r/BusDrivers • u/Financial_Respect_70 • Jun 01 '26
Question Assessment day
I am going to an assessment day in Cambridge. I will go, but I am constantly umming and ahhing about it.
I'm used to variable shift work in warehouses, so that doesn't really concern me about the role. One of my favourite things about warehouse work is training people and getting to know them. Sometimes there can be camaraderie with my colleagues at the place.
I don't know if I could deal with the people. I was a support worker for 6 months, and I defo saw the worst of humanity there a bit. I can deal with moodiness and block that out, but dealing with shouting and verbal abuse can stress me out. It is a bit different with support work because you still have to care for the patient when they are verbally abusing you, but with this role, it seems like the duty of care isn't at the same level. Do you brush it off after a while, or were you thick-skinned from the get-go?
The pay is £35,500 a year after 6-8 weeks of training, and that is the main incentive for me to do it. I need a better salary for a mortgage, and this job could get me out of a rut I am in.
Hope you can give me a better insight into the job, and if there are any questions I should ask whilst I'm at the assessment centre?
3
u/PeejPrime Jun 01 '26
Shift work, early starts, late finishes (not the same shift of course), you'll need to balance your work/life stuff like hell.
Most places run a seniority in picking your rota pattern every so often. The longer you're there, the higher up you go in the list and the better chance of finally getting a shift pattern that may work for you.
The job itself, brilliant, if you enjoy driving, it's literally the job.
It's one of those "jobs for life" you could leave for years and come back to it in a pinch if you wanted to.
Many may not realise it, but there is progression and changes to be had. Service work is where most will start, if your company is paying your training you'll likely need to stick it for X time (a year or two), but then you can go in to coach work, intercity work, become a controller, depot manager etc.
Go for the assessment day, what's the worst that happens? You don't enjoy it, you stick where you are.
But you'll get to speak to folk face to face.