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I worked in an Accountancy Firm for 2 and a bit years, I drop in and out of them now with my current job. Not as an Accountant though, sod that.
I'd rather drive the trains, at least the scenery changes - yeah it doesn't sound as good at 'dinner parties' but there's probably a lot more money in train driving for a LOOOOOOOOOONG time after starting.
I suppose I shouldn't tar all firms with the same brush, but I've worked in a lot of them and they are the MOST corporate, have the MOST outrageous 'office politics' they are the MOST elitist within their own organisation - and I should add to that I worked in Corporate for RBS for 10 years and I thought that was bad.
Like John Lennon (supposedly) said when he was asked as a child what he wanted to be when he grew up "happy". I have never seen any joy in Accountancy - but I do know a very happy Train Driver.
+1. Train driver (+instructor) here, enjoy my work in a passenger firm. Freight isn't what it was though, coal is dead in this country now and there is a surplus of freight drivers. The quirks of freight contracts are far more of a threat to his job as a driver than any mooted automation. I have nearly 30 years left in this job and can say with utmost certainty that my role at my retirement will still be in the front cab of trains with irreplaceable technical knowledge and skills.
I suppose I shouldn't tar all firms with the same brush, but I've worked in a lot of them and they are the MOST corporate, have the MOST outrageous 'office politics' they are the MOST elitist within their own organisation
I wouldn't conflate "being an accountant" with "working for an accountancy practice / firm" - I, and many others, do the former and have never done the latter.
Does he still live with you?
Thank God for TPWS 🙂
One of my jobs in the past.
Train driver all day! bored FFS get a hobby! There is (I believe) lots of overtime to be had as a freight driver and drivers can be earning £60-70k+
Though if he is not much of a mixer then a train driver is a pretty crap place of work for mingling. The odd phonecall to the signalman "Hello I've got a red, don't worry its changed, bye"
Not much overtime on freight these days, the days of big 'happy cheques' seem to be behind us. Some big infrastructure projects (ie building HS2) will pay a fair few mortgages though.
I think accountancy is one of the jobs you hear about people earning load but most are on good but not amazing salary. Those that are on good money love it, hence work load, probably in London and finance related. IF he wants to make money I would say finish the train driving, save money for a few years and start a business. £45k + OT takes a surprising amount of time to build up to even in finance unless you are coming in as cream of the crop front office.
Might also be worth considering the long-term future of train drivers.
This is a bit of a silly argument these days IMO, the chance of having the same career all you working life is pretty small, and to be honest sounds horrible!
He's bored and wants to be an accountant?
I can't think of a more boring job
He doesn't want to work.
Does he still live with you?
Oh yes. 🙄 But not for long as he's buying a house, so he'll have to keep bringing the dosh in whatever he does.
He's mentioned about the lack (or less than there was) of overtime but bloody hell, 45K basic by the time he's 28-9, plus all the other perks the job/company provide?
He doesn't want to work.
You my son, are spot on there! He's got absolutely no motivation really, he loves BMW's & his films & the computer. He's not even a nerd though. (he doesn't even like trains!)
Sticking my neck out here, but I would say that trainee drivers (of whom I have lots of experience training) who lack motivation and interest in the role will struggle with the job day-to-day. The shifts can be horrendous on freight (earlies? That will be any time after 00.01 - lates you might start any time up to 23.59) and your break might be in a freezing rancid cabin that is maybe one notch up from a bothy. We passenger drivers are seen as soft in comparison. Freight work is more interesting but the job uncertainty has put me off applying - there have been two recent big squeezes on freight drivers that have seen redundancies, in 2008 and this year since April (and ongoing).
Goods train, surely? Freight trains are what hobos ride in Jack Kerouac novels.
Nope. Freight.
Sounds like a good profession to me. Sod accounting. IMO he'd be mad to quit before at least giving it a go. Better story to explain too: "I tried it, but actually it wasn't for me".
If he's bored now when he's got company and everything is new what's he going to be like in a few years time when he's out on his own bombing along on a class 4 at 75mph for mile after mile in the dead of the night? It doesn't get any less boring.
If it's boring then your doing it right, boring is good.
Another thing is that quite often he's not actually driving, he could be sitting either in the front route learning or spare & sitting in the back while someone else is driving/learning. I can see his point at the moment but me & his mum can't seem to get through to him to give it a decent go.
@Chebu, your'e right about the shifts, midnight starts, 4am starts, 6am starts, etc etc.
Probably not much advice but maybe something to consider.
Being an 'Accountant' doesn't have to mean you're going to sit behind a desk 20 hours a day in a cream room. I'm a final year accounting and business student now and while I realise I'll need to spend some time in practise I don't intend to just create financial statements all day (For the record all the practises I've worked in so far have been filled with great people). If he looks into it a little more and plays to his strengths there are finance jobs everywhere. I'm hoping to work within the motorsport/automotive industry which doesn't sound too boring to me at all.
