I need a Job/Career

[MiniClubmanEstate]

I've been working for a good employer (Safeway) for a few years but unfortunatly we got bought over by this other companny who are hellish to work for, I've seen many long serving staff just walk out as they couldn't take any more.
I've been considering my opttions and one of my mates has suggested that as I love drivng I should get onto the buses.
I'm just curios what options are available to me. I don't want to be a white van man simply because I've heard plenty horror storys about employers, I also remember an unemployed van driver visiting this forum as he wanted to drive properly being a responsible driver.
Any Ideas? Cheers.

[rodericksdad]

I too had a similar problem and was lucky enough to have a large local bus company looking for drivers,i was lucky in the fact that they trained you/me and sorted everything out paperwork and licence wise and then they put me through the appropriate test,from starting training to passing test was about a month,which i must give credit to the instructer that i had and i have been now driving for them now on my own for just over 6 months and enjoying every minute of it,yes there are bad days,but in my area the good far outwheigh the bad as most of the work is in rural areas so we are not confined to just town work and i am garenteed to be home every night,i did actually find out an awfull lot more regarding driving and the law including a lot of seemingly never thought of before things that were never even mentioned in my advanced driving test,although i think that went some way in helping,
whatever you do hope that you find what you want and good luck,
best regards,Clive.

[Dandu71]

Get yourself trained on lorries and you`ll never be out of work.....the only unemployed HGV driver is one by choice.

[David2428]

Why not give the Edinburgh Taxi knowledge a try, Im sure you could do worse.........be your own boss, its great

[MiniClubmanEstate]

That sounds apealing, unfortunatly my navigation is prety bad . I can remember routes, some street names and I can get my self down to Mini events in England unassisted.
The local bus company here Lothian Buses is mainly around town routes, First operrate a few long distance routes though and it looks like they would provide training.
The HGV option is also an idea, It's just getting started.

I've got an interview for a temporary position at M&S, if I got this I'd have time to give this more consideration.
I'll let you know, cheers.

Oh yes, My dad wants me to train as a driving instructor, my IAM test is this Thursday which will give me an idea if a driving career is an option.

[martine]

Good luck with your test - try to enjoy it!

Driving instructor would seem an obvious choice and there are a few ADIs on the forum that can tell you what it's really like.

Highways Agency Traffic Officer? (HATO) - not sure of the entry qualifications though.

Chauffeur?

AA/RAC patrol - you seem to be pretty handy with a spanner?

[madmoggy]

Highways Agency Traffic Officer? (HATO) - not sure of the entry qualifications though.

Unfortunately we dont yet operate in Scotland (although this may or may not change). I did ask when I started if there were any plans to go north of the border, and was told not yet. I work at what I think is the last full base to go live (next month), so thats it just about set up in England.
I think you are more than an hour from the most northerly outstation, which is a requirement for emploment, but keep an eye on the website in the future for any vacancies and expansion.
Good luck with the test

[Rick]

Much more potential to earn good money on the LGV route, but it may cost a bit to get going. Worth it though.

[Prelude]

I wouldn't mind part-time/casual "ferrying around work", the pre-booked type, but insurance and licensing has put me off from doing anything about it so far. Would only fancy local work though, but not that local for the Tesco/Sainsbury runs, etc. Don't know why I have got that attitude - maybe I'm looking a gift horse in the mouth by not considering this type of taxi-ing. Chauffuer work means either owning a decent car or working for someone else, and also getting lost in rather large cities with deadlines to meet!! That's why I'd prefer 'local' pick ups. Have considered HGV work but I imagine there is more hassle to it than simply driving from A to B.

