Hi all,
I recently gained a trainee bus driver position with Go North East, and thought I'd share my experience of the recruitment process here to help anyone who might be interested in this career path. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask in a reply.
Interview
The initial interview took place at the main Go North East depot at Gateshead Riverside, near the Metrocentre (next to Costco). The X66 bus there runs frequently from Gateshead, and the depot has its own bus stop just before the Metrocentre interchange.
The whole process took about an hour, and was fairly relaxed. There was only one interviewer and the questions were as follows:
What were your last few jobs and what were your duties?
Why do you want to be a bus driver?
Why do you want to work for Go North East?
Have you ever dealt with a difficult customer?
A well dressed lady gets on your bus and gives you the old fare, which is 20p too little. The fare has changed since she went on holiday, and she doesn't have any more money. What do you do?
A scruffy young man behind her then gives the same money and reason. What do you do?
Two drunk men get on the last bus on a Friday night, give you 50p each and ask you to take them home, and then walk away to sit down. What do you do?
Regarding the longer form questions, I get the feeling that as long as you can justify your answer, and it isn't completely daft, then you're in with a good chance of passing. I think the idea is that whatever you say (e.g. let the lady on the bus or not), you'll be given the counter-argument by the interviewer and made to explain your thinking. I said I'd believe the lady as long as she seemed plausible, but probably not the person right behind her as having the same excuse seemed a little too convenient.
At the end of the interview I was given a detailed explanation of the shift patterns and other work conditions, and given the chance to ask any questions I had. When my last question was about when I'd hear back from them, I was informed there and then that I'd passed the interview! I was then sent away with some forms to fill out and also told to get an optician to fill in part of the medical form, as I wear glasses for driving (this may have been required even for those who don't need sight correction, but I'm sure this would be explained to you). When I got an appointment for this later in the day, I called back to arrange a place for the assessment day, and luckily there was space for me less than a week later.
For both the interview and the assessment day, be sure to dress smartly - Shirt, tie and smart trousers and shoes for men, and businesslike attire for women.
Assessment Day
Summary
The assessment day took place at the same depot as the interview. On arrival we were directed to the staff canteen to wait, and while there got talking to a few of the people already on the training programme, which was a good chance to ask questions and get to know the culture of the company. Following that we were taken upstairs to the training room and given a short talk by the depot manager, after which everyone was sent for a breathalyser test which had to show a zero reading. There were about 12 of us on the assessment day, which I assume is the norm as we filled the meeting room.
Some of us then started to fill out forms and take written tests while 4 others were taken for their driving assessment. As the day goes on more people were taken for their driving assessment while others waited to have a medical and an occupational health assessment (including an extremely highly controlled urine-based drug test). We were also given help to fill out our provisional D category application forms on the day, as well as the criminal record check forms. A buffet lunch was provided and there was provision for smoking and toilet breaks.
The day was advertised as lasting from 8 until 4, but I was done and away at half 2, and almost everyone knew by the end of the day if they would be given a conditional offer of employment or not (except those who had to have more info collected from their doctor to check any irregularities picked up during the medical). As there's only one doctor and occupational health nurse, and only so many forms to fill in, the day involved a lot of waiting around, but it was worth it to have the certainty of an offer of employment at the end.
Just before I left, I was congratulated on passing all the assessments, and told to check my licence application online and call the company as soon as this showed up. It did then take a week for them to get back to me, but I was given a start date that fit well with my required notice period at work.
Written test
The test consisted of identifying about 15 road signs (multiple choice), some theory questions (same), and then some fare questions. We were given a 'fare card' showing all the possible fare combinations between destinations on a real route, and then asked to find the correct fares and work out the change from a £5/10/20 note. The second part then asked you to do this for multiple fares e.g. 2.5 (2 adults and a child) on a journey, and again calculate the change.
The final part of the test presented us with a scenario where your bus had broken down in the rain, with passengers wanting to get on and some elderly and disabled passengers on your bus. We had to write what actions we would take and in what order, justifying our decisions. We were given about a side and a half of A4 to do this, but not everyone filled it all in.
The tests are marked as the day goes on, and presumably anyone who failed would be informed of this and sent home.
Driving assessment
The assessment took place in a new medium wheelbase Ford Transit diesel minibus (9 seater) with a manual gearbox. We were taken out in groups of 4 and given an introduction to the features of the vehicle, and the instructor then drove out of the depot and pulled over on a side road to let the first person have a go. We were told to keep the bus 2 feet from the kerb, 4 feet from parked cars and 6 feet from vulnerable road users i.e. cyclists and pedestrians. If you're someone who tends to place yourself in the middle of the lane and swing out as wide as possible around parked cars then it's a bit of an adjustment, but it's presumably designed to test your awareness of the size of the vehicle and also your ability to follow instructions.
The brakes and clutch on the van were extremely sensitive, possibly because it was new, and the assessment route took in a lot of complex junctions, hill starts, speed bumps and non-standard speed limits (20 and 40mph). My 10ish minute drive wasn't perfect by any means, but I still passed, despite stalling the van when waiting to make a right turn (I'd left it in 2nd gear...). It seems that as long as you're safe and reasonably attentive, the main thing that's being looked for at this stage is confidence in a larger vehicle. Some people in my group rolled back on hill starts and another adjusted his seat after he'd set off, and although this resulted in a bit of a telling off, all of us still passed the assessment in my group. Only one person didn't pass (after a second attempt on the day) because they couldn't get used to the hair-trigger brakes and jerky clutch, so the pass rate would seem to be quite high.
