Considering change Job

[scoobydo79]

People have left My office for British Gas,BT, and ((best of all) Train Driver.None have regrets

[Tomolo208]

For those who think we earn 'only a bit more than living wage', you are way out.

A full time Posty that does zero overtime now earns almost £24,000

That's more than a teachers starting salary.

We all know at Christmas that our job is overtime city, the potential to earn more is definitely there.

This is a great job to build a family around. I have had other jobs previous to this and can honestly say I wouldn't risk leaving for the chance of something better (unless I physically couldn't do the job anymore).

Its not for everyone, but I enjoy being out and about

[postslippete]

Only you will know if it's the correct move for you , but I'll tell you one thing this job isn't as bad as some make it out to be .
When I started in 1992 we were on a 6 day week , started at 5am and were on about half the money we're on today , fast forward to now , 5 day week , 7am start and a lot better wages and before anyone pops up with the wages aren't that great , well all you have to do is have a look on the job centre website and you'll realise the wages are pretty good for a non tradesman.
I think some people need to take off the rose tinted glasses when they talk about the so called good old days.

The job was far easier back then than it is now!! We might have started at 5am but we often used to finish at 10.30 plus second deliveries were virtually non-existent. There have been massive changes to the job since then because now its all based on productivity. I remember regularly doing a 2 or sometimes 3 bag round from a pushbike. Now we are regularly delivering at least 6 or 7 full bags each so that is more than double the workload. Getting all posties to deliver from vans was Royal Mail's grand plan to enable more posties to do more outdoor work and additional lapsing just validates the fact that Royal Mail still feel that profits will still rely on fewer staff and bigger duties. And staff are becoming more part-time at that.

I know its progress and all but the competition are really paying their staff a pauper's wage and getting away with it given the state of our economy.

[smok3y666]

Been offered job as a bt trainee engineer but don’t know what to do! I am full time postie. Anyone know what bt is like a employer? I am 37 years old & feel like its a good time for a change. Been a postman for 18 years.

Following on from this I had a look at the trainee thing and have a video interview to complete now. Is that what you had to do?

[Wakewaterblue]

I actually used to be a BT Openreach engineer and left after 1 year and now i'm a PT postie!

It's good to broaden the horizons and look at other things. It didn't work for me purely because Openreach has changed so much in recent years. I was run ragged to the point I couldn't keep the weight on and was losing weight faster than I could get the calories in. Every move, job, appointment is measured and timed on an app on the phone. Works on most days but it's become less humanised and more stat measuring. Team call meetings each week to announce your stats to everyone, not that I ever met anyone in my team as you work alone, and made to do dangerous tasks up a pole that should be for 2 people as a new line install across a main road!

Then a double decker bus came along and the line wasn't fully up! Enough said....

However being a telecoms engineer is a really useful skill but it's not been something i have been able to use much as a skill since leaving but I know a hell of a lot more than most people.

Like everything these days, its more squeezed and they want more out of you so wherever you go it may be a tough time now?

[SpacePhoenix]

Only you will know if it's the correct move for you , but I'll tell you one thing this job isn't as bad as some make it out to be .
When I started in 1992 we were on a 6 day week , started at 5am and were on about half the money we're on today , fast forward to now , 5 day week , 7am start and a lot better wages and before anyone pops up with the wages aren't that great , well all you have to do is have a look on the job centre website and you'll realise the wages are pretty good for a non tradesman.
I think some people need to take off the rose tinted glasses when they talk about the so called good old days.

The job was far easier back then than it is now!! We might have started at 5am but we often used to finish at 10.30 plus second deliveries were virtually non-existent. There have been massive changes to the job since then because now its all based on productivity. I remember regularly doing a 2 or sometimes 3 bag round from a pushbike. Now we are regularly delivering at least 6 or 7 full bags each so that is more than double the workload. Getting all posties to deliver from vans was Royal Mail's grand plan to enable more posties to do more outdoor work and additional lapsing just validates the fact that Royal Mail still feel that profits will still rely on fewer staff and bigger duties. And staff are becoming more part-time at that.

I know its progress and all but the competition are really paying their staff a pauper's wage and getting away with it given the state of our economy.

I do wonder if long term DO staff will have a choice between really, really long deliveries or going back to 6 day weeks

[Celgar]

Only you will know if it's the correct move for you , but I'll tell you one thing this job isn't as bad as some make it out to be .
When I started in 1992 we were on a 6 day week , started at 5am and were on about half the money we're on today , fast forward to now , 5 day week , 7am start and a lot better wages and before anyone pops up with the wages aren't that great , well all you have to do is have a look on the job centre website and you'll realise the wages are pretty good for a non tradesman.
I think some people need to take off the rose tinted glasses when they talk about the so called good old days.

The job was far easier back then than it is now!! We might have started at 5am but we often used to finish at 10.30 plus second deliveries were virtually non-existent. There have been massive changes to the job since then because now its all based on productivity. I remember regularly doing a 2 or sometimes 3 bag round from a pushbike. Now we are regularly delivering at least 6 or 7 full bags each so that is more than double the workload. Getting all posties to deliver from vans was Royal Mail's grand plan to enable more posties to do more outdoor work and additional lapsing just validates the fact that Royal Mail still feel that profits will still rely on fewer staff and bigger duties. And staff are becoming more part-time at that.

I know its progress and all but the competition are really paying their staff a pauper's wage and getting away with it given the state of our economy.

