Avanti - OnBoard Customer Service Assistant

[stawbs83]

Hello all,

I have recently applied for the above role and keen to hear from those working for Avanti on what the company is like to work for?
If anyone is currently employed in this position, I’d be very grateful for further information on the shift pattern.

Thank you.

 

[Hrav1656]

I’ve applied too for the Wolverhampton post

 

[stawbs83]

Fab - best of luck! Do you already work for Avanti or another TOC?

 

[Hrav1656]

Fab - best of luck! Do you already work for Avanti or another TOC?

I don’t work for any rail company I’m an air conditioning engineer at the moment. Best of luck for yourself too.

 

[micycle]

Hello,

I notice your location is Glasgow, I assume that's the depot you've applied for?
I'm a new CSA at Glasgow, so far my experience with the company has been good. Training started with a two week course in Crewe and was followed by a few weeks of shadowing experienced CSAs before going out on my own.

The job itself involves working in either the onboard shop or the first class carriages. When working in the shop you're responsible for setting up the shop for departure and also maintaining stock levels through your journey by placing orders when needed. You're also expected to do announcements throughout the journey letting passengers know when the shop is opening/closing and promoting meal deals etc.

In first class during the week, you work alongside a service manager and chef to provide an at seat service from the onboard kitchen. You're also required to greet passengers who're boarding first class at each station on the route. During the week there are either 2 or 3 carriages of first class depending on which shift you're on and of course passenger numbers vary train to train.

If you're working first class at the weekend you work alone, however, there is only one coach of first class, coach K, which has a maximum capacity of 18 passengers and is rarely that busy at the weekend. As there is no chef at the weekend, you're required to prepare some meals using the oven/microwave. The weekend menu is reduced so you're not doing anything challenging and there are clear guidelines for you to refer to so it's not difficult at all.

Regarding shifts, it depends what contract you're on, there are different rosters based on your contracted hours. I'm on the 41hr roster. All of the rosters are rolling rosters, meaning that each week of the roster is pre-set, you start at a specific point and move down one position each week and eventually end up back at your starting point (I hope that makes sense) So that means you can see what you're working way in advance.

You do different journeys on each shift. For example, you may do Glasgow to London and back one day, which would be around 11.5hrs and the following day may be Glasgow to Preston and back, which might be around 6.5hrs, so shift lengths vary. The earliest possible start is 0358 and the latest finish is 0023, so you working anywhere between those times.

In terms of days off, or rest days (RD) as the railway calls them, they vary week to week. The week starts on a Sunday. This week I'm off today (Sunday), I'm working Mon to Wed, off on Thursday, working Friday and off Saturday. So sometimes the days off are split up across the week but sometimes they're together.

As I said, I'm new so have limited experience with the company but I hope that answers some questions. If you have any more, I'm happy to help!

 

[Hrav1656]

Hello,

I notice your location is Glasgow, I assume that's the depot you've applied for?
I'm a new CSA at Glasgow, so far my experience with the company has been good. Training started with a two week course in Crewe and was followed by a few weeks of shadowing experienced CSAs before going out on my own.

The job itself involves working in either the onboard shop or the first class carriages. When working in the shop you're responsible for setting up the shop for departure and also maintaining stock levels through your journey by placing orders when needed. You're also expected to do announcements throughout the journey letting passengers know when the shop is opening/closing and promoting meal deals etc.

In first class during the week, you work alongside a service manager and chef to provide an at seat service from the onboard kitchen. You're also required to greet passengers who're boarding first class at each station on the route. During the week there are either 2 or 3 carriages of first class depending on which shift you're on and of course passenger numbers vary train to train.

If you're working first class at the weekend you work alone, however, there is only one coach of first class, coach K, which has a maximum capacity of 18 passengers and is rarely that busy at the weekend. As there is no chef at the weekend, you're required to prepare some meals using the oven/microwave. The weekend menu is reduced so you're not doing anything challenging and there are clear guidelines for you to refer to so it's not difficult at all.

Regarding shifts, it depends what contract you're on, there are different rosters based on your contracted hours. I'm on the 41hr roster. All of the rosters are rolling rosters, meaning that each week of the roster is pre-set, you start at a specific point and move down one position each week and eventually end up back at your starting point (I hope that makes sense) So that means you can see what you're working way in advance.

