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Avanti - Trainee Train Drivers - Multiple Locations (28/02/23)
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RailUK Forums
Scotty_1981
New Member
Also just had the 28 day email.
d44nny
Member
Good to hear alot more emails going out today. Even if it is just to say could be a 28 day wait. I'm yet to have mine yet.
jdm365sito
Member
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What is the talent pool? How does it work?
Do you compete the 16 week training, then have to wait a position as you're in the talent pool?
All new to this
I understand that a lot of people are on edge with anxieties hoping they will get through, but it is still very frustrating seeing the same questions being asked over and over again or similar questions in which the answer is the same, so a lot of us just decided we no longer wish to be going in circles. It has been made clear that no news isn't bad news yet some people seem to think they're out already as if the OPC aren't dealing with thousands of applicants and have now had to go on record saying it could take 28 days.
I would honestly consider everyone here lucky to be hearing back so quickly because those of us who went through it last October were barely hearing back at this time with our first questionnaires while people here are already on the VSE and M7SJT tests. The truth is, railway recruitment is notoriously slow and agonising, especially for trainee train driver vacancies, and yet people are losing their minds because they're not receiving the emails they want. The fact is, despite not having the same knowledge as this thread does, we were nowhere near as anxious because we accepted that we would hear back sooner or later.
I will repeat this one more time for everyone. If you haven't received an email, DON'T WORRY! At this stage unless the OPC have explicitly told you that you were unsuccessful, you were not unsuccessful, and with 28 day notice emails going out I hope this will be the last of people panicking.
Agreed
Hi, you go into the Talent pool Once you have passed all the assessments that come after the ones done online plus been successful at a DTM Interview.
Then it's a case of waiting until a course is available, that can take days, months or years!
Not sure. I did few errors on shapes and track with shapes together. I did practice, but it was much faster than on app I had. I hope it was good enough. Good luck.
jdm365sito
Member
Ah thanks very much! So continue with the day job for a while then.
Thanks for letting me know
nolypops83
Member
Absolutely! Do not hand your notice in until you’ve signed a contract with Avanti!
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^^^^
This.
You will hear back either way. There is nothing to be gained from speculation or asking “has anyone heard back” every 5 minutes.
No problem! Best of luck to you!
But at this point it's anxiety over nothing at all, and besides which, being anxious will not do anybody any good. It will not make the emails come faster, it will not make them any more successful than they already are, and at this point after being told it will take a bit longer than expected, choosing to be anxious is a frankly ridiculous decision. Being able to keep a clear head in times of uncertainty is crucial for the role of a train driver, and if not getting an email soon enough is enough to drive someone mad then I will most definitely not be wanting them in the cab of a Pendolino carrying up to 500 passengers, myself possibly included.The thing you’re forgetting mate, you don’t speak for people in here. If you think they’re being nervous ninnies then fine let them get on with it. Nobody put you in charge did they? They can be as anxious as they want. Everybody is different
I have been through this process recently, and I know how the process works enough to assure people about their anxieties. I understand what it feels like to be waiting and dreading the results, and there were even moments where I too was expecting to receive an email only to later find out that maybe I was expecting too much. Bear in mind, the best thread we had to refer to was a trainee position relating to Wolverhampton who heard back about as quickly as you all did, so for us not to hear anything after a week was more grounds for anxiety than here where a fair few are already progressing to the next stages. Nevertheless, most of us heard back eventually, which only proves my point that the process may be agonising, but most of the time you will usually hear back, so at this point there is little if any grounds for anxiety.
Quite frankly I think your attitude towards the whole issue is detrimental to everybody involved.
ADW051415
Member
New on here, applied for Manchester, got an email to do the first OPC testing, was buzzing, thought I did ok, still waiting to hear back, anyone had any success with Manchester application? Cheers.
I for one am much calmer than I was last Friday. However I do think it's perfectly understandable for people to be anxious at this stage.
We all know we'll hear back in due course but for now it's good (for me at least) to come here and talk about the process and find out how other applicants are getting on.
Talking about and sharing our experience is incredibly important as far as I'm concerned, it's an outlet for us that's all.
I've not seen anyone asking the same questions to be fair, I've just seen people telling us about emails they've received and whether or not they've been successful.
All pretty much the kind of thing you'd expect.
You also need to remember that even though you've been here before, we haven't. I appreciate the advice but this is the first time many of us have been on this journey.
