Allyn Ho

I am currently studying MSc Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Royal Holloway, University of London and will graduate in September 2024. Also, I graduated from University of Portsmouth, UK, with a BA(Hons) degree in International Trade & Business Communication in July 2020, and I was an International Student Ambassador with the University Global Office from July 2018 to August 2019.

I am applying for trainee train driver because I am looking for a new challenging job which has huge responsibility of taking care of passenger’s safety. Safety is always the number one priority when operating public transports. As a train driver, I must follow the driver’s rules and handbook in case of anything happens.  In addition, I am enthusiastic in working in a customer-centric role to provide outstanding customer services to my fellow passengers. Also, I am ready to relocate myself from 30 minutes away from the depot which my family fully support me.  

The skills and experiences that I have learnt in my academic career and when I was an International Student Ambassador are independent problem-solving skills, team working skills, disciplinary skills, cross-cultural awareness skills, mathematical skills, verbal and written English communication skills, time management skills and customer services skills. Firstly, it is independent problem-solving skills. I understand that it is very important for train driver to work independently. I have been studying in the UK as an international student since I was 14. I lived in boarding school, university student accommodations and house rental which I must solve big and small problems independently without the help from my parents. Secondly, it is team working skills. I understand that it is important to be a good team-player as a train driver because I must take care and communicate well with my colleagues to ensure the safety and smooth operational railway service to passengers. I have been working in a lot of group projects during university studies. From my experiences, I understand that having good team communication and being united can increase efficiency and morale. Then, it is disciplinary skills. Discipline is also very important for operational roles such as train drivers. I have a good routine. I sleep early at night and wake up early in the morning. I also make-up my bed and work-out daily to maintain physically fit. Next, it is cross-cultural awareness skills. Since UK is a multi-national country, my colleagues and customers may have different backgrounds. It is important to respect different practices and manners of people with different backgrounds. When I was studying in international school, I communicate well with students and staffs from different background. Afterwards, it is mathematical skills and verbal and written English communication skills. It is important for a train driver to perform passenger announcement smoothly and resolve passengers enquires with a professional manner and operate train with mathematical skills. I have my GCSE English and mathematics which matches the requirements of a trainee train driver. Moreover, it is time management skills which is important. As a train driver, I must arrive to the depot and pick up passengers from stations on time. Finally, it is customer service skills which can also be applied to the job because I can be able to resolve problem by customers in a kind and professional manner and I have one year of customer service experience while I was an International Student Ambassador at University of Portsmouth. In addition, I am planning to learn first-aid soon which helps me increase safety awareness skills and I can take care of my customers in a better way.

In this paragraph, I am going to describe how I had to remain focused to ensure that a task/piece of work was completed and finished on time in my academic career and how it benefits me to be a train driver. First of all, I must complete a lot of assignments when I am studying at universities (both undergraduate and master degree), and I finished them all on them on time. I ensure myself to remain focus by having a good sleep the day before and drinking coffee to maintain energetic. To complete an assignment on time assigned by professor. The first step is that I have to read literature and plan carefully of what I have to write. I write down all the things that I need to conclude in my assignment in simple bullet point form. Then, I start writing it according to my plan. But sometimes I may make minor changes from my plan due to actual situation. Also, I finished my task at least three days before deadline to avoid any technical failures. To avoid making mistakes, I always prove read my work to ensure that the content, grammar and structure of my work is correct. On reflection, I could have done something better, such as create a time scale plan to push myself to finish all the steps on time. So, I could have a better control of time-management. The outcome is satisfactory, I got upper-second class with distinction in English Language in my undergraduate course and some of my assignment has over 90 marks. Also, some of my master’s assignments has over 70 marks which is a distinction. Since I am studying my master degree, the final result has not been published yet. It is also important to have time-management skills and always plan ahead as a train driver. I have to arrive to depot and pick-up passengers on time. Also, I have to plan, practice, check and memorise the route and the train itself ahead to ensure all the operations can perform correctly.