GWR Customer Host assessment day?!

[LukeH4y]

Hi all,

I’ve got an assessment day on Wednesday 7th November and I have absolutely no idea what to expect! Ahh!

This is for a Customer Host position at Plymouth station, but the assessment day is at a local hotel, for whatever reason.

Of course I’m going to dress smartly, this is the most important thing I’ve ever attended in my life so far (only recently turned 18) so any advice is appreciated!

What should I expect? What will they ask? Anything?!

Thank you!!

Luke

 

[Stigy]

Hi all,

I’ve got an assessment day on Wednesday 7th November and I have absolutely no idea what to expect! Ahh!

This is for a Customer Host position at Plymouth station, but the assessment day is at a local hotel, for whatever reason.

Of course I’m going to dress smartly, this is the most important thing I’ve ever attended in my life so far (only recently turned 18) so any advice is appreciated!

What should I expect? What will they ask? Anything?!

Thank you!!

Luke

Hi Luke,

Congrats on getting this far! Did GWR not email you any practise material or tell you what the day will consist of? As the 7th is fast approaching and only a couple of days away, I’d contact recruitment if they haven’t actually told you what to expect. But yes, dress smartly, a suit if possible as first impressions mean so much!

 

[jj95419]

Hi all,

I’ve got an assessment day on Wednesday 7th November and I have absolutely no idea what to expect! Ahh!

This is for a Customer Host position at Plymouth station, but the assessment day is at a local hotel, for whatever reason.

Of course I’m going to dress smartly, this is the most important thing I’ve ever attended in my life so far (only recently turned 18) so any advice is appreciated!

What should I expect? What will they ask? Anything?!

Thank you!!

Luke

Hi Luke!

Good stuff and well done for getting past the paper sift! That’s arguably the hardest part for many. I am a customer host, and like you mine was in a hotel as well. That’s because they’re easier venues to work with when dealing with large groups of people new to the railway.

You’re quite right in dressing in a suit, pay attention to the small details too. Make sure your nails are clean and your shoes are polished. I was struck by how many people turned up in civvies! (They didn’t get through for some reason)

The first task they get you doing is a group presentation. They split you into small teams of around 4, and you are given a prompt to present to the group. The prompt could be one of the company’s values or a question like ‘why is safety/punctuality/cleanliness important?’

If you are successful in that round you do another group task in a larger team, which is where you are all ‘stuck on a stranded yacht’ and between you you all have to decide which items to keep and/or discard, or a similar task.

After that is your interview and a mock PA announcement where you have to write and present a practice announcement to a panel.

My advice is the following:
- Turn up smartly dressed and don’t be put off by however qualified other people may or may not be. I had a few current staff applying for the advertised role so I thought I had no chance!

- Always contribute something in the group tasks. If you’re not the team leader then fine, but make sure you contribute and get quieter ones involved. That’ll be very impressive to the panel. NEVER put down or talk over other candidates.

- Try not to panic. Just be the best you can be and that should meet the criteria. They don’t care how much you know about railways, they are looking at what you’re like as a person. Would they want to work with you?

- Finally, come armed with some company research. What are their values? How many stations do they have? Where do they operate?

Very best of luck to you mate. Any questions let me know

 

[SquarePeg]

Good luck Luke - I must just say the advice you have had in the post above is absolute gold.

I know it sounds an obvious one but in the group presentation make sure you have a section to present and don’t just stand there and say nowt. When you’re presenting it, maintain eye contact with your audience. Don’t just look at the flip chart, your shoes etc.

In the group discussion make sure you are contributing but don’t dominate and bring a quiet person into the discussion if you can.

Dress smart, you get judged on that and obviously be on time too. Mention key things like safety critical, customer experience and professionalism in the presentation part if you can.

As has been said, know when the company was formed, who the CEO is, know the routes, know the names of some trains, know what the company operates as abroad and under what name. Check how many staff are in the UK and how many stations are called at. You will get the chance to display your knowledge and if you don’t get in there, someone else will.

The final thing I’ll say is, it can be quite brutal if you don’t make it this time. You’ll basically be asked to leave with a few others. If you listen to the advice here though, you get the balance between talking and listening, then you’ll be fine! Good luck young man.

 

[LukeH4y]

Hi Luke!

Good stuff and well done for getting past the paper sift! That’s arguably the hardest part for many. I am a customer host, and like you mine was in a hotel as well. That’s because they’re easier venues to work with when dealing with large groups of people new to the railway.

