I need advice!

[Rhys1995]

Right, after some thinking time I have decided to refer myself to the professionals (hopefully )

Here's the situation:

I am 17 years old, and I am in my final year of education. I have good prospects to go to university, and I could get into a respectable uni providing I work (which, to be honest with you, dear readers I will because I am disciplined enough). Anyway, I've always wanted to work for TfL, or National Rail as a train driver (or tube equivilent), and tonight my stepdad told me about an apprenticeship course offered by TfL, whereby I would be working for 2 years covering a lot of aspects and job fields of working for TfL on the customer front, examples include station assistants, control tower etc. Anyway, I am standing at the crossroads at the moment as I don't know what path to take. Obviously, going to university would be excellent; I don't need to waste pixel space in explaining why. However I just don't know because I could go to university, then come out at 21 with a respectable degree and still want to work for TfL. So maybe I could take this opportunity up working for TfL instead. Any thoughts from you lot? Have any of you reading this done this apprenticeship? I want to hear

[tubeguru]

My immediate advice would be to scrap university and go straight into a job on the railway.

University costs a LOT of money these days, and there's no guarantee you'll emerge with a job you want (or need). With regard to National Rail (as I know nothing of the TfL schemes), you have to be 21 years old to be a train driver, so the obvious choice, should you wish to go down that route, is to apply to be a customer host or train manager first, and then apply internally to be a driver when you are old enough. The advantage of doing that is that you start paying into your railway pension from an early age, and you get all the travel benefits that come with it.

Someone else will have to fill you in on what's available at TfL.

[palkanetoijala31]

I probably agree with tubeguru go for the rail jobs are hard to find take Geoff for example unemployed (for what reason i dont kno)

Glen now a qualified Pharmacist has he got a job well yes as a bar boy at moment whom regulars ask if he is old enough to serve !

[Rhys1995]

It IS something quite significant to consider, I mean it's that sort of thing I could quite happily wake up every morning and be happy that I'm driving trains, obviously that being in a few years time, just as a dream scenario.

[palkanetoijala31]

Dont forget that good advice when in the middle of random 15 u get tube challengers banging on your door to reopen them

[tubeguru]

It IS something quite significant to consider, I mean it's that sort of thing I could quite happily wake up every morning and be happy that I'm driving trains, obviously that being in a few years time, just as a dream scenario.

When you have to get up at 4am to drive 220 miles to London and then 220 miles back, you'll probably wonder why you bothered.

[The Raven]

Glen now a qualified Pharmacist has he got a job well yes as a bar boy at moment whom regulars ask if he is old enough to serve !

I would like to point out that I should of been a qualified pharmacist last year. However, without going into detail, my registration was delayed due to issues beyond my control.

I loved university, yes it is expensive, but it such a fantastic experience. The lifestyle, the friends, the lecturers, the nights out. A degree is still a degree. It's one hell of an achievement! It can be a useful tool to open doors! You can have a degree and still be a train driver, just like scrxisi.

My advice is go with whatever feel you will enjoy the most. If you've got your heart sent on being a train driver etc you go for it!

[Sam]

Well, I went down the university route, I failed, I now have plenty of debt but a job that I love.

IF you choose to go to university, make sure it is one you REALLY want to go to. I think that part of my failings was due to choosing the wrong university. The railway is an amazing place to work and after 5 years of doing so, I can't see myself in any other job.

[snudge27]

A degree wouldn't significantly enhance your chances of acheiving your stated career goal; the apprenticeship would be much more useful in that regard. A degree would be a useful tool to have though, if things don't work out as planned. It's difficult to offer direct advice as I don't know you well enough, but keeping many doors open is, I think, very important.

Something I've been pondering, seeing as I wouldn't mind playing with trains for a living: how did you answer the inevitable question of 'you have a degree, why do you want to drive trains?'?

[snudge27]

It never came up!

Sounds promising! I've seen a vacancy for a Revenue Protection Officer with Greater Anglia, so I think I'll apply for that and try and get my foot in the door.

[tractakid]

I have no idea what I am going to do with my life. Do I go to university next year? do I find a job? Which job? if I go to uni, what do I want to study? do I need a degree for what I want to do in life?

all of these questions need answering fairly soon.

it's scary.

[snudge27]

If you're smart enough, go to uni. It'll open lots of potential doors to you, and the financial side of things is set up so that you'll never have to go short in order to pay off the fees.

Pick a subject you enjoy, and spend three (or so) years becoming a specialist in it.

[Root]

I think university should be viewed as a means to an end, not as an end itself. Going there is the right choice if you know you want to work in a particular field that requires degrees. If, however, you know you want to work as a train driver (or station assistant, etc), then go do that instead! It won't be too late to start a degree in two years' time, if you feel you still want to. I'm three weeks into a maths degree myself at the age of 24, a good five years older than most of my fellow freshmen, and I don't feel any worse off for it

[RichieG]

I think university should be viewed as a means to an end, not as an end itself. Going there is the right choice if you know you want to work in a particular field that requires degrees. If, however, you know you want to work as a train driver (or station assistant, etc), then go do that instead! It won't be too late to start a degree in two years' time, if you feel you still want to. I'm three weeks into a maths degree myself at the age of 24, a good five years older than most of my fellow freshmen, and I don't feel any worse off for it

Amusingly, when I finished my first course at college (BTEC ND in programming) I had hoped to become a train driver (actually, the hope was there when I was still at school) but there was the age limit. So I went for another course at college just to fill the time up (another BTEC ND, this one in photography). Rather coincidentally, FGW had an opening for applications for drivers that closed on my 21st birthday, so I went for it*. It wasn't to be though - they turned me down, but as I got a letter saying as much I think I may have got past the initial bit as they said that failed applicants didn't get letters.

Long story short, six years after I finished my first course at college, I found myself starting University (and am about to embark upon my second year). I know that getting a job at the other end isn't guaranteed, but one of the reasons is that for this particular career choice, you do need a sheet of paper saying that you can do it, and - more importantly - you need to know people in the industry.

My particular advice would be that if you do go to University - why are you going? I don't mean that in a harsh way, but are you going because you feel you have to? Do you actually like the subject you would be going to study? That sounds odd that I know, but I know several people who did a course that led on from their A-levels or whatever, but wasn't actually for them. If I had gone to University straight after college, I'd have done a subject that, while I did enjoy, wouldn't have been able to hack at a career level as for me, both the BTECs were more hobbies than jobs (although the photography one did lead into a job for a few years). The few years between college and University for me have led me into the direction I'm going, which isn't one I would've thought of ten years ago when I left school and first started college.

Anyway, there's my tuppence


(*Also rather coincidentally, I think it was this particular opening that Tubeguru went for and subsequently got!)

[tubeguru]

(*Also rather coincidentally, I think it was this particular opening that Tubeguru went for and subsequently got!)

When did you apply?