Irish Rail Jobs Discussion

khaldrogo

I got the same email before 4pm but I didn't see it until a few minutes ago.....places had already been filled!!!

Doghouses

khaldrogo wrote: »

I got the same email before 4pm but I didn't see it until a few minutes ago.....places had already been filled!!!

Got same, confirmation of medical tomorrow

Dazice

Doghouses wrote: »

Got same, confirmation of medical tomorrow

What time doghouse? I’m there tomorrow too, wear a red rose so I can put a face to the name

mario84s

Did phase 2 today, they said they'll be in touch friday or monday regarding medicals. The course will start beginning of march, roughly 20 people will be selected.

Ais123

khaldrogo wrote: »

I got the same email before 4pm but I didn't see it until a few minutes ago.....places had already been filled!!!

I asked when the next batch of medicals are after these last minute ones and she said end of this month so be prepared with work time off guys

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

mario84s wrote: »

Did phase 2 today, they said they'll be in touch friday or monday regarding medicals. The course will start beginning of march, roughly 20 people will be selected.

Like I predicted

I'd say that will be 2 different classes

CiboC

AssaultedPeanut wrote: »

Just got offered some short notice time slots for the medical, did Phase 2 this week on Monday.

Same here, I did the Monday session and got that email too, and missed it too!!

If we got an invite for a medical, can we take it that we got through the phase 2 testing now as well?

Ais123 wrote: »

I asked when the next batch of medicals are after these last minute ones and she said end of this month so be prepared with work time off guys

Also (for me) gives me a chance to get a bit of exercise in....:)

mario84s

CiboC wrote: »

Also (for me) gives me a chance to get a bit of exercise in....:)

oh i asked about the BMI, and she said not to worry

jenjenHarley

mario84s wrote: »

oh i asked about the BMI, and she said not to worry

Phew 😊

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

jenjenHarley wrote: »

Phew 😊

I'm not trying to piss on anyone's chips here and I don't know anyones circumstances , but don't rule it out as an issue just yet.

They won't tell you about that sort of stuff in the assessments because they don't have anything to do with the medical department, they only arrange the time for you to go to the medical

At the medical center it's the doctors that go through it all and tell you what they need to tell you, it's up to them at the end of the day if your fit to operate a train under their rules etc.

Again , I'm not trying to get anyone down or anything but just be aware.

And I do wish you all luck with it !


On a different note, probably a tad pre-mature but did anyone get a hint of interview dates ?

mario84s

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime wrote: »

On a different note, probably a tad pre-mature but did anyone get a hint of interview dates ?

as far as i could gather, as soon as medicals are finished. there will be loads of candidates through to the interview.

Doghouses

I can’t see them spending money running medicals which include BMI tests, if the results won’t have any significance

khaldrogo

mario84s wrote:

oh i asked about the BMI, and she said not to worry

In what way ?

GM228

With so many posts asking about the various requirements for medicals and training have a read of Directive 2007/59/EC.

Annex II deals with medicals.

These are the European wide legal minimum standards required for medicals, training, licencing etc of a train driver and have been transposed into Irish law via the European Communities (Train Drivers Certification) Regulations 2010 (as amended).

Regarding training classes I have been told that 25 external candidates will be chosen this year and 3 classes are scheduled for commencement in 2019, but, there are 14 internal staff already waiting to go training so classes will be a mix of internal and external applicants. 8 is the max per class. Some candidates chosen this year will not start until 2020 I believe.

jenjenHarley

GM228 wrote: »

With so many posts asking about the various requirements for medicals and training have a read of Directive 2007/59/EC.

Annex II deals with medicals.

These are the European wide legal minimum standards required for medicals, training, licencing etc of a train driver and have been transposed into Irish law via the European Communities (Train Drivers Certification) Regulations 2010 (as amended).

Regarding training classes I have been told that 25 external candidates will be chosen this year and 3 classes are scheduled for commencement in 2019, but, there are 14 internal staff already waiting to go training so classes will be a mix of internal and external applicants. 8 is the max per class. Some candidates chosen this year will not start until 2020 I believe.