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Nothing yet!
nolypops83
Member
No one from Manchester has heard either way yet, as far as I'm aware.
Of course it's natural to be anxious, but it's not exactly a great unknown because plenty of us have been through it recently, myself included, therefore my assurances should help ease everyone's minds. Nothing can truly stop any of the anxieties wondering whether you failed or not, but some people seem to be losing their minds about not getting emails despite the OPC dealing with thousands of applicants at this stage. What everyone needs to realise is that it's quite simply a case of waiting and hoping you did well but also realising that you did your best with what you were given.
Quite so, and I would hope that sharing my experience would help, but alas it feels like I'm going in circles. I'm glad you're remaining calm, but not everyone seems capable of keeping a cool head right now because of unreasonable expectations. I can give the benefit of the doubt for anyone whose missed it, but at this stage I have assured people in bold not to worry and therefore I hopefully won't need to repeat myself. Nevertheless, I still wish everyone the best in their applications, yourself included.
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ADW051415
Member
Cheers, trying to be optimistic, you never know!
I have been reading both main threads on this site.
I completely understand why people might be worried and uncertain.
Based on the October intake it looked like there were lots of initial passes then people started to get rejection letters. (The same has happened here) Then a lot of the thread after that is talk of the next stage. I browsed a few more posts but there wasn't any obvious mention of people then being accepted. I am sure there must have been, but most of the talk was of the next two assessments. From that it would be easy to conclude that if you haven't heard back within that time then you have probably not been successful.
I have applied for a fair few jobs using online sifts like this and usually there is a timescale for replying. Most say within 10 working days etc. It seems like a common courtesy to do this for applicants.
There are other online applications that have people on hold for months on end before replying, which isn't how any professional organisation should run.
A few thoughts on what might be happening based on my prior experience with other jobs.
First of all it is an online electronic assessment which means they can have instant results.
So people are obviously now wondering why they can't know straight away.
There are many reasons for this. It could be that those already informed of the next stage were high alignment candidates which means they passed an upper limit on the bar and were automatically selected for the next stage. Others may have had an immediate rejection based on not having enough alignment.
The remaining candidates could now be going through an ongoing sift to see where they stand against the rest of the cohort and previous assessment levels. Decisions are usually then made on a 1 by 1 basis. At the same time the next stage is monitored and if not enough candidates are passing to move onto the further stages they will invite then next level of aligned candidates.
This goes on until enough people have passed the next two tests. The remaining candidates may then be informed they haven't been successful.
One application I put in had over 5000 in the first sift, 2000 in the second, 800 in the third, I believe the 4th was 200. They have to draw the line somewhere.
It could also be that they are doing the process by the order people have taken the tests but I can't see a pattern that would suggest this.
Anyway i have had two emails today to say that i have the 28 day wait for my depots which was interesting because although i applied to more than one I only got one invite to OPC. It had me wondering if some people had actually created 2 accounts to apply to multiple depots which was why they had multiple invites to the OPC.
Feel free to completely ignore my opinion by the way.
I completely understand why people might be worried and uncertain.
Based on the October intake it looked like there were lots of initial passes then people started to get rejection letters. (The same has happened here) Then a lot of the thread after that is talk of the next stage. I browsed a few more posts but there wasn't any obvious mention of people then being accepted. I am sure there must have been, but most of the talk was of the next two assessments. From that it would be easy to conclude that if you haven't heard back within that time then you have probably not been successful.
I have applied for a fair few jobs using online sifts like this and usually there is a timescale for replying. Most say within 10 working days etc. It seems like a common courtesy to do this for applicants.
There are other online applications that have people on hold for months on end before replying, which isn't how any professional organisation should run.
A few thoughts on what might be happening based on my prior experience with other jobs.
First of all it is an online electronic assessment which means they can have instant results.
So people are obviously now wondering why they can't know straight away.
There are many reasons for this. It could be that those already informed of the next stage were high alignment candidates which means they passed an upper limit on the bar and were automatically selected for the next stage. Others may have had an immediate rejection based on not having enough alignment.
The remaining candidates could now be going through an ongoing sift to see where they stand against the rest of the cohort and previous assessment levels. Decisions are usually then made on a 1 by 1 basis. At the same time the next stage is monitored and if not enough candidates are passing to move onto the further stages they will invite then next level of aligned candidates.
