WMR / LNR - Trainee Senior Conductor - Crewe & Shrewsbury

[Mammoth10]

Ps where were you sat on Wednesday?

Good luck to you too.
I was in the morning session (believe there was an afternoon one too...) sat in the back right hand corner!

 

[Spiderman1]

Good luck to you too.
I was in the morning session (believe there was an afternoon one too...) sat in the back right hand corner!

Me too, I was the muppet in the front right who forgot his reading glasses! Lol
Had to run to boots to buy a pair!

 

[hihohelp]

Interview is pretty chilled like a chat rather than making you feel uneasy
First they ask about your current job an what it involves then you will be asked what you know about them also what you think the role of a conductor is so do your research
Then it's a range of situation sorry competancy based questions
It's about an hour all in all

 

[Spiderman1]

Wow! Interview yesterday & told I'd passed today! All things well, could be starting training in Jan!

 

[bionic]

Congratulations!

 

[Spiderman1]

Congratulations!

Thank you Bionic, appreciated.

 

[Spiderman1]

Just had an offer to start training 7/1/19! That's fast considering it was only 2 weeks ago I had assessments! And I got Snow Hill, my preferred choice, even though I applied for Coventry as I'd missed Bham application.
Does anybody know the shift patterns/working hours for a Conductor with WMR? This is the only info I'm struggling to get and it's important due to child care/school etc

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[Sham]

Hi all, I've just passed the assessments for senior/conductor role for WMT and have interview on Tuesday 13/11/18. I just wanted to so for any advice regarding sort of questions they might ask. How long is the interview generally?
Any help/guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers all

Hi,
Can you confirm if the test was Bourdon or SCAAT ?

 

[Spiderman1]

Hi,
Can you confirm if the test was Bourdon or SCAAT ?

Bourdon

 

[trains2064]

Just had an offer to start training 7/1/19! That's fast considering it was only 2 weeks ago I had assessments! And I got Snow Hill, my preferred choice, even though I applied for Coventry as I'd missed Bham application.
Does anybody know the shift patterns/working hours for a Conductor with WMR? This is the only info I'm struggling to get and it's important due to child care/school etc

Any help would be much appreciated.

Shifts at Snow Hill start around 5am at the earliest and the lates finish at 01.00 at the latest and all options in between. It’s a 4 day week with every 3 weeks 5 days off. The are committed Sunday’s but that only around 1 a month.
Yes for child care some will work better then others but some where the size of Snow Hill you I’m sure will find someone to swop.

 

[Spiderman1]

Shifts at Snow Hill start around 5am at the earliest and the lates finish at 01.00 at the latest and all options in between. It’s a 4 day week with every 3 weeks 5 days off. The are committed Sunday’s but that only around 1 a month.
Yes for child care some will work better then others but some where the size of Snow Hill you I’m sure will find someone to swop.

That's really helpful thank you, much appreciated. Is that 4 on 3 off? If so, similar to previous job as a firefighter.
I'm assuming due to early starts and late finish it will be necessary to drive to snow hill rather than get train in?
I dint live to far from Rowley Regis station so plan was to get train to work but that could be a non starter I guess on certain shifts.
Is it quite feasible to change shifts then and is there a possibility of doing a permanent swap with someone?

Thank you again

 

[Spiderman1]

I'm genuinely quite excited to start training & crack on with it. I'd love to hear from Conductors out there what they think of the job, good and bad.

 

[craigybagel]

That's really helpful thank you, much appreciated. Is that 4 on 3 off? If so, similar to previous job as a firefighter.
I'm assuming due to early starts and late finish it will be necessary to drive to snow hill rather than get train in?
I dint live to far from Rowley Regis station so plan was to get train to work but that could be a non starter I guess on certain shifts.
Is it quite feasible to change shifts then and is there a possibility of doing a permanent swap with someone?

Thank you again

WMT are on the 4 day week, on a pattern common on the railway. On the first week, your days off are Monday & Tuesday, on the second its Wednesday and Thursday and on the third it's Friday and Saturday. At that point you roll back around to the first week again, meaning that you get a 5 day weekend every 3 weeks. You will be rostered some Sundays in there as well, but never the one in the middle of your long weekend. So you'll find yourself working 7 days in a row a fair bit, but you'll get a lot of long weekends to make up for it.

Whilst I don't know the exact times at Snow Hill, there are very few traincrew jobs on the railway where you can commute by train for every shift - there always has to be someone there to work the first and last trains after all - so you're likely to need to drive in at least some of the time (which is why at most interviews for these jobs they'll ask you how you plan on getting to work each day).

As far as swaps go, they're extremely common on the railway. Not all places allow permanent swaps (which usually take the form of permanent earlies/lates) but as hoc swaps are very common - with the obvious caveat that some jobs are more popular then others!

Also, good luck and congratulations - you've got yourself a fantastic job.

 

[Spiderman1]

WMT are on the 4 day week, on a pattern common on the railway. On the first week, your days off are Monday & Tuesday, on the second its Wednesday and Thursday and on the third it's Friday and Saturday. At that point you roll back around to the first week again, meaning that you get a 5 day weekend every 3 weeks. You will be rostered some Sundays in there as well, but never the one in the middle of your long weekend. So you'll find yourself working 7 days in a row a fair bit, but you'll get a lot of long weekends to make up for it.

Whilst I don't know the exact times at Snow Hill, there are very few traincrew jobs on the railway where you can commute by train for every shift - there always has to be someone there to work the first and last trains after all - so you're likely to need to drive in at least some of the time (which is why at most interviews for these jobs they'll ask you how you plan on getting to work each day).

As far as swaps go, they're extremely common on the railway. Not all places allow permanent swaps (which usually take the form of permanent earlies/lates) but as hoc swaps are very common - with the obvious caveat that some jobs are more popular then others!

Also, good luck and congratulations - you've got yourself a fantastic job.

That's a great reply craigybagel, thank you very much indeed. On a personal note I don't care what shifts I work, I've done shifts for 17 years. The main problem I have is childcare/school run. My wife is a postie, so is out the house by 5am most days. I guess, although not ideal, permanent lates would negate this problem. The logistics of kids!! Lol

 

[GJ_DAN]

That's a great reply craigybagel, thank you very much indeed. On a personal note I don't care what shifts I work, I've done shifts for 17 years. The main problem I have is childcare/school run. My wife is a postie, so is out the house by 5am most days. I guess, although not ideal, permanent lates would negate this problem. The logistics of kids!! Lol

Hi there, I just wondered how your finding the training or the job as now you may be qualified? I have an Interview for Conductor for the Snow Hill position the end of the month. Wondered if you could enlighten me on some of the situation questions they ask?

Also did you just mention at the Interview that you would like to be considered for Snow Hill as you were down for Coventry? There's a position for Worcester that's come up and that would be a lot better for my location. Thanks in advance.

 

[hihohelp]

Hi if there is vacancy for a depo closer to you or better for you even once you go to the original depo you apply to(if not mentioned in interview) your line manager can reguest a transfer although it will normally go through on timetable change two people off my course at my depo have since transferred.