How to Pursue a Career in Driving

There are plenty of career routes available to you if you choose to drive a vehicle for a living. Begin your journey into your dream job by following this handy guide on how to get a career in driving through five popular routes…

Driving instructor

The primary role of a driving instructor is to teach people the skills and knowledge that they need in order to drive safely and pass their driving test.

Entry requirements

Before registering for Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) instructor training at a facility such as Pass ‘N’ Go’s driving schools in Durham, you must:

• Be aged 21 or over by the time you qualify.
• Have held a driving licence for a minimum of three years.
• Be able to read a licence plate from a distance of 90 feet, even if this is performed when wearing glasses or contact lenses.
• Have completed and passed enhanced criminal records and motoring conviction checks. For this, you can’t have any prior disqualifications from driving in the four years leading up to qualifying as a driving instructor. You also can’t have any criminal offences, whether these are related to driving or not.

Essential skills

These are the skills required in order to become a successful driving instructor:

1. Able to give clear instructions.
2. Able to adapt your style of teaching to suit each learner.
3. Display excellent driving skills.
4. Have a sound knowledge about all aspects of road safety.
5. Able to react quickly and safely to any problems that you encounter when teaching someone to drive.

Day-to-day duties to expect

• Check the driving ability and knowledge of each learner driver.
• Plan a number of lessons with the intent of preparing a learner driver for their driving test.
• Teach aspects of driving laws, the Highway Code and road safety.
• Instruct on how to use vehicle controls, turning procedures, reversing techniques, steering and parking safely.
• Demonstrate how to react to emergency situations.
• Discuss the basis vehicle checks.
• Keep records of all appointments and payments.
• Manage your own business.

Expected salary

You can expect a starter salary of between £15,000 and £20,000 when pursuing a career as a driving instructor, though this can rise to between £20,000 and £30,000 with experience.

However, the average salary for driving instructor jobs, according to Totaljobs, is £42,500.

Jobs available*

Indeed currently has 657 jobs related to the search ‘Driving Instructor’ — check them out here.

Bus driver

The role of a bus driver will be to transport passengers on local journeys.

Entry requirements

Before pursuing a career as a bus driver, you will be required to hold a Passenger Carrying Vehicle (PCV) licence and a Driver Certificate of Professional Competence—otherwise known as a Driver Qualification Card (DQC).

The majority of employers will also request that you are at least 18 years old and have held a full driving licence for at least a year.

Essential skills

These are the skills required in order to become a successful bus driver:

1. Fantastic driving skills
2. Good customer service skills
3. Clear communication skills
4. Good geographical knowledge

Day-to-day duties to expect

• Take fares.
• Check tickets and passes.
• Give information about timetables and routes.
• Help passengers when they have difficulty getting onto and alighting from a bus.
• The ability to keep to timetables.

Expected salary

You can expect a starter salary of between £14,000 and £17,000 when pursuing a career as a bus driver, though this can rise to between £18,000 and £23,000 with experience. The most experienced drivers can earn £25,000 or more once highly experienced.

The average salary for bus driver jobs, according to Totaljobs, is £22,492.

Jobs available*

Indeed currently has 1,344 jobs related to the search ‘Bus Driver’ — check them out here.

Coach driver

The role of a coach driver is to transport passengers on a wide variety of journeys, which can take them to local, national or overseas destinations.

Entry requirements

Both a Passenger Carrying Vehicle (PCV) licence and a Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) — sometimes also referred to as a Driver Qualification Card (DQC) — will need to be held before you pursue a career as a coach driver.

Many employers will require you to be at least 18 years old and to have held a full driving licence for a minimum of 12 months.

Essential skills

These are the skills required in order to become a successful coach driver:

1. Fantastic driving skills
2. Good customer service skills
3. Clear communication skills
4. Good geographical knowledge
5. If driving abroad, then basic foreign language skills and an understanding of overseas traffic laws will also be required.

