Chiltern Railways Trainee Driver Vacancies

[Knowledgeboy]

Finally bit the bullet and contacted HR. Got a pass and awaiting stage 2, again in May.

Congratulations mate. I emailed saima this morning. Responded soon after to say she would check and haven't heard since. Hopefully il find out soon. Did you ring them or email. Think il just sit tight.

 

[Ticketmonkey]

Thanks. I emailed her. She responded fairly quickly. Should have the details of May by the end of the day. Seems she has had a number of us contact her today.

Good luck hopefully you will just get the stage 2 details email

 

[Knowledgeboy]

Just checked email again. I passed horaaaay!!!!

 

[Ticketmonkey]

Well done

 

[Komma]

Got an email 5 minutes ago asking me to attend stage 2 on May 10th,so pleased.

 

[Sean1878]

Just had the email inviting me to stage 2 on 10th May

 

[choochoochoo]

So does Stage 2 include the MMI ?

I've done all the other parts listed in the prep with GTR.

Perhaps I need to call HR and see what the deal is.

After a long day doing tests (including the mind-numbing grey square test), its pretty harsh to give candidates an MMI

 

[Komma]

Yes the mmi is at the end of the day and depending on how many people are in front of you,you could be waiting for a couple of hours.I failed on one question last time and it is hard work,but so is driving a train.

 

[OneTrackMind]

Historically the MMI and DMI have been on the same day with Chiltern...

 

[choochoochoo]

Anyone done stage 2 recently ? Did you do your DMI on the same day ?

 

[Max287]

Very sorry for all of you who were not successful this time, as others have said, don't give up and you will get it right next time.

Congratulations to everybody through to stage 2, halfway there now!

Just a question to the other guys in the same boat as me having passed the tests before and just waiting for the manager interviews; has anybody heard anything more from them regarding dates etc? I really hope we get a bit of notice as getting the time off work at short notice is really tricky for me, as I'm sure it will be for others too.

All the best to everybody still in the running

 

[dwizzle123]

Very sorry for all of you who were not successful this time, as others have said, don't give up and you will get it right next time.

Congratulations to everybody through to stage 2, halfway there now!

Just a question to the other guys in the same boat as me having passed the tests before and just waiting for the manager interviews; has anybody heard anything more from them regarding dates etc? I really hope we get a bit of notice as getting the time off work at short notice is really tricky for me, as I'm sure it will be for others too.

All the best to everybody still in the running

I was informed on the 27th March that I'd passed stage one and invited to stage two on the 30th March! Not much notice at all. I have noticed others in the forum are due to attend mid-may which makes me feel at a disadvantage already with so little time to prepare. If I'd have known this I would have probably asked to attend mid-may as opposed to accepting the stage two assessment with 2 days notice.

 

[hsharma25]

Very sorry for all of you who were not successful this time, as others have said, don't give up and you will get it right next time.

Congratulations to everybody through to stage 2, halfway there now!

Just a question to the other guys in the same boat as me having passed the tests before and just waiting for the manager interviews; has anybody heard anything more from them regarding dates etc? I really hope we get a bit of notice as getting the time off work at short notice is really tricky for me, as I'm sure it will be for others too.

All the best to everybody still in the running

hi
I am also in the same position as yourself. I passed the assessments and interview for depot driver job last April but was informed in December that the course for 2017 had been shelved until 2018.
I have been told I will just need to sit DMI for mainline drivers jobs and I was told by HR it will be sometime in May, not much more than that, I'm guessing like before it will be about 1 weeks notice

 

[Spankthemonkey]

I was informed on the 27th March that I'd passed stage one and invited to stage two on the 30th March! Not much notice at all. I have noticed others in the forum are due to attend mid-may which makes me feel at a disadvantage already with so little time to prepare. If I'd have known this I would have probably asked to attend mid-may as opposed to accepting the stage two assessment with 2 days notice.

Disadvantaged? Yes and no. Really there is not much you can do to prepare for the stage 2 tests, I mean is another month going to give you better hand-eye coordination or make you more vigilant? Likewise the mmi interview, you could try and make **** up but it's supposed to be true life experiences and the interviewers see through blaggers and Walter Mitty story tellers. Better to have it over and done first up and hopefully get an early dm interview I reckon.

 

[Spankthemonkey]

I also think that the fact the date is now May suggests more of us passed with enhanced grades than Chiltern had anticipated.

 

[dwizzle123]

Disadvantaged? Yes and no. Really there is not much you can do to prepare for the stage 2 tests, I mean is another month going to give you better hand-eye coordination or make you more vigilant? Likewise the mmi interview, you could try and make **** up but it's supposed to be true life experiences and the interviewers see through blaggers and Walter Mitty story tellers. Better to have it over and done first up and hopefully get an early dm interview I reckon.

Each to their own I guess. I see what you're saying about the skill tests but with regards to the MMI, for me I would prefer time to plan some responses based on what I think I would be asked in order to give the best possible answers. Certainly wouldn't consider making anything up.

 

[Spankthemonkey]

If there are two days running then for stage 2, thats potentially 6 candidates AM and six candidates PM from what i've been told, that's 24 left in the running, plus however many internal canidiates and guys already sat on enhanced passes going straight to DMI. Still a few names in the hat then, and reading back, from a selection of potentially all 5 depots. Anyone know what the sort of % of people who get enhanced passes off stage 2 is?

