Jobs/Careers after Royal Mail?

[OnAFlyer]

Friend of mine left RM about year ago , now he on buses , Stagecoach , he works just under 45 hours a week (Monday to sunday) different duty and shift rota and picks up ( take home ) about £500 per week , No regrets what so ever and he loves it every single minute of it . What S**t going on delivery side and they way managers are behaving , he says he should have gone on buses years ago ....

Whereabouts is that? £500 take home is about £35k, that's assuming no pension payments etc. The bus drivers around here get about the same as we do.

[Nondescript]

I'm sure Tman will be along any minute to tell us that this is the best job us uneducated lot will ever get and that every postie who has left his office has come back with their tail between their legs. Personally, I've seen a large number of people leave the job and not one of them ever came back, although that's not to say that they didn't want to - perhaps they never got the opportunity.

[baldrick]

I took a temp Xmas job in a leading retail department store after leaving RM. I was one of the oldest applicants. Most were in their 20s and probably three quarters were graduates, and it was only for jobs in the store rooms moving stock in and out. There were dozens of applicants for every vacancy.
I was taken on and my manager told me because they knew that coming from Royal Mail I would have a good work ethic. They kept about 20% of the temps on after Xmas, and I was told I would be kept on if I wanted to stay (which I didn't).
I think former RM staff are generally looked at as reliable workers by employers. But I wouldn't leave RM unless I had a guaranteed job to go to. Better to apply for another job while you are still working for RM.

[Dalelad]

I left in September to be become a bus driver and have no regrets. Stagecoach trained me up and i've been out in service for about 3 months now. No qualifications required. Just a driving licence and willingness to try something different. Good luck with your new career, whatever you decide.

I have a few questions If you don't mind (and anyone else who has took this career path)

I see Stagecoach are after Trainee and PCV Drivers in my area - closing date late March and would like to know the following answers If possible.

1. I am shocking at Maths Do you have to be Einstein in this area as you obviously deal with money?

2. Do you do late's or night shift work?

Thanks, getting peed off after 15yrs in the business.

If you been with RM for 15 yrs, you must be one of the lucky ones with a full time job. I left because I would never be able to get one. I was only there 16 months before I decided enoughs enough and time to get a career. Best move i've made.

In answer to your questions, you don't need to be Einstein. As long as you can add up, thats all that matters. There is a basic maths and english test when you go for the interview, along with a driving assessment. If you pass the tests and get through interview stage, they will ring you to discuss a start date. The training is very good and they will get you through your driving and CPC tests. Once you've passed tests and completed route training, you then go out in service with a mentor for 2 weeks. Your mentor is basically an experienced bus driver who will be there to give advice and help you make the transition from being able to drive buses to being a bus driver(Apparently you're not a bus driver till you out there doing the job!)

There are night shifts because some of the services run 24 hours a day. I'm on day shifts though. I start as early as 4am and finish as late as 1am. You know what you are working months in advance though. Working week is Sunday to Saturday working 38 hours over 5 days. I get 2 out of 3 Sundays off and get a long weekend off once every 5 week - 6 weeks. 4 weeks holiday + bank holidays. Starting salary is £7.86ph until training completed then £9.30ph when out in service and finally £11ph once you've been there for a year. Not bad for sitting on your backside all day!

If you are that peed off with RM, give it a bash. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I hope i've managed to answer your questions. The manager will answer any more questions you may have. Good luck and let us know how you get on if you decide to go for it.

[borders]

I took redundancy 18 months ago without having a clue what I wanted to do - I just knew I had to get out of Royal Mail even after 33 years service.

When compiling a cv, you'll be surprised the skills you've picked up over the years, but it needs a little creativity to make it stand out. One of my friends worked as a Project Manager with an Oil Company and advised me to do an 'Open University' type course on 'Document Control' - it was quite tricky but when you're not working there's plenty of time for you to revise and digest what you're learning. Anyway, it was the best £400 I ever spent as the qualification was like a green flag after putting the cv on a few Oil & Gas Websites.

I had an interview within a week and a second the week after - I got offered the job that afternoon and accepted straight away. My title is 'Production Planner' and is probably one of the lowest paid jobs in the Company but god, what a difference to my working life....my workload is way more manageable and is probably around 30 - 40% of what I was used to. The difference in Management is incredible as you actually feel appreciated and a valued member of the Team. There is also opportunity to further progress, but at the moment I'm content with what I'm doing.

I must add that I did a whole lot of research on the Company before my interviews and also spent time on the internet gaining tips on interviews - remember, I hadn't had an interview for over 30 years and was bricking it!

Anyway, I think I was lucky and would advise that any life changing decision has to be thought through preferably with a Plan for the future.

Good luck.

TQM

that's the most uplifting post I have read on RMC for a long time I note you must be around 50 , did your age not worry you a bit ?

[The Quiet Man]

I took redundancy 18 months ago without having a clue what I wanted to do - I just knew I had to get out of Royal Mail even after 33 years service.

When compiling a cv, you'll be surprised the skills you've picked up over the years, but it needs a little creativity to make it stand out. One of my friends worked as a Project Manager with an Oil Company and advised me to do an 'Open University' type course on 'Document Control' - it was quite tricky but when you're not working there's plenty of time for you to revise and digest what you're learning. Anyway, it was the best £400 I ever spent as the qualification was like a green flag after putting the cv on a few Oil & Gas Websites.

I had an interview within a week and a second the week after - I got offered the job that afternoon and accepted straight away. My title is 'Production Planner' and is probably one of the lowest paid jobs in the Company but god, what a difference to my working life....my workload is way more manageable and is probably around 30 - 40% of what I was used to. The difference in Management is incredible as you actually feel appreciated and a valued member of the Team. There is also opportunity to further progress, but at the moment I'm content with what I'm doing.

I must add that I did a whole lot of research on the Company before my interviews and also spent time on the internet gaining tips on interviews - remember, I hadn't had an interview for over 30 years and was bricking it!

Anyway, I think I was lucky and would advise that any life changing decision has to be thought through preferably with a Plan for the future.

Good luck.

TQM

that's the most uplifting post I have read on RMC for a long time I note you must be around 50 , did your age not worry you a bit ?

I was terrified of whether I had made the right decision or not, and of course I worried that I was potentially too old to employ. However, I used to look at other people in the street, on the golf course, in the pub, etc and feel jealous because they all looked so happy no matter what job they were doing...in hindsight I suspect I may have been suffering from Mild Depression.

Anyway, I'm glad I took the plunge as I know now that it was the correct decision for me and at the end of the day I think almost any different job would've made me happier !

At the end of the day, personal circumstances usually dictate whether it's worth the risk.

I still visit this site daily and get no satisfaction in reading threads about escalating B & H incidents, Terms & Conditions changing, etc...it just makes me sad for all the decent hardworking staff that just want to do an honest days work without the hassle that seems to come with it.

TQM