Can I please have a little advice on the first set of assessments

[Adrian_london]

I have applied as a trainee driver with Govia Thameslink. I have done two steps of online assessments. I think if I pass the second set (I should find out shortly) I then go to the 'proper' set of assessments. I have already failed the first day assessment 2 years ago with GWR. If I remember correctly, the assessments were as follows

1) Four dots test
2) Telephone directory test (which is what I failed on)
3) Listening for the high and low tones
4) Writing a memo from looking at pictures
5) The dials test (there was an arrow pointing in a few dials and I had to work out which dial to check first)

I can't remember if there were any other tests on that day.

Am I right in thinking that the telephone directory test were all the same business (in my case, plumbers)? All I needed to do was check for double signs?

 

[Lankywhale]

I have applied as a trainee driver with Govia Thameslink. I have done two steps of online assessments. I think if I pass the second set (I should find out shortly) I then go to the 'proper' set of assessments. I have already failed the first day assessment 2 years ago with GWR. If I remember correctly, the assessments were as follows

1) Four dots test
2) Telephone directory test (which is what I failed on)
3) Listening for the high and low tones
4) Writing a memo from looking at pictures
5) The dials test (there was an arrow pointing in a few dials and I had to work out which dial to check first)

I can't remember if there were any other tests on that day.

Am I right in thinking that the telephone directory test were all the same business (in my case, plumbers)? All I needed to do was check for double signs?

Correct

 

[DJP78]

Dots probably first - practise them to death. 12-14 lines with 0-2 errors should see you attain a good pass

Tel directory and tones. All you’re looking for are the double symbols, ignore everything else

GLOP - ie sandite. Recording of the text / procedure is played aloud. You then read the same text and make your notes, 5 minutes or so to revise them, then notes are taken away, a short wait takes place then you answer the questions

Cables & Dials paying attention not just to the dials but also the values which will denote priority where dials point to the same shading. Tip - just focus on the first 3 priority dials as the 4th becomes irrelevant if you follow. It’ll make the mental ordering of the dials less complicated and quicker to process

Computer tests - grey flashing box. Talk yourself through in your head and move your eyes from corner to corner to reduce boredom, loss of concentration and the white surround from making you go goggled eyed

Vienna test - rotate circular around picture to capture as much info and periphery detail

Coordination test - make use of the practise run. Don’t take the ball to the end of the practise run. Instead, keep going back & forth to extend the practise run until you’re happy (as happy as you can be in that scenario )

MMI & questionnaire - no pass or fail on the pre-questionnaire but it will impact the line of questioning in the MMI. Then the standard MMI questions which are plastered all over this forum and the same ones you’ll have done few years back

Do your research on this forum. There are download tools for GB (you probably know this already) fake tones test is online which is much harder than the real tones test (again you’ll know this). Use the practise test material you’ll be sent. It’ll get you back in the swing of it

You have a massive advantage in that you’ve done them before and should be super super prepared

You’ll smash it mate!

Good luck and hope all goes well

 

[paddingtonGWR]

2) Telephone directory test (which is what I failed on)

This is by far one of the easier tests.

On the day make sure you fully understand the test, if not ASK, ASK !!!

Then relax and go for it


Good luck !!!

 

[Adrian_london]

Dots probably first - practise them to death. 12-14 lines with 0-2 errors should see you attain a good pass

Tel directory and tones. All you’re looking for are the double symbols, ignore everything else

GLOP - ie sandite. Recording of the text / procedure is played aloud. You then read the same text and make your notes, 5 minutes or so to revise them, then notes are taken away, a short wait takes place then you answer the questions

Cables & Dials paying attention not just to the dials but also the values which will denote priority where dials point to the same shading. Tip - just focus on the first 3 priority dials as the 4th becomes irrelevant if you follow. It’ll make the mental ordering of the dials less complicated and quicker to process

Computer tests - grey flashing box. Talk yourself through in your head and move your eyes from corner to corner to reduce boredom, loss of concentration and the white surround from making you go goggled eyed

Vienna test - rotate circular around picture to capture as much info and periphery detail

Coordination test - make use of the practise run. Don’t take the ball to the end of the practise run. Instead, keep going back & forth to extend the practise run until you’re happy (as happy as you can be in that scenario )

MMI & questionnaire - no pass or fail on the pre-questionnaire but it will impact the line of questioning in the MMI. Then the standard MMI questions which are plastered all over this forum and the same ones you’ll have done few years back

Do your research on this forum. There are download tools for GB (you probably know this already) fake tones test is online which is much harder than the real tones test (again you’ll know this). Use the practise test material you’ll be sent. It’ll get you back in the swing of it

You have a massive advantage in that you’ve done them before and should be super super prepared

You’ll smash it mate!

