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Author Topic: Transport Focus seeking board members  (Read 4142 times)
grahame
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« on: March 12, 2018, 08:03:19 »

Transport Focus are recruiting board member(s), or rather the DfT» (Department for Transport - about) are on their behalf.

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Transport Focus Board members

The Department for Transport is seeking to appoint members to our Board with a strong track record in consumer issues. You will be a committed consumer advocate who understands in particular the importance of access, choice, information and redress in consumer markets. You’ll also know how the media – in particular social and digital media – have a key role to play in building a better future for Britain’s transport users. You will work within a strategically focused non-executive board environment and alongside a dynamic, achieving, permanent staff team, helping to drive real change for passengers and road users.

The closing date for applications is Friday 23 March 2018.

https://www.transportfocus.org.uk/about/careers/ for links to further details
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martyjon
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« Reply #1 on: March 12, 2018, 08:11:32 »

What they fail to state, 'boat rockers need not apply'.
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Christina Biggs FOSBR
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« Reply #2 on: March 12, 2018, 21:57:34 »

It seems very good pay - £12k a year for four days a month - so I am surmising it is only really for the "great and the good" - or at least the "very good" who would add value to the board. I'd love that kind of pay for such a low commitment, but alas not for mortals. It would be good to get a real campaigner on there who knows and cares about trains as the name change from "Passenger Focus" might precipitate the road lobby to apply in force.
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Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #3 on: March 12, 2018, 22:17:54 »

Many thanks for your comments, Tina - and may I offer you a very warm welcome to the Coffee Shop forum.  Wink Cheesy Grin

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"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner."  Discuss.
grahame
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« Reply #4 on: March 13, 2018, 01:11:03 »

... I'd love that kind of pay for such a low commitment ...

If it attracts and they appoint board members who provide just that stated 4 days a month, then the hourly rate does indeed look rather good.   But I suspect that anyone who applies for the job with a true commitment to the role would find - like teachers do - that the background, preparation, paperwork and admin tasks to do it properly double the time needed, and with potentially long days headed for distant meetings, the hourly rate probably seeps down to about twice the 'living wage'.   For that, you want someone who's personal life style is such that they can take a series of irregular days and trips - highly disruptive of personal life in a way that a regular 9 to 5 job, or a shift work routine, would not be.   There's then the perverse request for the person be be highly experienced and motivated, and yet not be involved in anything which could be regarded as a conflict of interest .. other posters have hinted at that by suggesting "boat rockers need not apply" and by liking that comment.
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Sixty3Closure
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« Reply #5 on: March 13, 2018, 08:35:18 »

I looked at it and while I meet some of the requirements as Christina says it sounds like they're looking for a 'name'. I think it would be interesting to do but I suspect I'd not get past the shortlisting as I don't have a bunch of other directorships and membership of quangos. I'd also see it as far more than 4 days effort to do the job properly and I suspect my employer might not look too kindly on my being absent although we do have allowances for 'other' activities and my manager is probably fed up with hearing about my train journeys.
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Christina Biggs FOSBR
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« Reply #6 on: March 13, 2018, 09:12:41 »

I'd encourage you to apply, Sixty3 as I do know they are short of applicants. They will at least want to have demonstrated that they have had a good selection of people to choose from, otherwise they would not have extended the deadline by two weeks.

Christina
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grahame
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« Reply #7 on: May 09, 2018, 14:58:26 »

I'd encourage you to apply, Sixty3 as I do know they are short of applicants. They will at least want to have demonstrated that they have had a good selection of people to choose from, otherwise they would not have extended the deadline by two weeks.

Christina

112 applicants for 2 positions ... not all that short in the end.  Now down to a shortlist with 15 proceeding to interview. If any member has been shortlisted - congratulations, but check you really are. 

Quote
Following consideration of all the applications received for Transport Focus Board Members, Ministers have now approved the selection panel’s recommendations and I am pleased to say that you have been shortlisted for interview.

followed 2 hours later by ...

