Bus Driver 

How did you get your current job?
My sister referred me to it after I got a job driving school bus. I’d already worked as a home health companion, so mixing that with driving a bus wasn’t too hard. My sister has worked with our company for 8 years

What was the application process?
I submitted a paper application.

Did you have to interview for your current job? If yes, what did the interview process entail?
I had called to say that I was interested and my sister had told me that they needed drivers. I had an individual interview with the driver supervisor and was told I was going to be hired.

If you can remember, what questions were you asked during the interview?
Have you had any accidents? Have you had any tickets? Have you ever worked with the disabled? Have you ever worked with the elderly? Do you have a CDL-B license? Do you have airbrakes included on your license? Do you have a passenger endorsement? Have you had a tubercolosis test? Have you been immunized for hepetitis C?

Do you feel your employer properly prepared you for your job? Explain.
No, training could have been a bit more complete. I was trained for 5 days, less than 3 hours a day, then put in a bus and told to drive.

Was there training for your current position? If yes, what did it entail?
I had minimal training, most of what I was trained was how to do the paperwork since I already knew how to drive a bus, read a map, read and follow schedules, obey traffic laws and how to work with people. Other people who have been hired have been trained to drive bus, work with people, handle schedules, etc.

Do you feel your educational background prepared you for your job? Explain.
I wasn’t schooled for what I did. All I was ever told in school was that if I didn’t go to college I’d end up flipping burgers my entire life.

If applicable, do you feel your internship experience helped you prepare for your job?
N/A

If someone wanted to go about getting a job similar to yours, what would you recommend for him or her to do?
To maintain a clean driving record, get appropriate training to have a CDL-B license and also realize that they would be dealing with severely handicapped people who need compassion, patience, and understanding and not pity or to be spoken to like children.

What skills do you think a person should have if they want to pursue a position like yours?
The ability to handle ever changing road and traffic conditions, with a rapidly changing schedule and also an ever changing group of passengers who have wide ranging needs and requirements to their transport and care. If you can’t handle driving in a blizzard with whiteout conditions while the 15 handicapped adults you are transporting are scared and/or having seizures, vomiting, panic attack etc you won’t be able to handle our work.

Do you feel that you need a certain level of education or training to be successful in your job?
You need an appropriate driving license but at least some time working with elderly or handicapped is a huge benefit

What advice would you give to someone who was about to start work in your position/ line of work?
Realize that they are about to start working with people who may have severe physical and/or mental handicaps while you are on your own and will be the only one to take care of a potential emergency. Not only are you responsible for driving the bus and dealing with traffic but if someone should have a seizure, stroke, diabetic attack, or other sudden medical emergency you will be the one who has to take control of that and get help as well as maintain calm and control over all the other passengers you are transporting, all of which have varying degrees of disability.