A career as a signaller

[Sinistah]

But I applied for another post which had a closing date of 19th September and have already had interview for that on Friday.. Just depends on the LOM I guess

 

[Chris Czunys]

I was on the relief in West Cornwall a few years back. I still keep my ear to the ground.

ah okay. To tell you the truth the more i read about being a signaller the more i am getting nervous as it seems like such a perfect match for me in terms of responsibility and work/home life so i am just hoping i made a good impression during the interview as i have been known to wander from the original question, me and the wife have our fingers crossed currently.

 

[Sinistah]

im exactly the same mate. I went to a signal box to observe for a couple of hours and it seemed perfect for me. the guys were so friendly and laid back

 

[Sinistah]

Is it a bad sign if you are waiting more than a week or so for a decision after an interview by the way guys. I had my interview on Thursday morning. I know it hasn't been a long time but I always thought hearing the next day was a bad thing. Some of you on here though have proven that theory wrong though as you are getting positive news the following day. Don't really want to call hr just yet but will give it a week or so and then call. At that point I reckon it would then be bad news.

 

[Chris Czunys]

Is it a bad sign if you are waiting more than a week or so for a decision after an interview by the way guys. I had my interview on Thursday morning. I know it hasn't been a long time but I always thought hearing the next day was a bad thing. Some of you on here though have proven that theory wrong though as you are getting positive news the following day. Don't really want to call hr just yet but will give it a week or so and then call. At that point I reckon it would then be bad news.

I would just wait. Did your interviewer tell you how many had been successful previously? I was one of three applicants, I know as I asked. mine was Friday afternoon and i was the first to be interviewed, he told me id hear by next week. they might just still be interviewing if they had lots of applicants.

 

[Sinistah]

I would just wait. Did your interviewer tell you how many had been successful previously? I was one of three applicants, I know as I asked. mine was Friday afternoon and i was the first to be interviewed, he told me id hear by next week. they might just still be interviewing if they had lots of applicants.

I did not ask. Maybe I should have. I tried to do all the right things like visit the signal box etc so hopefully those things put me ahead of the rest. However all the examples of practice questions that I revised for were pointless as I did not get asked anything remotely close to what I had revised for. I ended up still having to give off the cuff responses which I do not feel were great although she did say that she was impressed with my knowledge of the industry which I felt was promising.

 

[Clydefrog]

We have/had around 23 interviewees for 11 positions with around 30 held on the reserve list from all walks of life, signallers on premotion, other internal NR and from outside the rail industry. From a selfish point of view this time round I hope more signallers pass the interview than the others as we need bums on seats as quick as possible as waiting for recruits to pass through training school is going to make spring and summer next year very unpleasant with virtual inforced overtime to keep the railway open.

Hi sunset route,

What position was the 11 vacancies for please? Are you a signaller? If so where are you based. I understand if you dont answer that last question as some people on here would rather not.
Thanks

 

[Clydefrog]

Thank you for the answer. much appreciated. One last thing, on previous posts there seems to be a lot of potential applicants who seem to know ALOT about the job before they have even started. I seen the job advertised locally, it seems extremely interesting but know very little about signalling, and the job description didn't say anything about knowledge of signalling? is it better to cram in as much as I can or have things changed? thanks

Hi Chris,

Have a look on youtube for diffrent videos heres one link.

Theres 15 in total if you can find them all give u an idea of how the railway works.

Theres quite a few others if you do a good search around. It will give you a good idea of what a signaller would do.

Cheers

 

[nom de guerre]

What position was the 11 vacancies for please?

Three Bridges ASC (Grade 9).

 

[Chris Czunys]

out of interest is there a way of finding out at what standard you passed your online tests? the position I applied for is a grade 2 and I passed all three tests to the required standard, but if say a grade 8 came up id like to know in advance if I had what it takes if that makes sense

 

[Lmc1976]

I did not ask. Maybe I should have. I tried to do all the right things like visit the signal box etc

Can I ask how you arranged this? I would like to but HR said they can’t arrange it and won’t give me the contact details for anyone who can. They suggested trying to arrange it by contacting my local signal box, but couldn’t tell me how I do that!

 

[nom de guerre]

Have you been offered an interview? (Sorry, only had time to dip into this thread recently.)

If so: contact HR again, quote the hiring manager's name (should be on the interview invite) and ask for their contact details.

 

[Lmc1976]

Have you been offered an interview?

Not yet but hoping to be invited soon, I hoped to have a bit more insight by having a visit though before a potential interview.

 

[Llanigraham]

Visiting the Box will be of no help at the interview.

 

[Lmc1976]

Visiting the Box will be of no help at the interview.

Maybe not at interview but it would certainly help me with some of the decisions I may need to make regarding my future.

 

[martin2345uk]

Maybe not at interview but it would certainly help me with some of the decisions I may need to make regarding my future.

What box are you applying for mate?

 

[Lmc1976]

What box are you applying for mate?