Quote
The email below was sent to you in error as you were in fact not shortlisted. We had several candidates with the same first and last names which caused some confusion.

Oh dear - hardly inspires me to confidence in their data handling!
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bobm
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« Reply #8 on: May 09, 2018, 15:06:44 »

Sounds rather similar to a story around at the weekend.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-44020235

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Up to 1,500 junior doctors offered posts as registrars have had their job offers withdrawn, following a mistake in the recruitment process.
 
Doctors say they have been left stressed and in limbo, and potentially out of pocket over plans to move home.

The Royal College of Physicians, which oversees recruitment, apologised for the "human error" and is working over the weekend to restart the process.

Doctors' union, the British Medical Association, said it was "appalled".

The junior doctors were alerted to the error just before 17:00 BST on Friday, at the start of the bank holiday weekend. Fellow doctors described juniors as being in tears.
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Christina Biggs FOSBR
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« Reply #9 on: May 09, 2018, 23:57:23 »

Well, I still haven't heard anything. But thanks to the application process i have now raised my aspirations to the extent of applying for the position of one of two elected directors of the Bristol Green Capital Partnership which thanks to very few applicants (three applicants for two positions) I have now been elected - my sister in law reckons I am the first "Director" in the family and it has been rather fun so far! Have met the Chairman of the Board, the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) and next week will meet with the staff team and then there's the board meeting.

Oh the punchline? It is a voluntary role. But at least it means I can bring my daughter along to some of the "Mingles" - but as she is at school, not to the board meetings.

I'm intrigued by what the precise role is and is not - one source (Voscur) says directors are strategic not operational. But I was encouraged by one of the ex-board members who advised me to push all the boundaries and just enjoy it all. It certainly is fun so far and I have many, many ideas!
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IndustryInsider
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« Reply #10 on: May 10, 2018, 10:57:27 »

112 applicants for 2 positions ... not all that short in the end.  Now down to a shortlist with 15 proceeding to interview. If any member has been shortlisted - congratulations, but check you really are. 

Quote
Following consideration of all the applications received for Transport Focus Board Members, Ministers have now approved the selection panel’s recommendations and I am pleased to say that you have been shortlisted for interview.

followed 2 hours later by ...

Quote
The email below was sent to you in error as you were in fact not shortlisted. We had several candidates with the same first and last names which caused some confusion.

Oh dear - hardly inspires me to confidence in their data handling!

Does that mean two Graham Ellis’s applied?  Cheesy
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grahame
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« Reply #11 on: May 10, 2018, 11:19:56 »

112 applicants for 2 positions ... not all that short in the end.  Now down to a shortlist with 15 proceeding to interview. If any member has been shortlisted - congratulations, but check you really are. 

Quote
Following consideration of all the applications received for Transport Focus Board Members, Ministers have now approved the selection panel’s recommendations and I am pleased to say that you have been shortlisted for interview.

followed 2 hours later by ...

Quote
The email below was sent to you in error as you were in fact not shortlisted. We had several candidates with the same first and last names which caused some confusion.

Oh dear - hardly inspires me to confidence in their data handling!

Does that mean two Graham Ellis’s applied?  Cheesy

I suspect they had several candidates with the same first name, and several candidates with the same last name, and that the candidate who got the erroneous invitation for interview shared first names with another applicant, and perhaps last names with another.   I suspect that the former Conservative MP (Member of Parliament) for Weaver Vale, who ran a campaign to reinstate the Halton Curve might be on the short list ... after all, appointments like these are very much "jobs for the boys" when they get knocked out at an election Grin . Just a suspicion of course - just my personal opinion, and there might be a big co-incidence at play!

What they fail to state, 'boat rockers need not apply'.
« Last Edit: May 10, 2018, 11:27:11 by grahame » Logged

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Christina Biggs FOSBR
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« Reply #12 on: May 14, 2018, 21:00:41 »

Yes - I told Charlotte Leslie about it....
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