This is great information, thank you!

jenjenHarley

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime wrote: »

I'm not trying to piss on anyone's chips here and I don't know anyones circumstances , but don't rule it out as an issue just yet.

They won't tell you about that sort of stuff in the assessments because they don't have anything to do with the medical department, they only arrange the time for you to go to the medical

At the medical center it's the doctors that go through it all and tell you what they need to tell you, it's up to them at the end of the day if your fit to operate a train under their rules etc.

Again , I'm not trying to get anyone down or anything but just be aware.

And I do wish you all luck with it !


On a different note, probably a tad pre-mature but did anyone get a hint of interview dates ?

Ah I know of course. Sure I suppose I'll just have to wait until the medical itself to see what they say. But thanks a mill and best of luck to you too

khaldrogo

GM228 wrote:

With so many posts asking about the various requirements for medicals and training have a read of

Doesn't actually specify anything in regards to standards needed to pass the medical

mario84s

khaldrogo wrote: »

In what way ?

i'm 183cm and 109kg at the moment. not fat but have a big belly. she pretty much said not to worry, if you can fit in the driver's chair they'll take ya!

khaldrogo

mario84s wrote:

i'm 183cm and 109kg at the moment. not fat but have a big belly. she pretty much said not to worry, if you can fit in the driver's chair they'll take ya!

If that's true then I'll start to get my hopes up again

Jamie2k9

GM228 wrote: »

With so many posts asking about the various requirements for medicals and training have a read of Directive 2007/59/EC.

Annex II deals with medicals.

These are the European wide legal minimum standards required for medicals, training, licencing etc of a train driver and have been transposed into Irish law via the European Communities (Train Drivers Certification) Regulations 2010 (as amended).

Regarding training classes I have been told that 25 external candidates will be chosen this year and 3 classes are scheduled for commencement in 2019, but, there are 14 internal staff already waiting to go training so classes will be a mix of internal and external applicants. 8 is the max per class. Some candidates chosen this year will not start until 2020 I believe.

Were the 14 selected before they went public?

mario84s

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Were the 14 selected before they went public?

do you reckon out of the 20-25 starting, 14 are internal, meaning less than few will be selected from 200 odd that attended the last few days?

Doghouses

mario84s wrote: »

do you reckon out of the 20-25 starting, 14 are internal, meaning less than few will be selected from 200 odd that attended the last few days?

Hope not, hardly go through all this for just 9 candidates. I’m hoping they recruiting 25 for March and 25 maybe 2019. If that info is correct
Gives us all better odds

blueband

Doghouses wrote: »

Hope not, hardly go through all this for just 9 candidates. I’m hoping they recruiting 25 for March and 25 maybe 2019. If that info is correct
Gives us all better odds

They're not but you do realise it was 100 jobs over a period of time and they are not all going to be in Dublin...anyway, not sure why you're questioning any of this as you seemed to be very sure before of all your inside knowledge, not to mention the medical you implied you were called for a week ago which apparently you only found out about today......

Jamie2k9

mario84s wrote: »

do you reckon out of the 20-25 starting, 14 are internal, meaning less than few will be selected from 200 odd that attended the last few days?

I would find it more interesting that circa 60% of trainees are internal if they were not selected before they went external.

Ais123

Didn’t they announce they were going external because they couldn’t fill them internal? Don’t think they actually said how many were filled already but makes you realise how steep the competition is going to be for such few positions.

Judging by the numbers at the assessment centres there’s at least 5/6 of us vowing for 1 spot.

It all rests on the interview. Wonder will it be a panel of people or just the one interviewer

Doghouses

Ais123 wrote: »

Didn’t they announce they were going external because they couldn’t fill them internal? Don’t think they actually said how many were filled already but makes you realise how steep the competition is going to be for such few positions.

Judging by the numbers at the assessment centres there’s at least 5/6 of us vowing for 1 spot.

It all rests on the interview. Wonder will it be a panel of people or just the one interviewer

I’d say ur spot on there 5/6 , still done well to get this far. Some of The people doing tests are hr team so I’d imagine some of those with member of management team

Clodiagh87

I know Irish Rail can work in mysterious ways but considering the shortage of drivers if they have 14 internal applicants ready to go why are they not training them as we speak?

