Arriva Wales vacancies

[herdster]

Hi ,

I am new to the forum although i have been reading threads with interest over the last couple of months.
I am looking to get int the railway industry , preferably as a driver , and noticed Arriva Wales advertising for trainee drivers in Pwllheli and Machynlleth.

My questions are , do Arriva insist on living within half an hour of depot or will they accept a relocation and where does the bulk of the training take place , I'm presuming it's at the depot concerned .

Many thanks in advance for any answers.

Herdster

 

[HSTfan!!!]

You should be okay relocating, don't see why not, bulk of the training i.e. rules, pts etc probably cardiff but sometimes training gets undertaken in shrewsbury. Traction knowledge is possibly at the home depot, not sure on that one. We have driver simulators based at Cardiff and also at Crewe I think.
Best of luck!

 

[herdster]

Hi ,

Got an email from Arriva and they say that relocating is ok however reading between the lines it looks like they have had applicants saying they will relocate but when it comes to it they try and get out of it .

Training looks like being in either Chester or Shrewsbury.

I am hoping that due to lack of response to this thread not many people are interested , gives me a better chance of getting the job.

Herdster

 

[Bellwater]

I've applied for ATW in the past, you need to have a good reason for moving(Family usually helps).

Was all set for Cardiff until i stupidly decided it wasn't for me :roll:

 

[HSTfan!!!]

I was interested as I already work for them, but relocation for me is a no no, just bought a house here. Had I known vacancies were coming up I would have gone for it, but waiting for a cardiff or bristol job to come up which are like gold dust atm it seems.

 

[TDK]

Hi ,

I am new to the forum although i have been reading threads with interest over the last couple of months.
I am looking to get int the railway industry , preferably as a driver , and noticed Arriva Wales advertising for trainee drivers in Pwllheli and Machynlleth.

My questions are , do Arriva insist on living within half an hour of depot or will they accept a relocation and where does the bulk of the training take place , I'm presuming it's at the depot concerned .

Many thanks in advance for any answers.

Herdster

ATW willinsist on 1 hour from the depot as a maximum, they do take on drivers who will relocate and usually most of the training is done in Cardiff. Believe me there will be a high interest in the positions especially in that loctaion. Good luck with it.

 

[robert2000]

lol i wont bother applying. im quite happy with my New Deal rail card.

besides, ive been unemployed for 3 years, i could count the number of interviews ive had on 1 of my hands.

cv's, specs, application forms, they give me nightmares lol

 

[herdster]

Not quite sure where you are coming from there Robert but thanks to everyone else for their replies.

It's quite a tight time schedule for interviews etc . Hopefully Arriva aren't like the majority of other TOCS seem to be i.e stringing things out and even removing vacancies after some poor sods have done the tests ( think it was LOROL i read about , either on this or another forum).

Anyway best of luck to all who apply.

Herdster

 

[175001]

I offered to relocate from Wales to Manchester to get a guards job, and it worked! If you show them via your application, and hopefully the interview, that your serious about relocating, then that will be a big advantage!

And I agree with TDK. I already know 6 people from my area, who have applied for the Pwllheli post!!

 

[TDK]

Hi ,

Got an email from Arriva and they say that relocating is ok however reading between the lines it looks like they have had applicants saying they will relocate but when it comes to it they try and get out of it .

Training looks like being in either Chester or Shrewsbury.

I am hoping that due to lack of response to this thread not many people are interested , gives me a better chance of getting the job.

Herdster

I have done driver ecruitment for ATW before and they are a fair company when it comes to recruiting, a lotof management time goes in to the process.

1. An application form must be filledin,this is the major stumbling block, the form must be filled in correctly,nothing missed out not even your age and it must be hand written and readable, out of 500 applications this was windled down to 60 for testing.

2. The tests and interviews.

You are being assesed the minute you walk through the door, I have sat there with 10 potential trainee drivers listening to their banter.

You wil lhave a presentation - You must listen to this and take notes, because if you get to the interview and you are asked "what do you know about the company" and you say nothing it don't look good considering all you need to know was in the presentation.

The testing is hard however if you take a logical approach to it and understand what the assessors are looking for it is quite easy.

The interview is basic, you must answer the questions and don't dig a hole, tell the truth and don't make up stories, if you have been off sick you must tell the interviewer if asked. When aske why you want to be a train driver don't say because you are a spotter or you want it for the money.

The medical, you need to have a body mass index of 33 or under, be of reasonable health, not colour blind, not had lazer eye surgery, have good hearing and eyesight, specs are ok.

Just remember the most important part is the application form.

Oh yeah 95% of allapplicants are not enthusiasts so they wouldn't be on this forum, check out the ATW website and take in some info for your interview

 

[navydavy1968]

Oh yeah 95% of all applicants are not enthusiasts so they wouldn't be on this forum

Sorry mate, but I would say most of the people on this forum are not enthusiasts but are people serious about getting a job in the rail industry.