You’re quite right in dressing in a suit, pay attention to the small details too. Make sure your nails are clean and your shoes are polished. I was struck by how many people turned up in civvies! (They didn’t get through for some reason)

The first task they get you doing is a group presentation. They split you into small teams of around 4, and you are given a prompt to present to the group. The prompt could be one of the company’s values or a question like ‘why is safety/punctuality/cleanliness important?’

If you are successful in that round you do another group task in a larger team, which is where you are all ‘stuck on a stranded yacht’ and between you you all have to decide which items to keep and/or discard, or a similar task.

After that is your interview and a mock PA announcement where you have to write and present a practice announcement to a panel.

My advice is the following:
- Turn up smartly dressed and don’t be put off by however qualified other people may or may not be. I had a few current staff applying for the advertised role so I thought I had no chance!

- Always contribute something in the group tasks. If you’re not the team leader then fine, but make sure you contribute and get quieter ones involved. That’ll be very impressive to the panel. NEVER put down or talk over other candidates.

- Try not to panic. Just be the best you can be and that should meet the criteria. They don’t care how much you know about railways, they are looking at what you’re like as a person. Would they want to work with you?

- Finally, come armed with some company research. What are their values? How many stations do they have? Where do they operate?

Very best of luck to you mate. Any questions let me know

Hey, I can’t thank you enough for your advice. It was literal GOLD! Thank you!!

I attended the assessment day on Wednesday and got to the “selection stage”, only me & one other gentleman went through to the mock PA/interview stage... scary stuff.

I’m waiting to hear back from them now to let me know whether I’m successful or not — fingers crossed!

Thank you so much for your help & advice, it definitely helped a lot.

 

[LukeH4y]

Good luck Luke - I must just say the advice you have had in the post above is absolute gold.

I know it sounds an obvious one but in the group presentation make sure you have a section to present and don’t just stand there and say nowt. When you’re presenting it, maintain eye contact with your audience. Don’t just look at the flip chart, your shoes etc.

In the group discussion make sure you are contributing but don’t dominate and bring a quiet person into the discussion if you can.

Dress smart, you get judged on that and obviously be on time too. Mention key things like safety critical, customer experience and professionalism in the presentation part if you can.

As has been said, know when the company was formed, who the CEO is, know the routes, know the names of some trains, know what the company operates as abroad and under what name. Check how many staff are in the UK and how many stations are called at. You will get the chance to display your knowledge and if you don’t get in there, someone else will.

The final thing I’ll say is, it can be quite brutal if you don’t make it this time. You’ll basically be asked to leave with a few others. If you listen to the advice here though, you get the balance between talking and listening, then you’ll be fine! Good luck young man.

Hey, thank you for your advice too!

I made sure that I involved the quieter ones and followed your advice very closely too, I think this really helped boost my confidence and excel within the assessment day!

As mentioned above, I got through to the interview stage and I feel it went OK. 279 people applied for the job and it was only posted for 2 days!
They told me only 5 were interviewed in total and, not to blow my own trumpet, I was one of them... just waiting to hear the news now, fingers crossed!

Thank you so much for your help.

 

[jj95419]

Hey, I can’t thank you enough for your advice. It was literal GOLD! Thank you!!

I attended the assessment day on Wednesday and got to the “selection stage”, only me & one other gentleman went through to the mock PA/interview stage... scary stuff.

I’m waiting to hear back from them now to let me know whether I’m successful or not — fingers crossed!

Thank you so much for your help & advice, it definitely helped a lot.

You’re absolutely welcome! I’m really glad it helped and you got far in the process. It sounds very encourgaing to me!

It may take a while for them to get back to you so keep your phone and email handy, and hopefully see you on the trains some time soon. Fingers crossed for you

 

[jj95419]

Hey, thank you for your advice too!

I made sure that I involved the quieter ones and followed your advice very closely too, I think this really helped boost my confidence and excel within the assessment day!

As mentioned above, I got through to the interview stage and I feel it went OK. 279 people applied for the job and it was only posted for 2 days!
They told me only 5 were interviewed in total and, not to blow my own trumpet, I was one of them... just waiting to hear the news now, fingers crossed!

Thank you so much for your help.

Any news mate?

 

[ValentaFan1974]

Yeah - hope you got the job