Harry Monk:
Colin_scottish:
Ive applied to become a train driver with virgin good pay and the base is only 20 mins from my house.I applied for a job with Connex South Eastern as a trainee train driver. Quite a long time ago now. They wrote back and said that my application had been accepted but due to the overwhelming demand etc etc etc…
I later found out that there are 300 applicants for every job, and the majority of the jobs go to staff promoted internally.
Funnily enough, I’m old enough to remember the days when anyone who wanted to drive a train could get a job driving one.
Aye its certainly a tough old job to get into
The competition is so huge, when seeing figures of the amount of people applying for just a single position it can be quite disheartening for anyone wanting to become a train driver
Virgin a year or 2 back opened up 80 new trainee driver positions, something unprecedented, and they say around 20k people applied for them (around 250 apps per position)
They are also now starting a new apprentice driver scheme, and they’ve taken on 3 applicants selected from a cv list of 1200 people.
As someone who is currently trying to become a train driver, I like to look at things differently, rather than with a negative outlook thinking I’ll never make it.
A) If I don’t try, then its a fact I will never make it
B) I’m confident of my abilities, and I know IF I was to be selected, and I applied myself correctly (like if anyone applied themselves) then I can achieve anything I want
C) Even if Train Driver jobs are sort after and highly competitive, If I apply or anyone who applies for that matter for current vacancies, our chances of being selected and passing the tests to get you to the point of starting training leading to a decent Job with earnings in excess of £45k a year, are far far greater than winning just over £25 on a lottery ticket…and applying is free too!!