I recently gained a trainee bus driver position with Go North East, and thought I'd share my experience of the recruitment process here to help anyone who might be interested in this career path. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask in a reply.
Interview
The initial interview took place at the main Go North East depot at Gateshead Riverside, near the Metrocentre (next to Costco). The X66 bus there runs frequently from Gateshead, and the depot has its own bus stop just before the Metrocentre interchange.
The whole process took about an hour, and was fairly relaxed. There was only one interviewer and the questions were as follows:
What were your last few jobs and what were your duties?
Why do you want to be a bus driver?
Why do you want to work for Go North East?
Have you ever dealt with a difficult customer?
A well dressed lady gets on your bus and gives you the old fare, which is 20p too little. The fare has changed since she went on holiday, and she doesn't have any more money. What do you do?
A scruffy young man behind her then gives the same money and reason. What do you do?
Two drunk men get on the last bus on a Friday night, give you 50p each and ask you to take them home, and then walk away to sit down. What do you do?
Regarding the longer form questions, I get the feeling that as long as you can justify your answer, and it isn't completely daft, then you're in with a good chance of passing. I think the idea is that whatever you say (e.g. let the lady on the bus or not), you'll be given the counter-argument by the interviewer and made to explain your thinking. I said I'd believe the lady as long as she seemed plausible, but probably not the person right behind her as having the same excuse seemed a little too convenient.
At the end of the interview I was given a detailed explanation of the shift patterns and other work conditions, and given the chance to ask any questions I had. When my last question was about when I'd hear back from them, I was informed there and then that I'd passed the interview! I was then sent away with some forms to fill out and also told to get an optician to fill in part of the medical form, as I wear glasses for driving (this may have been required even for those who don't need sight correction, but I'm sure this would be explained to you). When I got an appointment for this later in the day, I called back to arrange a place for the assessment day, and luckily there was space for me less than a week later.
For both the interview and the assessment day, be sure to dress smartly - Shirt, tie and smart trousers and shoes for men, and businesslike attire for women.
Assessment Day
Summary
The assessment day took place at the same depot as the interview. On arrival we were directed to the staff canteen to wait, and while there got talking to a few of the people already on the training programme, which was a good chance to ask questions and get to know the culture of the company. Following that we were taken upstairs to the training room and given a short talk by the depot manager, after which everyone was sent for a breathalyser test which had to show a zero reading. There were about 12 of us on the assessment day, which I assume is the norm as we filled the meeting room.
Some of us then started to fill out forms and take written tests while 4 others were taken for their driving assessment. As the day goes on more people were taken for their driving assessment while others waited to have a medical and an occupational health assessment (including an extremely highly controlled urine-based drug test). We were also given help to fill out our provisional D category application forms on the day, as well as the criminal record check forms. A buffet lunch was provided and there was provision for smoking and toilet breaks.
The day was advertised as lasting from 8 until 4, but I was done and away at half 2, and almost everyone knew by the end of the day if they would be given a conditional offer of employment or not (except those who had to have more info collected from their doctor to check any irregularities picked up during the medical). As there's only one doctor and occupational health nurse, and only so many forms to fill in, the day involved a lot of waiting around, but it was worth it to have the certainty of an offer of employment at the end.
Just before I left, I was congratulated on passing all the assessments, and told to check my licence application online and call the company as soon as this showed up. It did then take a week for them to get back to me, but I was given a start date that fit well with my required notice period at work.
Written test
The test consisted of identifying about 15 road signs (multiple choice), some theory questions (same), and then some fare questions. We were given a 'fare card' showing all the possible fare combinations between destinations on a real route, and then asked to find the correct fares and work out the change from a £5/10/20 note. The second part then asked you to do this for multiple fares e.g. 2.5 (2 adults and a child) on a journey, and again calculate the change.
The final part of the test presented us with a scenario where your bus had broken down in the rain, with passengers wanting to get on and some elderly and disabled passengers on your bus. We had to write what actions we would take and in what order, justifying our decisions. We were given about a side and a half of A4 to do this, but not everyone filled it all in.
The tests are marked as the day goes on, and presumably anyone who failed would be informed of this and sent home.
Driving assessment
The assessment took place in a new medium wheelbase Ford Transit diesel minibus (9 seater) with a manual gearbox. We were taken out in groups of 4 and given an introduction to the features of the vehicle, and the instructor then drove out of the depot and pulled over on a side road to let the first person have a go. We were told to keep the bus 2 feet from the kerb, 4 feet from parked cars and 6 feet from vulnerable road users i.e. cyclists and pedestrians. If you're someone who tends to place yourself in the middle of the lane and swing out as wide as possible around parked cars then it's a bit of an adjustment, but it's presumably designed to test your awareness of the size of the vehicle and also your ability to follow instructions.
The brakes and clutch on the van were extremely sensitive, possibly because it was new, and the assessment route took in a lot of complex junctions, hill starts, speed bumps and non-standard speed limits (20 and 40mph). My 10ish minute drive wasn't perfect by any means, but I still passed, despite stalling the van when waiting to make a right turn (I'd left it in 2nd gear...). It seems that as long as you're safe and reasonably attentive, the main thing that's being looked for at this stage is confidence in a larger vehicle. Some people in my group rolled back on hill starts and another adjusted his seat after he'd set off, and although this resulted in a bit of a telling off, all of us still passed the assessment in my group. Only one person didn't pass (after a second attempt on the day) because they couldn't get used to the hair-trigger brakes and jerky clutch, so the pass rate would seem to be quite high.