This goes on until enough people have passed the next two tests. The remaining candidates may then be informed they haven't been successful.
One application I put in had over 5000 in the first sift, 2000 in the second, 800 in the third, I believe the 4th was 200. They have to draw the line somewhere.
It could also be that they are doing the process by the order people have taken the tests but I can't see a pattern that would suggest this.
Anyway i have had two emails today to say that i have the 28 day wait for my depots which was interesting because although i applied to more than one I only got one invite to OPC. It had me wondering if some people had actually created 2 accounts to apply to multiple depots which was why they had multiple invites to the OPC.
Feel free to completely ignore my opinion by the way.
ADW051415
Member
Cheers, did have a flick through previous posts and couldn’t find anyone that had a reply from their Manchester application, keep hoping.
nolypops83
Member
I'm in the same boat, as soon as I hear anything, good or bad, I'll post on here.
Not heard anything for Manchester since the initial OPC assessments. Not the only one don't worry!
I put two applications in to two depots from the same account. Originally received two emails inviting me for assessments, one from each depot, only one login though.I have been reading both main threads on this site.
I completely understand why people might be worried and uncertain.
Based on the October intake it looked like there were lots of initial passes then people started to get rejection letters. (The same has happened here) Then a lot of the thread after that is talk of the next stage. I browsed a few more posts but there wasn't any obvious mention of people then being accepted. I am sure there must have been, but most of the talk was of the next two assessments. From that it would be easy to conclude that if you haven't heard back within that time then you have probably not been successful.
I have applied for a fair few jobs using online sifts like this and usually there is a timescale for replying. Most say within 10 working days etc. It seems like a common courtesy to do this for applicants.
There are other online applications that have people on hold for months on end before replying, which isn't how any professional organisation should run.
A few thoughts on what might be happening based on my prior experience with other jobs.
First of all it is an online electronic assessment which means they can have instant results.
So people are obviously now wondering why they can't know straight away.
There are many reasons for this. It could be that those already informed of the next stage were high alignment candidates which means they passed an upper limit on the bar and were automatically selected for the next stage. Others may have had an immediate rejection based on not having enough alignment.
The remaining candidates could now be going through an ongoing sift to see where they stand against the rest of the cohort and previous assessment levels. Decisions are usually then made on a 1 by 1 basis. At the same time the next stage is monitored and if not enough candidates are passing to move onto the further stages they will invite then next level of aligned candidates.
This goes on until enough people have passed the next two tests. The remaining candidates may then be informed they haven't been successful.
One application I put in had over 5000 in the first sift, 2000 in the second, 800 in the third, I believe the 4th was 200. They have to draw the line somewhere.
It could also be that they are doing the process by the order people have taken the tests but I can't see a pattern that would suggest this.
Anyway i have had two emails today to say that i have the 28 day wait for my depots which was interesting because although i applied to more than one I only got one invite to OPC. It had me wondering if some people had actually created 2 accounts to apply to multiple depots which was why they had multiple invites to the OPC.
Feel free to completely ignore my opinion by the way.
Today I received the 28 day email but only one email and doesn't mention which depot it's in relation to.
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HAHA - Okay this just proves that OPC might not be as efficient as everyone would like and we should all ignore our applications for the next week or two.
Obviously their right hand isn't quite sure what their left is doing.
ADW051415
Member
Nice one, good luck.
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
Nice one cheers, all the best.
Chippychips
Member
I like the way you think. Critical thinker.I have been reading both main threads on this site.
I completely understand why people might be worried and uncertain.
Based on the October intake it looked like there were lots of initial passes then people started to get rejection letters. (The same has happened here) Then a lot of the thread after that is talk of the next stage. I browsed a few more posts but there wasn't any obvious mention of people then being accepted. I am sure there must have been, but most of the talk was of the next two assessments. From that it would be easy to conclude that if you haven't heard back within that time then you have probably not been successful.
I have applied for a fair few jobs using online sifts like this and usually there is a timescale for replying. Most say within 10 working days etc. It seems like a common courtesy to do this for applicants.
There are other online applications that have people on hold for months on end before replying, which isn't how any professional organisation should run.
A few thoughts on what might be happening based on my prior experience with other jobs.
First of all it is an online electronic assessment which means they can have instant results.
So people are obviously now wondering why they can't know straight away.
