Temi Faniyi

Driving Instructor, London Over ground

Driving Instructor, London Overground

When Temi responded to an advert for trainee drivers on London Overground in 2008, she thought that she might do it for a couple of years as a stopgap before pursuing her chosen career in the finance sector.

Having just finished studying for an MBA (Master of Business Administration), it was just one of many applications she had made to get on the job ladder, but it was nowhere near the top of her wishlist.

A decade later and not only is she still plying her trade in the driver’s cab, but for the last two years she has also been an instructor to the next cohort of driving trainees.

She explains: “Getting this job was an accident really. I finished my MBA and had lots of interviews for jobs that I really wanted, but this was the one I got. I didn’t think I’d like it and I’d miss the office environment that I was used to, but it didn’t take long before I fell in love with it.

“I don’t want to do an office job ever again as I used to end up taking my work home with me, but now I finish as soon as I get out of the cab.”

Temi, who was the first female driver ever to work on LO’s East London Line, has a six-year-old daughter. She says she loves the job partly because she can balance her work and family life quite easily, and because she feels like she’s well paid. She also enjoys travelling around the Overground network, and seeing the everchanging sights of suburban London.

Outside of work Temi is learning to swim for the first time and likes to travel abroad with her family. She says her favourite way to travel is by Eurostar and her favourite country is Spain, while it is her ambition to visit Morocco.

“The company is really supportive of parents with young children,” she adds. “You’re given a year-long schedule so you know exactly what you’ll be doing and you can plan around that, which really works for me and for other mums too.

“I work four days a week and at the end of every fourth week I get seven days off, which means I never work more than 16 days a month. The shift pattern of being on either ‘earlies’ or ‘lates’ also means that every day I get to either pick up or drop off my daughter from school.

“With this job, you get the best of both worlds as it’s very fulfilling, it pays well and you have lots of time for family. I always tell people that I’m not really at work because I just love travelling so much.”

She says that she chose to become a driving instructor because she wanted to be a role model to other trainee drivers, just as her instructors had been to her.

She is also keen to encourage greater numbers of female applicants, and hopes that her example will help persuade others to follow in her footsteps.

“I still do a lot of driving as it keeps me on my toes, but I like challenges and becoming an instructor seemed like a step towards progressing my career, and I wanted to do for others what my instructors did for me.

“Yes, it’s a male-dominated industry, but there’s no reason why more women shouldn’t do it. Some people look surprised when they see a woman driving the train, but I’ve also had lots of women come to me and ask how they can get such a job, which has to be a good thing.

“I would definitely recommend this job to other people and tell them to join the rail industry.” n

“I always tell people that I’m not really at work because I just love travelling so much”