[MiniClubmanEstate]

I've just failed my IAM big style. I could tell as soon as we started I was nowhere near 100% focused and it only got worse. I felt what I supose must be like a servere dose of red-mist, I never get that when driving but on this test for some reason I felt awful the whole time, and I wasn't like that a few years ago when I completed and passed my driving test first shot with 3 minor marks. Actualy, the way I drove today probably wouldn't have come close to passing an L-test. There became a point in the test where my anxiety was so bad I wasn't even aware of where in Edinburgh on a road I use often I was. At this point my comentary is starting to make me go mad and at this stage it faded out and I just had to stop before I lost my ability to drive. We were aproaching the mottorway now I don't do comentary on mottorways as I would have to shout over my cars engine noise. At this stage I felt calmer and started to get a grip again but I had shut everything out including my examiner and put everything I had into just keeping us safe, an example of how bad I was he told me where we were going and I knew where he ment but I ended up turning of up a slip road and I still don't know why I did that.
At the end of the test I knew that I'd so obviosly failed before he even spoke. Amazingly he told me my comentary was excelent, I can remember that when I first started comentary driving I could comentate and my driving became a disaster and I could just shut up and if was normal service. I don't think in any spoked language, I would find it dificult describing anything I do once I've been doing it for a while as all I do is tune my instincts. My examiner doesn't let on that it was nearly as bad as I know it was, he's told me to get another sesion with my observer and tells me that my problems could be esily fixed but I doubt this very much.
My driving started to return immediately after the test, I didn't think about anything on the way home, I simply got on with the driving as my head started to clear and everything seemed to come back.
I don't know what to do now, the first thing I'll do is take my dad for a drive, being an ADI he's in a position to atleast make sure that I'm a driver, failing this I will have to sell my beloved Mini's and buy a bus-pass if neccesary.
I'm actualy singned off from work at the moment for a stress related illnes which could have affected me, however if I simply dump comentary from my driving I feel it improves considerably. My dad will give me a better idea though, I won't be driving until he's checked me out.

Thanks for all the good advice I get here, I'm sorry to have let everybody down.

[BillZZR600]

Really sorry to hear that. But don't let it put you off or dwell too much on it. Everyone has off days, and heck there is a whole section in Roadcraft about the state of mind and some of the influences it WILL have on your driving. Take a good big deep breath, relax and have another go.

[JamesAllport]

Don't panic.

You were safe. Your examiner didn't have to intervene to stop the test (which he would have done had it been that bad, believe me). And you recognised what was happening and took steps to keep yourself safe. That makes you more advanced than 90% of people on the road, who, when tired or stressed or having a bad day, just plough on regardless.

It sounds as though there's lots of other stuff going on in your life which is affecting your mental state, and so it's only natural that you might not pull a fantastic drive out of the bag when you're under the pressure of test conditions.

You can do it and you will be fine. And today was a blip not a disaster, as you proved by driving well afterwards.

So keep going. You've done the hard work, after all.

James

[martine]

Hey don't worry too much...remember you are already a better driver than most and your attitude is fine (again better than the average driver I'd say). Sounds like nerves got the better of you...it happens...you weren't the first. Remember you're observer must have been suitably impressed with your driving to get this far - so you can do it!

If I were you, I'd go for your drive with your Dad as you suggested. Get some more general driving in with and without your Obs and when your personal problems are sorted, book another test. Next time you'll know much more what to expect and are bound to be more relaxed.

Remember you don't have to do a commentary to pass the IAM test - I didn't on my original advanced test and passed with some very complimentary remarks from my examiner.

When I first started doing commentary for my observer training my driving defintely got worse and even now I like everyone has off days. In fact only yesterday I drove a short journey of a few miles and made so many mistakes I was cursing myself.

Put it down to experience, pour yourself a glass of whatever takes your fancy and keep doing this until you can laugh about it. I'm sure you're disappointed and annoyed with yourself but it's honestly no big deal.

[MiniClubmanEstate]

Thanks, I'll probably get back out this weekend as my dad only has bookings most Saturday mornings. Before getting signed off from work I'd stoped driving there but was still out on leisure times as after a day I felt it had affected my driving a little, but no where near like what happened today.
The only option is to continue for my Mini's sake, I'll see how I get on this weekend, in the mean time I've got to get rid of that horid yellow and black M which for the last year has quite literaly driven me mad.