 

[Max287]

If there are two days running then for stage 2, thats potentially 6 candidates AM and six candidates PM from what i've been told, that's 24 left in the running, plus however many internal canidiates and guys already sat on enhanced passes going straight to DMI. Still a few names in the hat then, and reading back, from a selection of potentially all 5 depots. Anyone know what the sort of % of people who get enhanced passes off stage 2 is?

When I spoke to HR I was told there were 28 of us through to interviews with enhanced passes already. As for the % of passes for stage 2 that are enhanced, apparently more people don't achieve enhanced scores on stage 1 than stage 2, so I'd think if you've managed enhanced for stage 1, you would have a great chance of getting an enhanced pass for stage 2. The tricky part is the MMI!

 

[hsharma25]

If there are two days running then for stage 2, thats potentially 6 candidates AM and six candidates PM from what i've been told, that's 24 left in the running, plus however many internal canidiates and guys already sat on enhanced passes going straight to DMI. Still a few names in the hat then, and reading back, from a selection of potentially all 5 depots. Anyone know what the sort of % of people who get enhanced passes off stage 2 is?

I'm fairly sure that there is only one session per day for stage 2. When I sat it last year for depot driver job there was just a group of 6 of us on that particular day. We all that day passed the computer tests and then had the MMI later that day so candidates can expect to be at the OPC from 9:30ish till about 4-5pm
I think there were around 10 candidates put forward for the DMI for depot driver job last year, and the results from computer tests and MMI responses are ranked and top 10 for example will be put forward.
I feel it will be similar this time with the addition of the candidates that have already passed and just require DMI.

 

[Knowledgeboy]

Am I right to think there is only 6 trainee positions available now instead of the 10 originally advertised for?

 

[hsharma25]

Am I right to think there is only 6 trainee positions available now instead of the 10 originally advertised for?

I work for Chiltern and I have not heard about that.

 

[Spankthemonkey]

Am I right to think there is only 6 trainee positions available now instead of the 10 originally advertised for?

I think the answer to this is dependent on which rumour you believe! I've heard there are potentially more and we could see a talent pool being formed as seen at other tocs

 

[Spankthemonkey]

When I spoke to HR I was told there were 28 of us through to interviews with enhanced passes already. As for the % of passes for stage 2 that are enhanced, apparently more people don't achieve enhanced scores on stage 1 than stage 2, so I'd think if you've managed enhanced for stage 1, you would have a great chance of getting an enhanced pass for stage 2.@ The tricky part is the MMI!

That 28 presumably includes most or all 10 of the postponed depot driver intake from last year.

 

[hsharma25]

last year in total only 8 depot driver were taken on. 4 were on the course last year and are now qualified depot drivers, other 4 (myself included) were pencilled in for the 2017 course which has since been postponed. From this group of 4 other than myself and one Chiltern colleague i'm not sure if the others applied or what their situation is.

 

[Spankthemonkey]

last year in total only 8 depot driver were taken on. 4 were on the course last year and are now qualified depot drivers, other 4 (myself included) were pencilled in for the 2017 course which has since been postponed. From this group of 4 other than myself and one Chiltern colleague i'm not sure if the others applied or what their situation is.

Fair play. Also, just thinking strategically. If, upon performing the sift, Chiltern had 28 candidates with enhanced passes with applications that were good enough, if there were only 6 jobs why bother to book the (extremely expensive) OPC tests at all?

 

[hsharma25]

I don't really take much notice of rumours, as you can imagine I have heard many over the course of the depot driver application and this job too.
I think there will be 10 jobs and the extra candidates may form a talent pool for future courses.
I know for a fact that there are a number of drivers moving company/retiring over the next 2-3 years so this is all in preparation for that.

Wish everyone best of luck for stage 2, MMI seems to be daunting people but its really nothing to worry about. Just try and talk as much as possible giving plenty of detail, also try referring back to the skills mentioned in the JD as much as you can.

 

[bILLOO]

Has anybody applied with enhanced passes from another TOC and not heard at all? I guess no news is good news! I'm going to contact Recruitment next month if I don't hear soon, though.

 

[CyrusWuff]

I'm fairly sure that there is only one session per day for stage 2.

Correct...Maximum of six people per group if it's taking place at the OPC offices in Watford. In the morning, three do the MMI prep and Situational Judgement Exercise whilst the others do the computer-based tests, then you switch over. Once they've got the results, they'll give you the time you need to be back for your MMI...just hope you're not unfortunate enough to get the final slot of the day, as it's a long old wait!

Sadly I failed on the MMI twice (with a final slot in both cases), so that's me out of the running until they change the assessment again. First one affected me so badly I had to pull over to the side of the road whilst driving home as I had a panic attack.

 

[mresh91]

Is the DMI done on the same day as the MMI with Chiltern?

 

[stevieoz]

I was one of those who was offered a job as depot driver only for them to retract the offer approximately one week before I was due to start. I was told there were 7 of us for the first intake, and due to the depot not being built into what it was supposed to be I ended up along with 3 others who never got a job. The issue I really had with this was that I was told instead of a may start it would be June, then it was august then October then November then January. On the 27th of December (merry xmas) I was finally informed that there was not going to be a position for me. I'm sure there were valid reasons for this but just bear this in mind as you all progress as it is painful