Well, from my experience TOCS and FOCS don't want spotters/cranks because the majority have a know it all attitude.

There...the can of worms has been opened ��

Oh, by the way, I'm a driver, I go to work for the money and occasionally the job satisfaction. I deserve my position and I am good at my job. ��
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Pretty much agree with that, despite being a driver with an "interest" (preservation, and a fair number of my colleagues from that world have also migrated onto the mainline). That's my hobby, work is work, and the two need to be kept separate. The last thing you want in a trainee, is someone trying to show off their "knowledge"; holds true in preservation too, for that matter.

The skills required for the job have been posted on here enough times. An interest in trains is not one of them!

NB - I'm not in the market for these jobs - already have one driving big fast things, that suits me perfectly.
 
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Vik10

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I do think the assessment days will be hardest to get through.
At least with the online test you know what they want, you can have a practice and you know your going to have to score high.
 
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Brian88

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SkinnyDave said:
Is it really? Do tell?
Do you drive trains at the moment? and please define "bad habits" for me..
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No I don't. But I do teach people, and trying to get people to do things differently is a challenge if they are farmiliar with the subject, in general.
Imagine I'm the trainer taking you through traction, I see you and you look bored because you already know it all. All companies have different procedures and you might not be willing to change.
 
Spankthemonkey

Spankthemonkey

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Brian88 said:
I think they are more likely to take people with no experience. It's easier to teach from fresh than to remould somebody's bad habbits
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Mmmmm, not sure about this.

When you say "bad habits", a qualified driver is unlikely to have many as he probably wouldn't still be driving, or his safety record would be such that he would be discounted from selection.

TOC's have a history of employing people from jobs such as police, fire service, armed forces, prison service, all of which have some of the disciplines required by drivers. Or employing from within - guards, revenue staff, platform staff, depot drivers etc. It would be naive to think that internal recruits are free from "bad habits" but their experience of working in the railway safety critical environment makes them a lesser risk than a recruit fresh off the street.

Whether Virgin will stray far from recent TOC recruitment norms is open to debate. On one hand it's a stagecoach operation, but on the other hand expect a few left-field hires which will gain Virgin some nice PR spin.
 
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Bucko

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Some people have had tests sent, and have practised before submitting.

Some people have had Dear johns, and a 25% off travel voucher.

Some people have rec'd glitch emails, and have tweeted VTEC, and rec'd twitter replies.

I've still heard jack Sh*t !!
 
Swampster

Swampster

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Choochoodriver said:
Yes mate on the VTEC twitter feed. Was a Scottish guy with a big beard ha! If you find it screenshot it.
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nice of him to post what is essentially a private discount code into the public domain.. :roll:
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Bucko said:
Some people have had tests sent, and have practised before submitting.

Some people have had Dear johns, and a 25% off travel voucher.

Some people have rec'd glitch emails, and have tweeted VTEC, and rec'd twitter replies.

I've still heard jack Sh*t !!
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I think I read there's still a final day of sifting to do today.. so still in there!
 
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Choochoodriver

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Swampster said:
nice of him to post what is essentially a private discount code into the public domain.. :roll:
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


I think I read there's still a final day of sifting to do today.. so still in there!
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I thought that too haha...but think your email needs to be linked to the code for it to work...could be wrong though!
 
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Sirgerbil

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19 Sep 2012
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357
Bucko said:
Some people have had tests sent, and have practised before submitting.

Some people have had Dear johns, and a 25% off travel voucher.

Some people have rec'd glitch emails, and have tweeted VTEC, and rec'd twitter replies.

I've still heard jack Sh*t !!
Click to expand...

I'm sure today will be the day, there was a post yesterday from their twitter feed that the final applications will be sifted today.

Evidently they were totally overwhelmed by the amount of applications and as far as I'm aware no one has been invited to the first scheduled assessment centre tomorrow
 
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Brian88

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21 Oct 2016
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Considering you get 20% off if you download the virgin app, or if you have a railcard you get a 3rd off, that voucher is worthless anyway really. It's just enticing 15k ****ed off rejects to have a ride on the train they could have been driving. More of a kick in the teeth than a voucher
 
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Maybe

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Can someone tell me what email address they have received their yes or no from please
 
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Pukapies123

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Has anyone got a straight Yes and didn't have to do the online test?

I'm still waiting to hear, submitted the application on 13th October, day before closing.
 
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Choochoodriver

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Pukapies123 said:
Has anyone got a straight Yes and didn't have to do the online test?

I'm still waiting to hear, submitted the application on 13th October, day before closing.
Click to expand...

There is still a fair few waiting to hear anything at all by the sounds of it.

Brian had an interesting theory the other day and I'm praying he's right!!

They did say EVERYONE would hear today but still waiting.....
 
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Brian88

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And my theory is that if you really believe you are quality and haven't heard back. Your cover letter was spot on and you have an awesome cv. Then what reason have they got to make you sit a checking test, you should get straight through. Only people they may not be sure of gets a test.
 
Hopeful2015

Hopeful2015

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Brian88 said:
And my theory is that if you really believe you are quality and haven't heard back. Your cover letter was spot on and you have an awesome cv. Then what reason have they got to make you sit a checking test, you should get straight through. Only people they may not be sure of gets a test.
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Do qualifieds not take the test?
Or are they not allowed to apply?
 
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Brian88

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There has been qualifieds sit the test, but just because they are qualified doesn't make them attractive. They can apply
 
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