Train Driver Trainee

I spent years of my life working in a 9 to 5 office job, and hated it. I looked out for other opportunities but never really found anything that suited me. Then one day I saw an advert on the internet for Train Driver Trainee positions. I read the job description and liked what i saw: £43k per annum basic pay, 35 hour week spread over 4 days, and 7 weeks annual leave per year. All this and a job not in an office, sounds great! Train Driving is easy and Train drivers are a bit dim, right? It will be easy to get this job.... and so I began daydreaming about my new life and career... what I hadn't realised, was that actually, its an extremely difficult job to get....

So, there it was, I downloaded the job application, and got stuck in. As usual I filled in all the usual personal data and information that job advertisements require you to do. Then came the questions - hang on a minute this wasn't part of the deal! I paused and began searching the internet for some data, but couldn't find any advice on the application process. So I took great care completing my form and fire off my application.

Weeks passed, and I had assumed I had failed, when to my delight I received an invite to the "assessment centre" which sounded a bit scary. Again i researched on the internet, and yet again couldnt find much help. To my horror i discovered that you only get two chances to pass the assessment centre, then you are banned for life if you fail again. I didn't want to waste any opportunities, and began researching again on the net to give me the best chance possible. Deep within googles search pages i found a couple of sites such as the Train Driver Trainee site (link in capsule above and below) which were written by drivers who had been through the recruitment process.

I read up thoroughly on other peoples experiences of the recruitment process, and began preparing for my own assessment centre to further my dream of becoming a train driver trainee. The dreaded day came soon enough, and i duly reported to the HR office to begin my tests. The assessment centre was exactly that laid out in the posts on the Train Driver Trainee website (link in capsule below) First up was the mechanical comprehension test which was a bit like a basic physics exam. Second was the trainability test which involved reading passages of text and answering questions on it, and listening to audio types and anwering questions. Next up was something called the group bourdon test, which was incredibly scary - something that I would have definitely failed if I hadn't prepared. Then finally was the reactions test on the computer, another hair rasing experience that i was glad i had read about before hand. God bless the internet!

I was informed that I had passed the tests, and was to sit a structured interview. What followed was a 30 minute grilling by a ferocious middle aged woman that had me squirming in my seat. I really hadn't expected it to be this difficult to get a job as as train driver! So next time you read one of those articles slagging drivers off for earning lots of money, just remember that it isn't a walk in the park!

Luckily I passed the assessment, (unlike the other poor 6 souls in my class) however the ordeal was far from over, next up was another interview with a Train Driver manager 2 weeks down the line..... TO BE CONTINUED

I always found it difficult to locate reliable info on the job role of a train driver other than the obvious e.g driving the train, stopping at stations etc. Well there is much more to it than that. I found a brilliant post about it on a wordpress blog, link below. Check it out for further information on the day to day life of a train driver.