Elba Lovelace-Francis, Trainee Driver, GT Railways (3-year break)
I started my career in customer services at William Hill. I was a cashier and my role also involved managing the shop. I worked there for 7 years, and it was fun. I was responsible for customer service, managing the till and I enjoyed building rapport with customers. I often spent time working alone in the shop and got comfortable with my own company, which has been really helpful in my new role!
I took a career break in 2020. It was the pandemic, and then I had my daughter and so in the end I took a career break of 3 years, which was longer than I’d anticipated. During this time, I reflected on what I wanted to do, and decided that I wanted to pursue a career that provided more stability and was well paid.
I had considered a career as a train driver before but I was pregnant at the time, so I didn’t pursue it. But I continued to think about it, and when the ad came up again in 2023, I knew I had to go for it! I researched it online and joined a platform called The Rail Forum, to ask lots of questions and hear back from people in the industry and I decided to apply.
The application process was straightforward – questions on your relevant skills and why you think you’d be suitable for this role- and I was invited to an assessment day. The assessment day was really quite intense, and the activities tested your concentration skills, attention to detail and your ability to multitask – all key skills for being a train driver! I think these are skills you either have or don’t have and so if it doesn’t go well, it’s probably not the right role for you. I got past this, a few more interviews and a medical screening, and then I was delighted to be offered the job!
I’d never applied for something like this before and it was amazing to be offered the job. It was a great feeling! I think all the research that I did helped me to understand what they were looking for and to be specific in my answers at interview.
I started in August 2023 and the 1st 6 months is spent in the classroom with your trainee driver cohort. There are 6 modules to learn, including how to handle the train, customer service, traction, and emergency situations. The classroom was great – like going back to school and you realise that your ability to learn just comes back to you. My trainer was great and made the learning enjoyable and my peers became like a little family – so supportive and helpful. We set up a WhatsApp group and would message each other with questions and someone would always answer. Now we’ve left the classroom, I love seeing my classmates out and about driving their trains – it’s nice to have that connection with people who started the journey with you at the same time.
I now have to build my 225 driving hours, the practical stage of our training, under the supervision of our driving instructor. Once that’s done, there’s one final test to do and then I qualify and get my key!
I still can’t believe I’m doing this! I’ve really enjoyed learning something new, and I love the driving. It’s great when you get loads of little kids on a bridge or on the train platform waving at you and waiting for you to sound the train horn as you go by! And it’s important to me to be a role model for my own daughter – I’m looking forward to her coming into work with me one day when I’m qualified and to show her that this is a possible career path.
For other returners looking to get back to work, just go for it, whatever you want to do! Do your research, learn as much as you can about it and believe in yourself!