You do different journeys on each shift. For example, you may do Glasgow to London and back one day, which would be around 11.5hrs and the following day may be Glasgow to Preston and back, which might be around 6.5hrs, so shift lengths vary. The earliest possible start is 0358 and the latest finish is 0023, so you working anywhere between those times.

In terms of days off, or rest days (RD) as the railway calls them, they vary week to week. The week starts on a Sunday. This week I'm off today (Sunday), I'm working Mon to Wed, off on Thursday, working Friday and off Saturday. So sometimes the days off are split up across the week but sometimes they're together.

As I said, I'm new so have limited experience with the company but I hope that answers some questions. If you have any more, I'm happy to help!

This was an amazing insight to the job at hand, thank you for sharing.

 

[micycle]

This was an amazing insight to the job at hand, thank you for sharing.

No bother at all!

 

[Hrav1656]

I just sat the artic shores assessment, the final task with the dial I could not complete I sat on it for two hours, I guess that’s me out of the running.

 

[stawbs83]

Hello,

I notice your location is Glasgow, I assume that's the depot you've applied for?
I'm a new CSA at Glasgow, so far my experience with the company has been good. Training started with a two week course in Crewe and was followed by a few weeks of shadowing experienced CSAs before going out on my own.

The job itself involves working in either the onboard shop or the first class carriages. When working in the shop you're responsible for setting up the shop for departure and also maintaining stock levels through your journey by placing orders when needed. You're also expected to do announcements throughout the journey letting passengers know when the shop is opening/closing and promoting meal deals etc.

In first class during the week, you work alongside a service manager and chef to provide an at seat service from the onboard kitchen. You're also required to greet passengers who're boarding first class at each station on the route. During the week there are either 2 or 3 carriages of first class depending on which shift you're on and of course passenger numbers vary train to train.

If you're working first class at the weekend you work alone, however, there is only one coach of first class, coach K, which has a maximum capacity of 18 passengers and is rarely that busy at the weekend. As there is no chef at the weekend, you're required to prepare some meals using the oven/microwave. The weekend menu is reduced so you're not doing anything challenging and there are clear guidelines for you to refer to so it's not difficult at all.

Regarding shifts, it depends what contract you're on, there are different rosters based on your contracted hours. I'm on the 41hr roster. All of the rosters are rolling rosters, meaning that each week of the roster is pre-set, you start at a specific point and move down one position each week and eventually end up back at your starting point (I hope that makes sense) So that means you can see what you're working way in advance.

You do different journeys on each shift. For example, you may do Glasgow to London and back one day, which would be around 11.5hrs and the following day may be Glasgow to Preston and back, which might be around 6.5hrs, so shift lengths vary. The earliest possible start is 0358 and the latest finish is 0023, so you working anywhere between those times.

In terms of days off, or rest days (RD) as the railway calls them, they vary week to week. The week starts on a Sunday. This week I'm off today (Sunday), I'm working Mon to Wed, off on Thursday, working Friday and off Saturday. So sometimes the days off are split up across the week but sometimes they're together.

As I said, I'm new so have limited experience with the company but I hope that answers some questions. If you have any more, I'm happy to help!

My apologies, I have only just seen your response.

Thank you so very much for this information and taking the time to write it all up! I wasn't quite expecting a reply with such detail - very much appreciated.

I just sat the artic shores assessment, the final task with the dial I could not complete I sat on it for two hours, I guess that’s me out of the running.

For that particular exercise, I'm sure the instructions stated that the task was practically impossible to finish but the aim was to see how you "engaged" with the activity. Don't despair just yet!

Hello,

I notice your location is Glasgow, I assume that's the depot you've applied for?
I'm a new CSA at Glasgow, so far my experience with the company has been good. Training started with a two week course in Crewe and was followed by a few weeks of shadowing experienced CSAs before going out on my own.

The job itself involves working in either the onboard shop or the first class carriages. When working in the shop you're responsible for setting up the shop for departure and also maintaining stock levels through your journey by placing orders when needed. You're also expected to do announcements throughout the journey letting passengers know when the shop is opening/closing and promoting meal deals etc.

In first class during the week, you work alongside a service manager and chef to provide an at seat service from the onboard kitchen. You're also required to greet passengers who're boarding first class at each station on the route. During the week there are either 2 or 3 carriages of first class depending on which shift you're on and of course passenger numbers vary train to train.

