The Highways Agency are undergoing a national recruitment drive. I’ve applied for a position as a Traffic Officer. Anyone one here any experience of working for them.
mds141:
The Highways Agency are undergoing a national recruitment drive. I’ve applied for a position as a Traffic Officer. Anyone one here any experience of working for them.
The job itself can be immensely enjoyable . . . however, this is the civil service at its absolute worst.
Even if you get a current HATO to reply here it is unlikely you will get the truth, the whole truth & nothing but the truth.
I worked closely with the project managers that set the whole shebang up as a representative of the recovery industry & I can tell you that unless you have had your brain removed & replaced with a civil service employee Mk3 module you will not survive the first time you tell a fellow colleague a funny joke.
when they 1st ran job selection in my area you didn’t get a look in unless you had a degree
i had 3 years of recovery work, advanced driver, and had worked under police ■■■■■■.didn’t get an interview and was told when i asked why was told i wasn’t experienced enough. and didn’t have the degrees they wanted.
but they took on a mate who was a teacher and couldn’t drive for toffee!
bertiebus:
when they 1st ran job selection in my area you didn’t get a look in unless you had a degree
i had 3 years of recovery work, advanced driver, and had worked under police ■■■■■■.didn’t get an interview and was told when i asked why was told i wasn’t experienced enough. and didn’t have the degrees they wanted.but they took on a mate who was a teacher and couldn’t drive for toffee!
You’re only half way towards understanding the recruitment culture of the HA.
Chas:
bertiebus:
when they 1st ran job selection in my area you didn’t get a look in unless you had a degree
i had 3 years of recovery work, advanced driver, and had worked under police ■■■■■■.didn’t get an interview and was told when i asked why was told i wasn’t experienced enough. and didn’t have the degrees they wanted.but they took on a mate who was a teacher and couldn’t drive for toffee!
You’re only half way towards understanding the recruitment culture of the HA.
Tell us more… 
With a starting salary of £18k5 (external applicants are expected to start on the lowest salary point) rising to the dizzy heights of £21k5, I really don’t see myself getting trampled in the rush to apply. Especially given the requirement to do the full earlies/lates/nights rotating shift malarky.
(Fortunately I am excluded from applying as I have 6 points on my licence 
)
Roymondo:
With a starting salary of £18k5 (external applicants are expected to start on the lowest salary point) rising to the dizzy heights of £21k5, I really don’t see myself getting trampled in the rush to apply. Especially given the requirement to do the full earlies/lates/nights rotating shift malarky.(Fortunately I am excluded from applying as I have 6 points on my licence
On the basis that the average HATO’s P60 will be in excess of £40k then we can assume that you don’t actually have much of an appreciation of what happens in the world outside of your cab.
bazza123:
Tell us more…
The HATO recruitment process was fairly well defined from the very beginning, they’ve had time to ‘finesse’ it since then.
It is not what you know, it is not who you know. It is not even what you know about who you know.
This is the civil service at its absolute worst, it is well beyond ‘jobs for the boys’. It is not only totally unbelievable, it is totally beyond a decent persons comprehension.
Most of us read about the primitive countries & shake our heads because it can never happen here. Listen up & hear the most truth that you have ever heard, we are the ones who taught them how to be so corrupt !
£40k eh? Blimey - That’s nearly as much as I’m getting now! But I don’t do the full rotating shift nonsense, working weekends etc. And as I said, I have 6 points on my licence anyway so “I’m out” as they say.
Is this a case of "The wages of sin are death, but the hours are good"?
What is a typical week’s hours for those heady heights of £21k?
Y’see, if it were a part time job, yours truly might be interested… 
Which degree did they want btw, or was it “any degree or equivalent”?
Had a blow out the other day, phoned it in, and they turned up and coned the area off for the tyre fitter to arrive, no problems there.
One fella was a good un had a chat, nice fella.The other kicked my tyres and asked if I checked the tyre pressures before I began the journey ? ■■■■
Got talking and they were gobsmacked I earnt over twice as much as them 
Winseer:
Is this a case of "The wages of sin are death, but the hours are good"?What is a typical week’s hours for those heady heights of £21k?
Y’see, if it were a part time job, yours truly might be interested…
Well sociology or drama it seems, anyone with a proper degree can usually command a much better paid job - even these days.
My sister gained a degree through the Open University, took her five years.
She now gets paid £35 an hour 
£1400 a week, for 40 hours work.
Thats £72,900 a year !
brados:
Winseer:
Is this a case of "The wages of sin are death, but the hours are good"?What is a typical week’s hours for those heady heights of £21k?
Y’see, if it were a part time job, yours truly might be interested…
Well sociology or drama it seems, anyone with a proper degree can usually command a much better paid job - even these days.
If it’s “any old degree” then, I’m surprised there are not loads of unemployed young folk lining up to do it…
I’m also interested as to where someone with a “good” degree can go, and command an instant £75k job as they used to be able to…
These days, poking a masters degree in Chemistry at some interviewer will just get yourself dismissed out-of-hand as some arrogant ex-grammar school git who “might have been welcome had he been prepared to do the first 10 years for £25 a week”… Jeez, that was bad enough in the '80s - let alone now!
How the devil does anyone with a full time job get to live these days?
I thought it was just us skivvy drivers who were hard up - because one looks around the road at all the 62-63 plate cars passing, and you have to ask yourself “What do THEY do for a living?” Why are people in good jobs so secret about it? - They can’t all be spooks or sold their souls to get their “live without debt” jobs surely?
Winseer:
brados:
Winseer:
Is this a case of "The wages of sin are death, but the hours are good"?.
How the devil does anyone with a full time job get to live these days?
I thought it was just us skivvy drivers who were hard up - because one looks around the road at all the 62-63 plate cars passing, and you have to ask yourself “What do THEY do for a living?” Why are people in good jobs so secret about it? - They can’t all be spooks or sold their souls to get their “live without debt” jobs surely?
Maybe those with good jobs keep quiet about it so numpties don’t apply and kick the arse out the job with sickies ■■■■ taking and incompetence.
Be honest now how many people in our profession do you personally know that you would employ if you were looking, if you can come up with 5 you’ll be doing well.
Thanks for the replies guys. In a former life as a psychiatric nurse I was well versed in the vagaries of government agencies. Shift work appeals to me as well. I’m currently doing trunking work Mon-Fri and it’s killing me. Working all week, just to look forward to the weekend. I’ve spoken to a couple of HATO’s whilst on break and they seem to really enjoy the diversity of the job, which also appeals to me. Basic salary is 18k, but shift allowances on top of that, plus a good pension. Never going to get that from working for a two bit haulier. Application was sent yesterday and the closing date is the 7th of Oct, so here’s hoping.
Average take home on a flat month is approx £1550 after deductions. It’s not a bad job, I dont have any qualifications to speak off, but I had 20 years of “operational” experience so qualifications aren’t everything. 
mds141:
The Highways Agency are undergoing a national recruitment drive. I’ve applied for a position as a Traffic Officer. Anyone one here any experience of working for them.
You want to be a Traffic Womble? Why? Are you in the scrap metal business ?
Tipper Tom:
mds141:
The Highways Agency are undergoing a national recruitment drive. I’ve applied for a position as a Traffic Officer. Anyone one here any experience of working for them.You want to be a Traffic Womble? Why? Are you in the scrap metal business ?
■■
?
Sorry I phrased that badly.
Why do you want to be a Traffic Womble?