I certainly am not an enthusiast!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Nice article above though TDK, very helpful. Cheers for that!

 

[TDK]

Sorry mate, but I would say most of the people on this forum are not enthusiasts but are people serious about getting a job in the rail industry.

I certainly am not an enthusiast!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Nice article above though TDK, very helpful. Cheers for that!

Sorry to dissagree mate but most of the are and nearly all enthusiasts want to be a train driver. I would hint a guess that 90% of folks on here are enthusiasts or closet enthusiasts. I am talking of the forum in general.

 

[herdster]

TDK , many thanks for that reply , that's the kind of insight i was hoping for .

That's a very high failure rate from the application forms . I must admit i would be very disappointed to fail at that hurdle as I consider myself of average intelligence with a lot of experience to give , however it's not my opinion that matters. I guess if you sell youself well and don't make stupid mistakes on the form you should be ok.

One other question does anyone know the working rota and routes drivers do from Pwllheli.

Herdster

 

[merlodlliw]

TDK , many thanks for that reply , that's the kind of insight i was hoping for .

That's a very high failure rate from the application forms . I must admit i would be very disappointed to fail at that hurdle as I consider myself of average intelligence with a lot of experience to give , however it's not my opinion that matters. I guess if you sell youself well and don't make stupid mistakes on the form you should be ok.

One other question does anyone know the working rota and routes drivers do from Pwllheli.

Herdster

Applying for a job at this time is difficult, so if ATW are doing a real sift of applications thats good, as most employers know its an easy market, and
I am sorry to say treat applicants terrible, one other point, do you speak
Welsh as you mention Pwllheli? it will help.

As for rotas & routes, The old CEO of ATW told us he wanted all drivers to
know most routes, so my guess is local & as far as Brum Int etc. As for rotas
ask a driver.

Robert, with an attitude like you just told us about, no one will touch you
with work,

175001, did ATW offer assistance with your move?

M

 

[175001]

175001, did ATW offer assistance with your move?

I work for Northern out of Victoria now. There was nothing on offer with ATW at Holyhead or the Junction when I was looking, and no, Northern did not help with my relocation, which is fair enough as I said I would relocate for the job.

 

[TDK]

Applying for a job at this time is difficult, so if ATW are doing a real sift of applications thats good, as most employers know its an easy market, and
I am sorry to say treat applicants terrible, one other point, do you speak
Welsh as you mention Pwllheli? it will help.

As for rotas & routes, The old CEO of ATW told us he wanted all drivers to
know most routes, so my guess is local & as far as Brum Int etc. As for rotas
ask a driver.

Robert, with an attitude like you just told us about, no one will touch you
with work,

175001, did ATW offer assistance with your move?

M

ATW won't offer assistance because if the person is not willing to move off their own back they don't want the job enough, back to the sifting, I have sat for 12 hours sifting through applications and any with a minor section missing was binned due to the fact that you need some sort of vetting, some of the applicants had an HND in mechanical engineering some were guards working for the company already, if that form is not correctly filled in it will be certainly binned. AFAIK, I do not think they go to Birminham anymore since the depot at Shrewsbury opened. I think that the extra recruitment is to cover for the ERTMS project.

 

[herdster]

Hi TDK,

Being new to this industry i am not 100% sure what ERTMS is , some sort of traffic control system i think. Maybe you could enlighten me .
Also why would this necessitate new drivers?

Thanks,

Herdster

 

[TDK]

Hi TDK,

Being new to this industry i am not 100% sure what ERTMS is , some sort of traffic control system i think. Maybe you could enlighten me .
Also why would this necessitate new drivers?

Thanks,

Herdster

I think it stands for European train management systems or something, I havn't had anything to do with it .Basically it is an in cab signalling system being installed on the cambrian on a trial basis, the vancancies are generated as there is an immence amount of training involved

 

[herdster]

Hi,

Having put my application in for Arriva ( the deadline was 24th) , what happens now? On the website it stated telephone interviews first week in Feb, is this the first contact we will have or will they give us some warning ?
Just wondering if anyone has any inside info or experience of how ATW operate .

Herdster

 

[HSTfan!!!]

not sure about driving positions, but I'd expect some kind of confirmation that you've passed the first paper shuffle

 

[The Planner]

I think it stands for European train management systems or something, I havn't had anything to do with it .Basically it is an in cab signalling system being installed on the cambrian on a trial basis

Bloody big trial to take out if it doesnt work !! it will stay even if it's rubbish.

 

[herdster]

Telephone interviews for ATW trainee positions meant to start today .
Has anyone who applied had any communication , I'm presuming as i haven't heard i didn't get through the paper sift unless they are behing schedule , here's hoping.

Herdster

 

[HSTfan!!!]

I know someone who applied has had telephone confirmation of receipt of application form.