If you're working first class at the weekend you work alone, however, there is only one coach of first class, coach K, which has a maximum capacity of 18 passengers and is rarely that busy at the weekend. As there is no chef at the weekend, you're required to prepare some meals using the oven/microwave. The weekend menu is reduced so you're not doing anything challenging and there are clear guidelines for you to refer to so it's not difficult at all.

Regarding shifts, it depends what contract you're on, there are different rosters based on your contracted hours. I'm on the 41hr roster. All of the rosters are rolling rosters, meaning that each week of the roster is pre-set, you start at a specific point and move down one position each week and eventually end up back at your starting point (I hope that makes sense) So that means you can see what you're working way in advance.

You do different journeys on each shift. For example, you may do Glasgow to London and back one day, which would be around 11.5hrs and the following day may be Glasgow to Preston and back, which might be around 6.5hrs, so shift lengths vary. The earliest possible start is 0358 and the latest finish is 0023, so you working anywhere between those times.

In terms of days off, or rest days (RD) as the railway calls them, they vary week to week. The week starts on a Sunday. This week I'm off today (Sunday), I'm working Mon to Wed, off on Thursday, working Friday and off Saturday. So sometimes the days off are split up across the week but sometimes they're together.

As I said, I'm new so have limited experience with the company but I hope that answers some questions. If you have any more, I'm happy to help!

Glasgow is where I am yes!

Do you ever get 2 or 3 consecutive days off or is it always just the one? On the back of that, when it comes to weekends off, do you either get the Saturday or Sunday but never both? And how often do you go into earlies from lates after a rest day(s)?

I don't know if this is too much to ask but I wonder if you wouldn't mind sharing an example of a two/three week shift roster.

I regularly volunteer at an organisation that is close to heart so just trying to see how I would fit this all in should I be considered for this position.

 

[tiptoptaff]

My apologies, I have only just seen your response.

Thank you so very much for this information and taking the time to write it all up! I wasn't quite expecting a reply with such detail - very much appreciated.



For that particular exercise, I'm sure the instructions stated that the task was practically impossible to finish but the aim was to see how you "engaged" with the activity. Don't despair just yet!



Glasgow is where I am yes!

Do you ever get 2 or 3 consecutive days off or is it always just the one? On the back of that, when it comes to weekends off, do you either get the Saturday or Sunday but never both? And how often do you go into earlies from lates after a rest day(s)?

I don't know if this is too much to ask but I wonder if you wouldn't mind sharing an example of a two/three week shift roster.

I regularly volunteer at an organisation that is close to heart so just trying to see how I would fit this all in should I be considered for this position.

Without knowing specific details of the Avanti on-board host roster at Glasgow, I can assure you that you will have full weekends off somewhere in the roster.

There's not an LDC for any grade, at any location in the country that would agree a roster where you never got a full weekend off. and if there was, they'd be voted out at the next election cycle, if they lasted that long!

 

[Hrav1656]

My apologies, I have only just seen your response.

Thank you so very much for this information and taking the time to write it all up! I wasn't quite expecting a reply with such detail - very much appreciated.



For that particular exercise, I'm sure the instructions stated that the task was practically impossible to finish but the aim was to see how you "engaged" with the activity. Don't despair just yet!



Glasgow is where I am yes!

Do you ever get 2 or 3 consecutive days off or is it always just the one? On the back of that, when it comes to weekends off, do you either get the Saturday or Sunday but never both? And how often do you go into earlies from lates after a rest day(s)?

I don't know if this is too much to ask but I wonder if you wouldn't mind sharing an example of a two/three week shift roster.

I regularly volunteer at an organisation that is close to heart so just trying to see how I would fit this all in should I be considered for this position.

I did get a top mark for perseverance on the feedback I will keep my fingers crossed for now.

 

[micycle]

My apologies, I have only just seen your response.

Thank you so very much for this information and taking the time to write it all up! I wasn't quite expecting a reply with such detail - very much appreciated.



For that particular exercise, I'm sure the instructions stated that the task was practically impossible to finish but the aim was to see how you "engaged" with the activity. Don't despair just yet!



Glasgow is where I am yes!

Do you ever get 2 or 3 consecutive days off or is it always just the one? On the back of that, when it comes to weekends off, do you either get the Saturday or Sunday but never both? And how often do you go into earlies from lates after a rest day(s)?

