Dublin Bus looking for Drivers

merlinengine

Hi! I have my first day tomorrow and just wondering what I should wear? I asked for clarification, but was told to wear "my own clothes". Any suggestions?

Greenham791

You just wear your own clothes on the first day. They give you your uniforms at the end of the first day then you come in the uniform from then on.

Midnight_EG

Jeans, runners and a top is fine

merlinengine

Great, thanks. Hopefully they have my uniforms, I only got my official offer five days ago lol. Also, thanks to everyone here, this thread has been incredibly helpful preparing for all of the stages, I wouldn't have done as well without it. How are the instructors generally?

rx8

The Instructors are top class.

Some of the best driving Instructors in the country, IMHO.

You'll be fine.

mikeybhoy

I see the ad is still 30th June deadline hasn't been extended yet. Is it going to be extended I wonder I've been keeping an eye on the ad for a while and usually it keeps getting extended but hasn't. Wonder are going to stop recruiting soon.

Vera Wang

I had my driving assessment and interview 2 weeks ago, at the end of the driving the instructor said I didn’t get any marks on the sheet. So I had my interview after but this morning I got an email saying they were not going to progress me to the next stage. I have my CPC, and my D permit. I’ve made every effort to put myself in a good place for the recruitment. And now I don’t know what to do, I’ve done a couple of D lessons too. Should I keep going or go back to my hospitality job that I hate. Any advice

rx8

If it's the learner permit that you have, you could try Go-Ahead if it's the full D licence, then pretty much everywhere is looking for drivers. So, Aircoach, Bus Eireann, Matthews, ... lots of them

Bus Eireann would be a good option if you ultimately want Dublin Bus, should be easy enough to transfer over after a few months.

mikeybhoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122334994#Comment_122334994

I suppose Go-Ahead would be a good option but they are a difficult company to work for at least in my experience. Aircoach will put you on the carpark shuttle buses when you start out.

Vera Wang

I got a spot on the VEC Bus Driver course if I get my D license, can I reapply to Dublin Bus or do I have to wait till next year

Darith

I am currently preparing for the D licence & CPC test. I have a subscription with dttonline. So to study for the D lic. exam ; if i just read the multiple choice questions(There are a couple of hundred) and run the practice/mock tests it should be enough. I don't need to read the books? The cpc section has me somewhat confused. There are six scenarios or short stories. No practice questions on these listed? Am I supposed to point what the driver did wrong myself? Is that what the cpc exam is?

Darith

Hello,

It is recommended to study the below for the cpc test. How much of Driving goods vehicles do we need to study?

• The Official Driver Theory Test Truck & Buses (Including Step 1 and Step 2 of Driver CPC) - available as interactive PC CD-ROM and mobile apps, and as a book.
• The Rules of the Road
• Driving Goods Vehicles – The Official Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) UK Guide

Or if you are doing the Bus Theory Test:

• Driving Buses and Coaches – The Official Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) UK Guide

mikeybhoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122442708#Comment_122442708

I'd imagine the DVSA is not much use in Ireland

Darith

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122442949#Comment_122442949

That is what is recomended in officiall DTT online training?

yagan

I went along to a Buseireann open day a while ago and reckoned at this stage of my life it would suit perfectly, I've been doing the same jobs for decades and needed a change and the recruiter at the open day was very encouraging for me to apply.

Now they listed things I needed to have before applying. I passed the D license permit test and am just waiting for the card to arrive in the post, but this CPC thing has me flummoxed. At the Buseireann open day their recruiter said don't worry about the CPC as they said they needed only a CPC "sheet", which I assumed at the time was some form I had to bring.

I can't make sense of the RSA website as there's two fees listed for a CPC test, can't figure out which one is relevant to my situation.

Anyone got a link to the relevant CPC test I need to do at this stage? I'm starting to think it's all very convoluted and I'd be better off just keep at what I'm at but just scale back.

Midnight_EG

It's this

https://theorytest.ie/book-your-theory-test/cpc-driver-certificate-of-professional-competence/

yagan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122501375#Comment_122501375

Thanks. I can see why they're struggling to get drivers in some parts of the country as the process to get to even applying to buseireann is awfully drawn out.

I'll get back to it maybe.

djm1234

I've been reading a lot of posts on this thread with great interest.

I have a competency based interview shortly. Understand it's about being safety-aware.

Is it basically common sense or are there are parts of it that can be prepared for?

Thanks.

LF403

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122336104#Comment_122336104

Go elsewhere, like GAI for a year - then to Airocach. They're desperate enough for drivers that there's a chance of going straight onto the coaches when you arrive with experience.

Even the carparks are a handy number if you can hack the repetitiveness of it.

mikeybhoy

I want to apply for Dublin Bus or Bus Eireann. Working for a private bus company I've heard the driving test is hard for them would it be a good idea to get lessons before doing the driving assessment for them? If so does anyone know any good names.

mikeybhoy

So just studied the ad for the part time job €21.53 an hour compared to €839.76 a week which breaks down to €21 an hour assuming a 40hr week. So an extra 50c an hour for a part time driver. How have the unions let them get away with that?

renalf

Full time is based on a 39 hour week

mel94

Thank you to everyone for all the helpful information. I attending a recent open day and had a time with a wonderful instructor who gave me great confidence after driving and encouraged me to apply. I have been invited to do the online assessment but I’m still a little on the fence if I want to proceed with the application. I currently have a decent job but we don’t get any benefits, no pension sick leave etc. just feel a little stagnant in it and was looking for something different. I know the average wage is saying €840ish over the 5 weeks is this generally what people are actually getting or do you find your coming home with more taking into account short breaks / late finishes or do these rarely happen?

Annual leave is another worry, I’ve read that you are assigned leave days, is this true or can you request certain dates? And how many annual leave days do you get?

Swapping shifts, is this possible? & is it done?

Pensions, does the DB contribute to your pension?

Sick leave, Does you receive paid sick days?

Thanks so much.

LF403

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122789719#Comment_122789719

In terms of Annual leave, AFAIK you're assigned annual leave in blocks. This to ensure that there's no big gaps with no cover when everyong decides to go on holidays. And it kind of works out fairer to everyone around things like Christmas/New Year off. You'll get assigned a holiday "block" with a letter. That'll tell you what days you have off through the year. Generally it'll be broken down into: one week in late winter/springtime. 2 weeks in summer, 1 week at Christmas or New Year.

Swapping shifts should be possible - any place I've been its a case of: You and X agree to swap - you both let your manager know, the manager puts through the swap as long as it all works out legally in terms of hours/days worked.

AX636

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122789719#Comment_122789719

I work for DB i got marked in after 4 years, when I started the marking in was at least 15 years, but people in the job just over a year are getting marked in, but it does depend what garage you get aswel, both companies have there up and downs.