Effects

mario84s wrote: »

i'm 183cm and 109kg at the moment. not fat but have a big belly.

Does a big belly not count as fat?

mario84s

Effects wrote: »

Does a big belly not count as fat?

i knew it, you're the cie doctor?!:D i meant in my opinion, i'm not fat elsewhere

blueband

Clodiagh87 wrote: »

I know Irish Rail can work in mysterious ways but considering the shortage of drivers if they have 14 internal applicants ready to go why are they not training them as we speak?

Ais123 wrote: »

Didn’t they announce they were going external because they couldn’t fill them internal? Don’t think they actually said how many were filled already but makes you realise how steep the competition is going to be for such few positions.

Judging by the numbers at the assessment centres there’s at least 5/6 of us vowing for 1 spot.

It all rests on the interview. Wonder will it be a panel of people or just the one interviewer

Don't know how they usually do it, but there was at least one IR current staff member in the session I attended yesterday. Maybe they just assess them same as everyone else? Personally I'd have thought they'd take internal candidates first, and then recruit externally, doubt the Unions would be happy otherwise

Doghouses

blueband wrote: »

Don't know how they usually do it, but there was at least one IR current staff member in the session I attended yesterday. Maybe they just assess them same as everyone else? Personally I'd have thought they'd take internal candidates first, and then recruit externally, doubt the Unions would be happy otherwise

Now you say that there was also one in my session and tbh I got the impression that he was very familiar with concentration test on the pc.

GM228

khaldrogo wrote: »

Doesn't actually specify anything in regards to standards needed to pass the medical

Indeed, it just specifies the minimum tests required, the parameters of which are set by the rail company.

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Were the 14 selected before they went public?

Yes long before from when the mentoring issue was on going.

Clodiagh87 wrote: »

I know Irish Rail can work in mysterious ways but considering the shortage of drivers if they have 14 internal applicants ready to go why are they not training them as we speak?

They were delayed due to the mentoring driver issue, 2 training courses have since commenced and the 14 are the last selected under the old system.

Joepoe

Has Anybody who done phase 2 on Tuesday got an email response yet??

mario84s

Joepoe wrote: »

Has Anybody who done phase 2 on Tuesday got an email response yet??

i did phase 2 wednesday, and was told it'd be friday or monday by time they get back to us about medical

Doghouses

Passed medical! Pretty much in the bag now. Interview should be easy
It was easy enough thinking now

olearydc

Yap - -the way you are getting on, I say you will be driving mainline within a few weeks and CEO in no time --

Toashty91

I did phase 2 Monday and got the email Wednesday about last minute medicals on Thursday. By the time I had replied to say I couldn't do Thursday but would there be other dates available they had already sent the email saying they were all full, but they've yet to reply as to whether they'll contact me again about the next available medicals! They just said thank you to those who responded we will be in contact soon. Anybody else in on Monday in the same boat? I'm just panicking 🙈

jenjenHarley

Toashty91 wrote: »

I did phase 2 Monday and got the email Wednesday about last minute medicals on Thursday. By the time I had replied to say I couldn't do Thursday but would there be other dates available they had already sent the email saying they were all full, but they've yet to reply as to whether they'll contact me again about the next available medicals! They just said thank you to those who responded we will be in contact soon. Anybody else in on Monday in the same boat? I'm just panicking 🙈

I'm in the same boat. Dont be panicking. They said in the email those appointments were just for people with short notice.

Also, in the 2nd email they sent they said they'll be in contact very soon.

Doghouses

olearydc wrote: »

Yap - -the way you are getting on, I say you will be driving mainline within a few weeks and CEO in no time --

I have enquired about any fast tracking to management but Hr not responded yet.
I guess they are busy with the recruitment drive.
But thanks for that , glad you can sense that

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

Not to darken the mood but I've a feeling just because the medical was passed doesn't mean we're in the door

I think the interview could be make or break for all

Ais123

jenjenHarley wrote: »

I'm in the same boat. Dont be panicking. They said in the email those appointments were just for people with short notice.

Also, in the 2nd email they sent they said they'll be in contact very soon.

Don’t worry I was panicking too and emailed them to find out when the next batch is and they said end of the month.