There are many reasons for this. It could be that those already informed of the next stage were high alignment candidates which means they passed an upper limit on the bar and were automatically selected for the next stage. Others may have had an immediate rejection based on not having enough alignment.
The remaining candidates could now be going through an ongoing sift to see where they stand against the rest of the cohort and previous assessment levels. Decisions are usually then made on a 1 by 1 basis. At the same time the next stage is monitored and if not enough candidates are passing to move onto the further stages they will invite then next level of aligned candidates.
This goes on until enough people have passed the next two tests. The remaining candidates may then be informed they haven't been successful.
One application I put in had over 5000 in the first sift, 2000 in the second, 800 in the third, I believe the 4th was 200. They have to draw the line somewhere.
It could also be that they are doing the process by the order people have taken the tests but I can't see a pattern that would suggest this.
Anyway i have had two emails today to say that i have the 28 day wait for my depots which was interesting because although i applied to more than one I only got one invite to OPC. It had me wondering if some people had actually created 2 accounts to apply to multiple depots which was why they had multiple invites to the OPC.
Feel free to completely ignore my opinion by the way.
However I can confirm this is incorrect.
No lines are drawn anywhere. The OPC have nothing to do with Avanti recruitment control. They get paid by Avanti to run these tests for their applicants- simply business for them. Though OPC may have been told approximate vacancies, Avanti have no say or influence in the process and number of applicants seeded through. Thats for Avanti to decide when it gets to the Talent Pool stage at the end.
The scoring is linear with the test pass marks, not against other candidates, so there's no "hold and release" in regards to waiting to see how many make it to the next stage before inviting the next lot.
Financially its in OPCs best interest to get as many people arranged for assessments so they can send the invoices. They wouldn't hold people back for any reason other than administrative or logistical purposes.
Also, OPC aren't a huge organisation. We often forget they are also running assessments for other TOCs AND normal businesses/training.
Finally. The invites are literally random.
I've thought similar, here's hoping some of the "perfect" applicants balls things up so us "middle of the roaders" get a chance!...if that's indeed how it works?!I have been reading both main threads on this site.
I completely understand why people might be worried and uncertain.
Based on the October intake it looked like there were lots of initial passes then people started to get rejection letters. (The same has happened here) Then a lot of the thread after that is talk of the next stage. I browsed a few more posts but there wasn't any obvious mention of people then being accepted. I am sure there must have been, but most of the talk was of the next two assessments. From that it would be easy to conclude that if you haven't heard back within that time then you have probably not been successful.
I have applied for a fair few jobs using online sifts like this and usually there is a timescale for replying. Most say within 10 working days etc. It seems like a common courtesy to do this for applicants.
There are other online applications that have people on hold for months on end before replying, which isn't how any professional organisation should run.
A few thoughts on what might be happening based on my prior experience with other jobs.
First of all it is an online electronic assessment which means they can have instant results.
So people are obviously now wondering why they can't know straight away.
There are many reasons for this. It could be that those already informed of the next stage were high alignment candidates which means they passed an upper limit on the bar and were automatically selected for the next stage. Others may have had an immediate rejection based on not having enough alignment.
The remaining candidates could now be going through an ongoing sift to see where they stand against the rest of the cohort and previous assessment levels. Decisions are usually then made on a 1 by 1 basis. At the same time the next stage is monitored and if not enough candidates are passing to move onto the further stages they will invite then next level of aligned candidates.
This goes on until enough people have passed the next two tests. The remaining candidates may then be informed they haven't been successful.
One application I put in had over 5000 in the first sift, 2000 in the second, 800 in the third, I believe the 4th was 200. They have to draw the line somewhere.
It could also be that they are doing the process by the order people have taken the tests but I can't see a pattern that would suggest this.
Anyway i have had two emails today to say that i have the 28 day wait for my depots which was interesting because although i applied to more than one I only got one invite to OPC. It had me wondering if some people had actually created 2 accounts to apply to multiple depots which was why they had multiple invites to the OPC.
Feel free to completely ignore my opinion by the way.
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Thanks, just out of interest how do you know this?
Chippychips
Member
1. Went i went through this process myself I asked the lady at the end of my CBI how this entire process works and asked about what role Avanti play in the process.
2. And recently I recently asked an OPC assessor some Avanti questions at my current TOC. (They've been doing paper assessments for trainees and depot drivers this week and last week) so I sneaked in whilst she was setting up for the afternoon session.