Day-to-day duties to expect

• Help passengers when they have difficulty getting onto and alighting from a coach.
• Check documents of passengers.
• Both load and unload luggage.
• Make announcements throughout a journey.
• Check that all passengers are back on board before setting off on a return journey, as well as after each scheduled stop.
• Keep the coach clean.
• Carry out basic vehicle checks of the coach.
• Record driving hours.
• Report any incidents when on the road.

Expected salary

You can expect a starter salary of between £14,000 and £17,000 when pursuing a career as a coach driver, though this can rise to between £18,000 and £23,000 when experienced and then to £25,000 or more once highly experienced.

Jobs available*

Indeed currently has 1,145 jobs related to the search ‘Coach Driver’ — check them out here.

Lorry driver

The role of a lorry driver is to both transport and deliver goods between suppliers and customers.

Entry requirements

You must be over 18 years old and hold both a full car driving licence and a Certificate of Professional Competence (Driver CPC) before pursuing a career as a lorry driver.

Essential skills

These are the skills required in order to become a successful lorry driver:

1. Fantastic driving skills
2. Fantastic knowledge of aspects of road safety
3. The ability to work alone for long periods of time
4. The ability to concentrate for long periods of time
5. The ability to accurately complete record sheets
6. The ability to accurately complete all necessary paperwork

Day-to-day duties to expect

• Drive a variety of commercial vehicles which weigh in excess of 7.5 tonnes — this can include articulated lorries, tankers, trailer wagons and transporters.
• Carry goods from one destination to another, which could be based in the UK as well as overseas.
• Plan delivery schedules and routes through communication with transport managers.
• Supervise and help with the loading and unloading of goods.
• Ensure that loads are secured safely.
• Take note of traffic reports and change routes when necessary.
• Complete delivery paperwork accurately.
• Complete log books accurately.
• Carry out basic maintenance of a vehicle, which could include brake, oil and tyre checks both before and after a journey.

Expected salary

You can expect a starter salary of between £18,500 and £22,000 when pursuing a career as a lorry driver, though this can rise to between £23,000 and £28,000 when experienced and then to between £27,000 and £35,000 once highly experienced. Overtime may also be available.

Jobs available*

Indeed currently has 1,547 jobs related to the search ‘Lorry Driver’ — check them out here.

Taxi driver

Taxi drivers are tasked with picking up passengers and charge them fares before taking them to their requested destination via the quickest route.

Entry requirements

Before pursuing a career as a taxi driver, you will need to apply for a taxi driver’s licence. This can be carried out either from a local council’s licensing unit or via Transport for London (TfL).

There will be unique conditions from one licencing unit to the next, but most usually request that drivers are over 18 years old, have held a full UK or EU driving licence for a minimum of 12 months and have passed a medical, a criminal records check and a geographical test.

Essential skills

These are the skills required in order to become a successful taxi driver:

1. Good driving skills
2. Good awareness of road safety
3. In-depth knowledge of an area where you will be carrying out duties as a taxi driver — this will include being able to identify landmarks, one-way systems and street names
4. Customer care skills
5. Maths skills

Day-to-day duties to expect

• Take job details via multiple means, which includes via an in-car computer, using an app, through a phone call and over a radio.
• Help passengers to both get in and exit a vehicle where necessary.
• Help to load and unload luggage when required.
• Take accurate payments for fares.
• Log payments for fares online.
• Keep a vehicle clean.
• Keep a vehicle in a roadworthy condition.
• Keep both accounts and records up to date.

Expected salary

You can expect a starter salary of £14,000 when pursuing a career as a taxi driver, though this can rise to £20,000 when experienced and then to £30,000 once highly experienced.

Jobs available*

Indeed currently has 299 jobs related to the search ‘taxi driver’ — check them out here.

*Jobs available logged as of June 2017.

Sources:

http://www.drivingexpert.co.uk/driving-career-category.html

https://www.totaljobs.com/salary-checker/salary-calculator

http://www.payscale.com/research/UK/

https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/job-profiles/home

https://www.indeed.co.uk