Good luck and hope all goes well

Thank you for all of your advice. The last time I didn't do the computer tests, Vienna Test, Coordination test or MMI & questionnaire. Is that for another day or is the whole thing done in one day?

The last time it was in a hotel. I was told that if I pass, then I'll go to the next stage

 

[paddingtonGWR]

Thank you for all of your advice. The last time I didn't do the computer tests, Vienna Test, Coordination test or MMI & questionnaire. Is that for another day or is the whole thing done in one day?

The last time it was in a hotel. I was told that if I pass, then I'll go to the next stage

That would take place on the 2nd day

 

[Adrian_london]

Dots probably first - practise them to death. 12-14 lines with 0-2 errors should see you attain a good pass

Tel directory and tones. All you’re looking for are the double symbols, ignore everything else

GLOP - ie sandite. Recording of the text / procedure is played aloud. You then read the same text and make your notes, 5 minutes or so to revise them, then notes are taken away, a short wait takes place then you answer the questions

Cables & Dials paying attention not just to the dials but also the values which will denote priority where dials point to the same shading. Tip - just focus on the first 3 priority dials as the 4th becomes irrelevant if you follow. It’ll make the mental ordering of the dials less complicated and quicker to process

Computer tests - grey flashing box. Talk yourself through in your head and move your eyes from corner to corner to reduce boredom, loss of concentration and the white surround from making you go goggled eyed

Vienna test - rotate circular around picture to capture as much info and periphery detail

Coordination test - make use of the practise run. Don’t take the ball to the end of the practise run. Instead, keep going back & forth to extend the practise run until you’re happy (as happy as you can be in that scenario )

MMI & questionnaire - no pass or fail on the pre-questionnaire but it will impact the line of questioning in the MMI. Then the standard MMI questions which are plastered all over this forum and the same ones you’ll have done few years back

Do your research on this forum. There are download tools for GB (you probably know this already) fake tones test is online which is much harder than the real tones test (again you’ll know this). Use the practise test material you’ll be sent. It’ll get you back in the swing of it

You have a massive advantage in that you’ve done them before and should be super super prepared

You’ll smash it mate!

Good luck and hope all goes well

By the way, you didn't mention the cartoon story that I had to explain.

That would take place on the 2nd day

Thank you

 

[DJP78]

By the way, you didn't mention the cartoon story that I had to explain.


Thank you

The cartoon story (WCT) isn’t part of the standard psychometric tests anymore

Some TOC’s have abandoned this test altogether and some may ask you to complete it as part of their additional recruitment testing

I personally never took the test

 

[Adrian_london]

The cartoon story (WCT) isn’t part of the standard psychometric tests anymore

Some TOC’s have abandoned this test altogether and some may ask you to complete it as part of their additional recruitment testing

I personally never took the test

Interesting. Two years ago GWR still had it. Do you think they (Govia) add a different test on day one instead of that test? As I said previously, I don't think I will get any computer-based assessments on day one (but I might be wrong)

 

[DJP78]

Interesting. Two years ago GWR still had it. Do you think they (Govia) add a different test on day one instead of that test? As I said previously, I don't think I will get any computer-based assessments on day one (but I might be wrong)

Good question. I don’t honestly know. As far as I’m aware, the TOC’s pay the testing centres, the OPC for instance, to undertake the national psychometrics which have to be administered under strict conditions to comply with the RSSB. Some TOC’s might do it in-house but all the people I’ve spoken with at 5 different TOC’s did theirs with OPC. For all I know, the OPC may well have scope to administer additional bespoke tests, at extra costs to the hiring TOC, meaning the testing criteria could vary from TOC to TOC (not to be confused with the basic national psychometrics, these are the same for everyone). Wouldn’t surprise me if they did as it would simply mean extra revenue.