I have a slightly different viewpoint to you but I do remember finishing the first delivery between 0900 & 0930 then going up to the canteen followed by delivering the second post which usually took us to most of the walk route but with very little mail. Moving on to the latter stages of when we still had bikes it was once over the ground. The 'overweights' were given to the parcels guy and the pouches were largely filled with letters & flats still. On my walk I would usually have eight pouches of mail dropped along the route and they would all be over the 16kg limit to a lesser or greater degree.
The bikes were taken away mainly because it was already known we were moving more to a packet/parcel delivery service which couldn't be carried on bikes. The two other incidental reasons were a reluctance by posties to wear cycle helmets & hi-vis and a growing H&S risk with the blame/suing culture.
RM is different to most other businesses in that increased productivity is seen as a bad thing which results in things like walks being lost and absorption/lapsing being implemented. I don't think delivery lengths can be increased any further than the current six hours for many reasons not least toilet breaks! RM is still unwilling to move away from costcutting as their only method to improve the business. They are therefore running out of options now so are probably left with moving delivery times later to reduce MC staff costs, moving collections to existing walks or new hybrid duties, and reducing the dividend paid to shareholders. The latter should have been done ages ago!!

[SpacePhoenix]

RM is different to most other businesses in that increased productivity is seen as a bad thing which results in things like walks being lost and absorption/lapsing being implemented. I don't think delivery lengths can be increased any further than the current six hours for many reasons not least toilet breaks! RM is still unwilling to move away from costcutting as their only method to improve the business. They are therefore running out of options now so are probably left with moving delivery times later to reduce MC staff costs, moving collections to existing walks or new hybrid duties, and reducing the dividend paid to shareholders. The latter should have been done ages ago!!

I think later delivery times will happen anyway so that RM can have most if not all of the LAT stuff delivered as part of the normal delivery workload and not as separate duties

[Ren Hoëk]

I know it would put a spanner in the works for people with children but I for one would quite happily start later. Waking up at 5am everyday is not healthy and its not like we finish "early" anymore. I also agree about delivery spans. We need to oppose any move to increase them beyond what they are now from a H&S perspective. The human body has its limits and we all know how it feels to finish these days. Totally knackered. As mentioned as well. TOILET BREAKS! I already will drive back to the DO if I need the loo and the look my DOM gives me! They push it longer and it will be everyone everyday!

[kingofdonair]

I worked for Kelly Communications on an Openreach contract before I joined RM.
I really enjoyed the job and only left because I wanted to drop down to Part Time hours.
Pros:
Thorough training and good support with genuine opportunities to progress.
Sort of your own boss. You get your jobs and it's up to you how you achieve it.
Using your brain! Problem solving with installations and fault finding. I really miss that aspect.
Good equipment and a van thats in good nick because you treat it like your own. Unlike RM mobile skips.
Rarely deal with managers and when you do it's normally because you need their knowledge/experience in completing a task.
Cons
Dog poo. Still a hazard as postie, maybe I just attract it?? People let their dogs dump by the green phone cabinets/telegraph poles so they aren't pleasant to work on.
Working in skanky areas. Same again with RM but you spend a while in some properties. Wipe your feet on the way out.
You spend time away from home training and sometimes when an area needs a surge of engineers.
I'd say the job was more physical than RM. I definitely felt more tired in the evening. Mental and physical.
You better like heights and confined spaces. Sweating cobs in someone's loft and down in horrible pits.
Dealing with BT Routing and Records. That's one you'll just have to experience :-D On par with that feeling you get when you P739 a Redelivery packet..
It's quite a technical job. On my course of 30 odd potential engineers only 13 passed.

[Dayman!]

By the sounds of it the job you are looking at is with Openreach, not Bt?

[RT936]

I left RM in 2017 for a trainee engineer job with openreach, now fully qualified with an NVQ in IT & Telecoms and making 30k a year.

There's a lot to take in terms of skills, procedures and its constantly changing but a pretty good career. Sign on and off from home using our work Iphones (no old fashioned paper and pen nonsence) which is pretty much our equivilent of PDAs. Theres similarities in terms of estimated times and van tracking but I find it much more relaxed compared to the unrealistic RM delivery estimates. Openreach vehicles are also much better and we dont have any of that trimble nonsence.

At the end of the day its a better wage, better working hours and more interesting working day in a growing industry as opposed to the RM which is on the downward slope.

Might also add that there is none of the issues with OT that are present at RM....utterly appealing that an employer in this age expects work for free...

[Murdoch]

I understand the predicament. I'm in a similar situation. Very difficult to quit a job you like to roll the dice on something else.

Weighing up the pros and cons of Openreach.

Openreach are funded by line rental, they're going through a process of hiring many front line staff to improve service and roll out FTTP.
There's a fairly intensive 12 week training program, with a lot to learn and take in in a short period of time, it's assessed and you have to pass.
The general consensus is that after those 12 weeks, you get thrown into the deep end and are expected to get jobs done with minimal assistance.
Everything is tracked and measured, your stats will dictate your interactions and standing. As such most interaction with your Openreach manager is done remotely.
More earning potential, upwards of 30k, you get to keep your own van at home.
It seems like it's a more stable job, line rental isn't going anywhere and rolling out fibre to premises will take decades. With that said, they seem to be hiring an insane amount of trainee engineers (I wonder just how sustainable that is).
The OTE bonus is given out to everybody (after your second year) as there's no actual target (can thank the CWU for that).
It's a somewhat skilled job, but the skills you learn are pretty much only valid to Openreach. And your learning will stagnate after 2/3 years.
I get the impression the management aren't great, parts of the recruitment process seems to have been outsourced (video interviews are just weird).
They continually talk about "treating people like humans", but all of their interactions seem to be algorithmic. Seems to be lip service.