It’s asvertised as Exmouth, but the job description is Devon branch relief. I just think that showing a genuine interest would be helpful before a potential interview.

 

[Tom Quinne]

Regards to the Exmouth job it’s been offered to a Signaller at my location, which he’s accepted.

 

[Lmc1976]

Regards to the Exmouth job it’s been offered to a Signaller at my location, which he’s accepted.

Ok thanks, would still like to go and see a box though for any future applications.

 

[Sinistah]

To be honest mate I found out the name of the lom when i got the invite to interview and just had a educated guess at the email address. You know. [email protected].

 

[Sinistah]

Guys I had my interview on the 12th October and I haven't heard anything from hr.Im guessing as it has been so long now the chances are it will be a no. My question is should I contact HR is that something that I shouldn't do because it could be taken negatively by them. My application still says assessment 2 scheduled. It has been on that since 29th September. Is this normal as I know some people that get the "call" the following day with positive news. On the flip side would they really keep me hanging this long to just tell me I didn't get the job. Or is it possible that the application has slipped through the net?

 

[Validation]

Guys I had my interview on the 12th October and I haven't heard anything from hr.Im guessing as it has been so long now the chances are it will be a no. My question is should I contact HR is that something that I shouldn't do because it could be taken negatively by them. My application still says assessment 2 scheduled. It has been on that since 29th September. Is this normal as I know some people that get the "call" the following day with positive news. On the flip side would they really keep me hanging this long to just tell me I didn't get the job. Or is it possible that the application has slipped through the net?

Patience, patience. That’s no time at all for the railway and you will hear back regardless of the outcome when the HR process is complete.

Just sit tight and good luck!

 

[Sinistah]

Patience, patience. That’s no time at all for the railway and you will hear back regardless of the outcome when the HR process is complete.

Just sit tight and good luck!

Thank you appreciate that. Hopefully its good news

 

[Clydefrog]

Guys I had my interview on the 12th October and I haven't heard anything from hr.Im guessing as it has been so long now the chances are it will be a no. My question is should I contact HR is that something that I shouldn't do because it could be taken negatively by them. My application still says assessment 2 scheduled. It has been on that since 29th September. Is this normal as I know some people that get the "call" the following day with positive news. On the flip side would they really keep me hanging this long to just tell me I didn't get the job. Or is it possible that the application has slipped through the net?

Hi,

The call the next day with good news would depend on the Lom and if they can be bothered. Im guessing most would leave it to HR otherwise they will be phoning candidates everytime when its actually HR job.

Assesment 2 scheduled means that u will be having your interview and all the other people interviewed for the vacancy will have the same status. until all the interview papers and scores have been talied up by the Lom and sent off to HR. Interviews can be spread over weeks due to the Loms work schedule and fitting in interviews so will take time. Imagine if it was 30 interviews! Once HR have the interview papers they will change your status to assesment 2 complete. They will then taly up the scores and normaly tell the people that were unsuccessful the next day or within a few days. I had unsuccessful the next day and one three days later in the past. When i got the job when i was coming from external it had taken around 2 weeks before the status changed to formal offer in progress. So the longer it takes to get a reply from HR when u get assesment 2 complete the better. Hope this helps

 

[Sinistah]

Hi,

The call the next day with good news would depend on the Lom and if they can be bothered. Im guessing most would leave it to HR otherwise they will be phoning candidates everytime when its actually HR job.

Assesment 2 scheduled means that u will be having your interview and all the other people interviewed for the vacancy will have the same status. until all the interview papers and scores have been talied up by the Lom and sent off to HR. Interviews can be spread over weeks due to the Loms work schedule and fitting in interviews so will take time. Imagine if it was 30 interviews! Once HR have the interview papers they will change your status to assesment 2 complete. They will then taly up the scores and normaly tell the people that were unsuccessful the next day or within a few days. I had unsuccessful the next day and one three days later in the past. When i got the job when i was coming from external it had taken around 2 weeks before the status changed to formal offer in progress. So the longer it takes to get a reply from HR when u get assesment 2 complete the better. Hope this helps

That was very insightful and detailed. Thank you for that.

 

[CareerMove2017]

I'm still waiting to hear if I'm getting an interview or not for a Crossing Keeper position, it's been 2 weeks tomorrow since I got the email to say I've met the benchmark required! It's torture having to wait so know how some of you feel!!

 

[uww11x]

I'm still waiting to hear if I'm getting an interview or not for a Crossing Keeper position, it's been 2 weeks tomorrow since I got the email to say I've met the benchmark required! It's torture having to wait so know how some of you feel!!

I am in the same position for a different role at the minute. However it was only a week ago that I got the email saying I passed the tests.

 

[CareerMove2017]

You checking your emails constantly? I can't help myself! Lol.

 

[uww11x]

You checking your emails constantly? I can't help myself! Lol.

All the time lol!

 

[martin2345uk]

I am in the same position for a different role at the minute. However it was only a week ago that I got the email saying I passed the tests.

Which one are you in for mate?