In addition to that, some TOC’s add extra tests to their application process, say comprehension tests, verbal reasoning tests etc which are normally administered by the TOC recruitment teams. These are commonly set before the psychometrics proper and act as an additional layer of sifting to check for aptitude

Remember every candidate that takes the national psychometric tests has to be paid for by the hiring TOC. If they can weed you out informally at application stage, the less money they waste on sending people away to be tested only to fail. And this is likely to be more common given that more and more people will apply for railway jobs given the economic malaise we find ourselves in. In other words, expect ever more testing hurdles

 

[Adrian_london]

Good question. I don’t honestly know. As far as I’m aware, the TOC’s pay the testing centres, the OPC for instance, to undertake the national psychometrics which have to be administered under strict conditions to comply with the RSSB. Some TOC’s might do it in-house but all the people I’ve spoken with at 5 different TOC’s did theirs with OPC. For all I know, the OPC may well have scope to administer additional bespoke tests, at extra costs to the hiring TOC, meaning the testing criteria could vary from TOC to TOC (not to be confused with the basic national psychometrics, these are the same for everyone). Wouldn’t surprise me if they did as it would simply mean extra revenue.

In addition to that, some TOC’s add extra tests to their application process, say comprehension tests, verbal reasoning tests etc which are normally administered by the TOC recruitment teams. These are commonly set before the psychometrics proper and act as an additional layer of sifting to check for aptitude

Remember every candidate that takes the national psychometric tests has to be paid for by the hiring TOC. If they can weed you out informally at application stage, the less money they waste on sending people away to be tested only to fail. And this is likely to be more common given that more and more people will likely apply for railway jobs given the economic malaise we find ourselves in. In other words, expect ever more testing hurdles

My online test was with OPC so I assume that they will be the company that I do the day 1 assessment with (if I get that far)

 

[centro-323]

I agree with all the tips so far, just a few things I'd add:

Dots test - Download the practice program on this forum, and keep the settings as the default. You can start off by using it on the PC, but make sure you print some off on paper and do a week of those before trying the real thing. The test sheets are very similar to the real thing, except on the day for me they were on an A3 sheet. My TOC only needed a standard pass rather than an enhanced one like some, but on my practices I was averaging about 10-11 lines per 2 mins with 0-1 errors/misses, and I passed on the day. The most important thing is to do enough of them that you can replicate that speed on the day, and not either go too slowly or rush and make mistakes.

Dials test - Make sure you understand the instructions completely, and don't expect to finish all of them. It was implied in an informal chat before the MMI interview that I'd answered a surprisingly high amount of the dials questions, and I still only got about 80-85% through them

ATAVT (traffic pictures test) - There's a bloke you've no doubt seen on Youtube who'll try to sell you some expensive books and DVDs to help with some of the tests, and while I'm sure some of them are fine, his video for this test is especially misleading. He implies that you need to accurately count a crowd of 17 people, or note the destination on the 5th bus in a queue of 8, for example. The actual test is like this:

In fact this video shows the same practice question that I received on the day. So don't worry too much about that one, you just have to go with your gut feelings of what you see in the second or so (maybe less) that it's on screen. Just make sure you understand the categories of things you're requested to identify before you begin.

Attention test (grey flashing box) - Make sure your screen is set at an angle where it's not being affected by sunlight, as this may throw off your perception. It'll make you look a bit odd, but if you move your head regularly and look from slightly different angles every minute or so, it'll stop you going cross-eyed and stop the edge of the box blurring into the background.

MMI - Make sure you scour the forums for the kind of questions people are asked and have a good example or two prepared for all of them. Yes, you get time to think what scenario you want to talk about in the morning and can even change your mind once the interview rolls round, but you don't want to be stressing thinking about a good answer while trying to concentrate on the other tests.

Good luck!

 

[Adrian_london]

I agree with all the tips so far, just a few things I'd add:

Dots test - Download the practice program on this forum, and keep the settings as the default. You can start off by using it on the PC, but make sure you print some off on paper and do a week of those before trying the real thing. The test sheets are very similar to the real thing, except on the day for me they were on an A3 sheet. My TOC only needed a standard pass rather than an enhanced one like some, but on my practices I was averaging about 10-11 lines per 2 mins with 0-1 errors/misses, and I passed on the day. The most important thing is to do enough of them that you can replicate that speed on the day, and not either go too slowly or rush and make mistakes.