Lol, it sounds good when you read "train driver for £45k" but when you see the reality it's not as good as it seems. First off, if he isn't already he'll be grumpy as f*** within a few months moaning about everything. This will be down to not only having to do stupid shifts like booking on at 2:15am but not making it home on time due to being sidelined for late running passenger trains which get priority. There will be potential for overtime (I'd assume) but it will take a while, route learning is a long process and they tend not to bother teaching the routes which are well manned so he'll probably get all the crap jobs for the first couple of years. It is no way an exciting job, get stuck shunting in the yard for 12 hours and you're basically sat on your arse occasionally moving the train 20m whilst a shovel driver loads you up, you might get lucky and not have the shunter stuck on another job whilst you sit waiting to brake test/run round the train and there's the high possibility of encountering a suicide (loads down the Hope Valley round here)
At the end of the day his objective should be to get on something like the Virgin Pendelenos (spelling?) as that is where the real money lies in driving.
Out of interest, which company will he be driving for and whereabouts?
If he wants to earn a tonne of money and have a bit of variety he should look into being a signaller!
He shouldn't jack the train driving in until he finds something else, but.....
I'm in my mid fifties and my job bores the tits off me, and has done for years, I can't get out because it pays so well and would disrupt my family too much to pack it all in and get a lower paid job. I would give anything to go back to when I was 27 and just do whatever made me happy instead of doing 'what's best'. I am so cheesed off at work that it impacts on my friends and family, and also in my ability to be civil to my colleagues at work. I know I'm an arse but can't stop myself now.
OP; please tell your son to do what he feels happiest doing, even if it's not the route you feel is perfect for him.
Ross - practice accountancy is notoriously hard, and you live out of a suitcase. I know a partner of a large accountancy firm, he privately says coming through the ranks was hard work, now he's the boss it's more about entertaining clients than accountancy.
Personally I've found accountancy pretty similar where ever you do it, the size of the organisation makes a difference, the sector very very little. I got disillusioned chasing the big job. I now work for the NHS, and at least now I feel like I can make a bit of a real difference rather than just maximising some big bosses pay cheque
At 27, he's got 38 years ahead of him before retirement
Hahahahahahahahahaha. Retirement for a chap in his 20's, dying in harness more like.
At the end of the day his objective should be to get on something like the Virgin Pendelenos (spelling?) as that is where the real money lies in driving.Out of interest, which company will he be driving for and whereabouts?
Yep, said that as well (ok, I mentioned HS2 & that fast thing that goes to France) He's with Freightliner working out of Stourton in Leeds.
If he wants to earn a tonne of money and have a bit of variety he should look into being a signaller!
Even I looked at that with Network Rail, pay was less than what I'm on (29K)
OP; please tell your son to do what he feels happiest doing, even if it's not the route you feel is perfect for him.
Don't think he knows what will make him happy TBH!
Only a grade 1 or possibly 2 would get less than 29k. I'm a grade 5 (it goes to 9) and I'll probably be looking at 55-65k this year with minimal overtime. We do 12hr shifts and only work 2 weeks a month one of which is a whole week at a time.
Spend the rest of my time at work sitting on here and other forums or tinkering with bikes and I've just started a part time Open University course, best job in the world!
Cheers IIAF, I'll pass that on. He's pretty good at the sort of test you need to pass for that job as well. (I couldn't make head nor tale of it!)
There are two things that I would guide my working life with if I had my time again aside from any moral compunctions: 1. Has it got a good and secure pension and 2. Is the job portable? To me these are the keys in any career, and I wish I'd thought of them when I was a kid.
Train driver I suspect (but don't know) ticks them both, if so stick with it.
isitafox - Member
Only a grade 1 or possibly 2 would get less than 29k. I'm a grade 5 (it goes to 9) and I'll probably be looking at 55-65k this year with minimal overtime. We do 12hr shifts and only work 2 weeks a month one of which is a whole week at a time.
Spend the rest of my time at work sitting on here and other forums or tinkering with bikes and I've just started a part time Open University course, best job in the world!
Where are you based? I'm at the Three Bridges ROC, currently in rostering but have an interview for signalling job on thursday. 😀
Really hope I get 12 hour roster, the 8 hour early/late/night that my signallers work causes so many problems!
If he's bored already then he needs to get his head sorted out, only a matter of time before his concentration slips and he makes a mistake and then he will be under the spotlight getting his performance downloaded all the time off the black box, I couldn't keep my concentration as a driver as they don't even need to steer the trains, that's why I'm a signaller and I do the steering!
Well if my stepson 'goes off the rails' my son can do the investigating cos he does all that stuff! (but for TFL)
Stepson seems to think every job I've mentioned is 'boring'. Is signalling boring? He says it will be cos he's been in a signal box & all they do is look at a computer & press buttons. (which is EXACTLY what he does when he comes home!!)
I despair.
If he's bored already then he needs to get his head sorted out, only a matter of time before his concentration slips and he makes a mistake and then he will be under the spotlight getting his performance downloaded all the time off the black box
This, freight companies are over establishment at the moment. He needs to be careful as they may waste no time in getting shut of him should he start causing them bother or shows lack of comitment. He should consider himself lucky as Freightliner have frozen Trainee recruitment.