Ais123

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime wrote: »

Not to darken the mood but I've a feeling just because the medical was passed doesn't mean we're in the door

I think the interview could be make or break for all

I agree the interview were always going to be the make and break. If you look at the assessments all off us are the top scorers which means they’ve eliminated all they could so far.

Still too many of us so it’ll be interviews and reference checks that’ll be whether we succeed or not.

Rootsblower

Ais123 wrote: »

I agree the interview were always going to be the make and break. If you look at the assessments all off us are the top scorers which means they’ve eliminated all they could so far.

Still too many of us so it’ll be interviews and reference checks that’ll be whether we succeed or not.

Just a heads up regarding interviews.
There may be a body language expert or psychologist in the interviews. I know a driver colleague who was giving evidence in an inquiry into an incident and part of the panel was a body language expert who just observed the driver as they gave their evidence. I would not be surprised if they used them at these interviews.

khaldrogo

Rootsblower wrote:

Just a heads up regarding interviews. There may be a body language expert or psychologist in the interviews. I know a driver colleague who was giving evidence in an inquiry into an incident and part of the panel was a body language expert who just observed the driver as they gave their evidence. I would not be surprised if they used them at these interviews.

Seems a bit much to me!

blueband

Rootsblower wrote: »

Just a heads up regarding interviews.
There may be a body language expert or psychologist in the interviews. I know a driver colleague who was giving evidence in an inquiry into an incident and part of the panel was a body language expert who just observed the driver as they gave their evidence. I would not be surprised if they used them at these interviews.

Sounds fair enough, would want to root out anyone trying to lie their way into the role considering the safety aspects. There's at least one here you would hope would be found out before they get much further in the process. Thanks for the heads up

Doghouses

Btw the medical is simple eye test hearing BMI blood pressure

Unless there is something wrong on basic tests ur ok and they might go further

Doghouses

I actually asked for you guys I don’t know why.....
so if you over BMI limit ( I don’t know what it is )
Only then will they run ecg etc...

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

Doghouses wrote: »

I actually asked for you guys I don’t know why.....
so if you over BMI limit ( I don’t know what it is )
Only then will they run ecg etc...

I just want to say this is not true.

According to the doc I'm exactly where I should be BMI wise and they still rang ECG

The ECG is to see what the heart is doing, if there's any issues with it. They have to run this test (which only last a few seconds)

If they didn't run this test on you then there could be the possibility they didn't need to because it would be a waste of time / resources.

Also you mentioned you haven't worked in 20 years.

Yes they may be looking for more females (if you even are one) but your age will go against you also.

They ain't gonna waste a lot of money training you when they could train someone 10 years or more younger and get more value for money.

So sorry but it doesn't look great for you. (Just opinion)

Doghouses

Doghouses wrote: »

I’m afraid it is you who is the troll. As the ecg would entail putting a strain on ur heart...ie treadmill or injection a few seconds is fantasy. I felt a complete sense of urgency. So unless they didn’t want to upset you in your BMI status is all I can think of however a few seconds for an ecg test is from what I had been expecting and never received seems far fetched
TROLL

Also I’m 42 years old , I worked in my fathers office in crosschapel blessington road until I met my husband and married. IR are equality unlike yourself who seems ageist and anti women

Doghouses

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime wrote: »

I just want to say this is not true.

According to the doc I'm exactly where I should be BMI wise and they still rang ECG

The ECG is to see what the heart is doing, if there's any issues with it. They have to run this test (which only last a few seconds)

If they didn't run this test on you then there could be the possibility they didn't need to because it would be a waste of time / resources.

Also you mentioned you haven't worked in 20 years.

Yes they may be looking for more females (if you even are one) but your age will go against you also.

They ain't gonna waste a lot of money training you when they could train someone 10 years or more younger and get more value for money.

So sorry but it doesn't look great for you. (Just opinion)

I now believe you could be one of thes existing 14 that have been coached through the tests unfairly
I estimate 50 years old male . It’s a joke people like you getting through rigorous test and putting the public’s lives in danger. When other more capable people could have prevented possible accidents
The day might come when IE will have to justify how 14 people were successfully able to come through 24,000 applications