Dials test - Make sure you understand the instructions completely, and don't expect to finish all of them. It was implied in an informal chat before the MMI interview that I'd answered a surprisingly high amount of the dials questions, and I still only got about 80-85% through them

ATAVT (traffic pictures test) - There's a bloke you've no doubt seen on Youtube who'll try to sell you some expensive books and DVDs to help with some of the tests, and while I'm sure some of them are fine, his video for this test is especially misleading. He implies that you need to accurately count a crowd of 17 people, or note the destination on the 5th bus in a queue of 8, for example. The actual test is like this:

In fact this video shows the same practice question that I received on the day. So don't worry too much about that one, you just have to go with your gut feelings of what you see in the second or so (maybe less) that it's on screen. Just make sure you understand the categories of things you're requested to identify before you begin.

Attention test (grey flashing box) - Make sure your screen is set at an angle where it's not being affected by sunlight, as this may throw off your perception. It'll make you look a bit odd, but if you move your head regularly and look from slightly different angles every minute or so, it'll stop you going cross-eyed and stop the edge of the box blurring into the background.

MMI - Make sure you scour the forums for the kind of questions people are asked and have a good example or two prepared for all of them. Yes, you get time to think what scenario you want to talk about in the morning and can even change your mind once the interview rolls round, but you don't want to be stressing thinking about a good answer while trying to concentrate on the other tests.

Good luck!

Thank you for the extra information. It all comes in handy. I did the dial test lat time and I found it ok. The picture test worries me a little. The joystick assessment REALLY worries me. I don't know how to practice this assessment. Are there any grey flashing box examples on Youtube? I'm not overly worried about the MMI. I have lots of real-life answers for any scenario thrown at me.

 

[centro-323]

With the picture test, there's not a huge amount you can do to practice, although the material I got sent from the assessment people beforehand suggested something like asking a friend or partner to show you pictures of random stuff like maybe a kitchen worktop for a second, and you have to say what items you saw and what you didn't. I guess it might help some people, but I reckon that's the kind of thing you've either got or not.

With the joysticks, I was probably helped by a lifetime of console gaming, but like other people say, don't rush through the practices. I can't remember how many you get, but they don't finish until you reach the goal, so get close and then turn around and go back the other way, back and forth over the line to get used to it. With any luck you'll get the hang of it and be able to do it without thinking too much. And don't pull up on the sticks, because they're not screwed down!

You really don't need an example for the flashing box thing because it's pretty simple. You'll sit there for what feels like an eternity waiting for it to change colour, but you've got to be quick enough to press the button as soon as it does, without getting too jumpy and pressing it when nothing happens. If someone can't concentrate on that for half an hour, there's no way they'll be any good as a driver.

As for the MMI, it's good to have examples, just make sure you go through them as you would in a job interview, i.e. highlight YOUR role in the situation and what YOU did to get a good outcome, or deal with a bad situation. From what I've heard though they tend to prompt you if they need more information, so listen to what they ask and take their hints! The guy I had did anyway, so hopefully yours will be similar

 

[brassballs]

Thank you for the extra information. It all comes in handy. I did the dial test lat time and I found it ok. The picture test worries me a little. The joystick assessment REALLY worries me. I don't know how to practice this assessment. Are there any grey flashing box examples on Youtube? I'm not overly worried about the MMI. I have lots of real-life answers for any scenario thrown at me.

When is your test?

 

[Adrian_london]

It's funny you should ask. I think some of the tests are being done online instead of in a room with lots of others.

I got to the mini scaat test. I ended up doing it online. It wasn't the four dots (which is what i was expecting). It was a row of about 12 letters in Upper and lower case. There were about 30 rows.

The first assessment was just finding the upper case C. The second assessment was finding the upper csse B and lower case v. The third and final assessment was finding the upper case T and then whichever the first letter was in the row.

I believe I did ok on the first assessment. Not that well on the second assessment and I did very well on the third assessment.

I actually got further down the page on the third assessment than the first two!!!

 

[brassballs]

excellent thanks

 

[desrudy]

Thanks for all the advices

 

[Adrian_london]

I received an email a few days ago. I passed the mini scaat test.

I am now on the waiting list to sit the regular assessment (4 dots, tones etc). This is with Govia.

So, the bottom line is, I ended up doing more assessments just to get the 'real' assessment stage!!!!!