The words on the street: clean ads used to highlight bus driver jobs
September 17th, 2014The word is on the street quite literally that First West of England is looking for extra bus drivers. The bus company has begun to advertise its current roles in a different way to see if that approach helps to reach people who haven t traditionally considered bus driving as a career.
In recent weeks around 70 adverts etched into dirty pavements have begun to appear across Bristol.
The move is intended to encourage people to consider bus driving as a career. It is hoped it will generate additional applications for roles within the company, helping it respond to the expanding network that it now runs.
In the past year First West of England has created 87 new jobs, and demand for drivers who can also deliver first class customer service skills continues to grow. In the past six months alone the company has created a number of new routes serving Southmead Hospital, Yate, the University of the West of England, and with more expansion planned, more and more drivers are needed. Later this month, for instance, First will begin to operate four new services: Services 71, 72, 520 (from 14 September) and Service 35 (from 22 September).
Talking about the new method of recruiting, Georgina Bickerton, HR Business Partner, First West of England, says: We re always looking for great people to join the team as bus drivers. We want people who can remain calm under pressure and who can deliver great service with a smile. We can teach people to drive a bus, as long as they have the right approach to start with.
We re looking for people of all ages, from all backgrounds. If you think you have what it takes to be a bus driver in the city, please do log onto www.firstbusdrivers.com
Vacancies exist across Bristol and Bath for drivers (with existing PCV licenses) and trainee drivers. Recruits need to be patient, be able to remain calm under pressure, be able to work confidently on their own and handle cash responsibly. If successful, applicants will find they have a safe and secure job with good rates of pay, and loads of perks like a pension, paid holiday, great training, a subsidised canteen and free travel for themselves and their immediate family.
The clean graffiti adverts began appearing in Bristol from Wed 27 August and will remain visible for up to four weeks. They have been used across the city, but can mostly be found in the central areas. The use of the adverts complements other activities such as standard advertising in newspapers and online.
For more information about First West of England log onto: www.firstgroup.com/bristol.
For more information about jobs with First, see www.firstbusdrivers.com or www.firstgroupcareers.com