I don't know if this is too much to ask but I wonder if you wouldn't mind sharing an example of a two/three week shift roster.

I regularly volunteer at an organisation that is close to heart so just trying to see how I would fit this all in should I be considered for this position.

No bother at all, I struggled to find much information when I applied for the job so I'm happy to put some out there!

On the 41hr roster we get two consecutive days off fairly often and they actually fall on the weekend quite a lot. We have 7 full weekends off out of 13 weeks. Two of those are 3 day weekends, one run is Saturday to Monday and the other is Friday to Sunday. I haven't paid much attention to the 35hr roster but I know they get 2/3 consecutive days off too.

In terms of switching from lates to earlies and vice versa, it of course happens but there are rules about how many hours you need to have between shifts so that does a bit to help. You do tend to stay on a week or two of earlies/lates before switching over so it doesn't vary too much day to day.

Here's a random 4 week section of the 41hr roster.

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
RD	1106 - 2223	1126 - 2119	RD	1126 - 2119	1106 - 2223	RD
RD	0503 - 1618	0559 - 1319	0608 - 1732	RD	0518 - 1716	RD
RD	RD	0503 - 1618	RD	0706 - 1515	0503 - 1618	0559 - 1715
1125 - 2323	RD	0805 - 1423	1610 - 2332	1527 - 2127	1600 - 2322	RD

I hope that helps!

I did get a top mark for perseverance on the feedback I will keep my fingers crossed for now.

Good luck! I hope it works out for you!

 

[stawbs83]

No bother at all, I struggled to find much information when I applied for the job so I'm happy to put some out there!

On the 41hr roster we get two consecutive days off fairly often and they actually fall on the weekend quite a lot. We have 7 full weekends off out of 13 weeks. Two of those are 3 day weekends, one run is Saturday to Monday and the other is Friday to Sunday. I haven't paid much attention to the 35hr roster but I know they get 2/3 consecutive days off too.

In terms of switching from lates to earlies and vice versa, it of course happens but there are rules about how many hours you need to have between shifts so that does a bit to help. You do tend to stay on a week or two of earlies/lates before switching over so it doesn't vary too much day to day.

Here's a random 4 week section of the 41hr roster.

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
RD	1106 - 2223	1126 - 2119	RD	1126 - 2119	1106 - 2223	RD
RD	0503 - 1618	0559 - 1319	0608 - 1732	RD	0518 - 1716	RD
RD	RD	0503 - 1618	RD	0706 - 1515	0503 - 1618	0559 - 1715
1125 - 2323	RD	0805 - 1423	1610 - 2332	1527 - 2127	1600 - 2322	RD

I hope that helps!




Good luck! I hope it works out for you!

It certainly does!! You’re a star - thank you so much.

It certainly does!! You’re a star - thank you so much

 

[frano_38]

No bother at all, I struggled to find much information when I applied for the job so I'm happy to put some out there!

On the 41hr roster we get two consecutive days off fairly often and they actually fall on the weekend quite a lot. We have 7 full weekends off out of 13 weeks. Two of those are 3 day weekends, one run is Saturday to Monday and the other is Friday to Sunday. I haven't paid much attention to the 35hr roster but I know they get 2/3 consecutive days off too.

In terms of switching from lates to earlies and vice versa, it of course happens but there are rules about how many hours you need to have between shifts so that does a bit to help. You do tend to stay on a week or two of earlies/lates before switching over so it doesn't vary too much day to day.

Here's a random 4 week section of the 41hr roster.

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
RD	1106 - 2223	1126 - 2119	RD	1126 - 2119	1106 - 2223	RD
RD	0503 - 1618	0559 - 1319	0608 - 1732	RD	0518 - 1716	RD
RD	RD	0503 - 1618	RD	0706 - 1515	0503 - 1618	0559 - 1715
1125 - 2323	RD	0805 - 1423	1610 - 2332	1527 - 2127	1600 - 2322	RD

I hope that helps!




Good luck! I hope it works out for you!

Hi there! Thank you so much for sharing with us. I am just wondering if you have any experience with Talent Bank recruitment from Avanti. I got a positive news about the Talent Bank, but not sure when is start, or when they will offer a vacancy. Do you have a any experience about it?