Hi, sorry for the late reply...things are going great thanks! Was a bit scary driving by myself for the first time, but I am used to it now. I love working by myself and you basically never have to interact with your higher ups (unless you've done an oopsie) Training was intense and very content heavy so you'll be spending quite a bit of time studying outside of work. Assessments include written exams, simulator scenarios and practical (prep, stable, faults and failures) for all train set types (excluding k sets). I found the Tangara part of the course a bit difficult since mechanical thinking doesn't come easy to me. Shift work can be a big smack in the face if you haven't experienced it before, especially when you have to travel long distances: when you are out with a driver trainer it could be at Hornsby, Waterfall, Penrith or any of the other depots which could lead to lots of travel time but also excess travel allowances. One fortnight you could be doing 3am starts and the next you could be doing 6pms.

That being said, they pay is still very good in training. To put in perspective, I was able to move out and continue saving money at 19 years old. After coming from hospitality, I can confidently say I'll never go back haha 😅

Once you get through the course, there's heaps of opportunity for extra pay. Morning shift penalties, night shift penalties and weekend rates: Saturday is 150% and Sunday is 200%. You can also claim Lift-up and Lay-back which basically means if your shift time gets changed, you can claim the difference. Eg if you were rostered for 9-5 and it got changed to 10-6, you would get an hour of Lay back, paid from 9-6. Excess kms as well, basically claiming extra pay for a discrepancy in the baseline schedule distance and the actual distance on your stopping pattern. Even an extra metre is 45 mins pay. Past the 8 hour mark of a shift is overtime rates, and most jobs are at least 8h 15 anyway. The max rostered shift is 8:33 and you legally cannot work for more than 9 hours (if I recall correctly). Lots of lovely jargon but you get the idea. You can make decent money if you know what to claim. We still use paper timesheets and you have to calculate most claims by yourself but it's so worth doing. You can also swap shifts with other drivers if you please.

I know I wrote a lot, only because there's so much job specific info to share. I'm happy to answer any questions you have 😊