GWR Talent pool

[EllaBow]

Hi there,

First post! Just wanted to ask what ‘Talent Pool’ means really, as in, is it a guaranteed job at some point or if nothing comes up after say a year you have to reapply? I applied for a GWR job many years ago and I got through to the interview stage after an assessment but wasn’t successful. However, I was put ‘on hold’ for 6 months but nothing came up in those six months.

Thanks

 

[Driver2B]

I applied for a GWR job many years ago and I got through to the interview stage after an assessment but wasn’t successful. However, I was put ‘on hold’ for 6 months but nothing came up in those six months.

If you are unsuccessful at interview with a TOC, it means that you have not got the job. Sorry.

TOCs usually say that applicants who fail an interview are ineligible to apply for a similar role within six months.

What I think happened is that you failed your interview and were asked not to apply for similar roles within six months of your unsuccessful interview. You are not "on hold", but you will now be eligible to apply for any new vacancies which you might see advertised.

Hope this is helpful.

 

[Stigy]

Hi there,

First post! Just wanted to ask what ‘Talent Pool’ means really, as in, is it a guaranteed job at some point or if nothing comes up after say a year you have to reapply? I applied for a GWR job many years ago and I got through to the interview stage after an assessment but wasn’t successful. However, I was put ‘on hold’ for 6 months but nothing came up in those six months.

Thanks

Hi, I’m a bit confused by this. What makes you mention taken pools? If you were in a talent pool you’d have either known it was for a talent pool when you applied, or GWR would have emailed you and said you were successful at your DMI but at present you’re being held in a pool until a vacancy arises. It’s not a guaranteed job unfortunately, but it means you did meet their criteria so performed well at the interview. I’ve heard horror stories of people being held in pools for years, too. I’m not sure how that works and whether after say 6-months of being in the pool they’d want to reinterbiew you anyway in line with their recruitment policies?

I’m in a pool for GWR currently and feel a little bit in limbo at the moment. I’ve only been in the pool for a month too

 

[FGW_DID]

Hi there,

………Just wanted to ask what ‘Talent Pool’ means really, as in, is it a guaranteed job at some point or if nothing comes up after say a year you have to reapply?………

Thanks

Being accepted into a Talent Pool is no guarantee of a position. Some people found that out to their cost about 2 yrs ago when GWR binned the whole Talent Pool for LTV (Paddington / Reading & Oxford! Some folk had been in the pool for over two years.

For those who really wanted the role, it was right back to square one with a new application.

 

[EllaBow]

Hi Driver2B,

Thank you for your quick reply! I think I wasn’t clear in my message, my apologies, was rushing to get to the dentist! What I meant to say was I have applied for a Customer Host job and have an assessment next week. There’ll be a pool of 10 successful candidates and what I meant to say was it’s not the same situation to my experience of being ‘on hold’ many years ago is it? Is a talent pool, if successful at interview, a guaranteed position at some point or if nothing comes up in say, a year, I’ll be back to square one and will have to reapply?

 

[Stigy]

Hi Driver2B,

Thank you for your quick reply! I think I wasn’t clear in my message, my apologies, was rushing to get to the dentist! What I meant to say was I have applied for a Customer Host job and have an assessment next week. There’ll be a pool of 10 successful candidates and what I meant to say was it’s not the same situation to my experience of being ‘on hold’ many years ago is it? Is a talent pool, if successful at interview, a guaranteed position at some point or if nothing comes up in say, a year, I’ll be back to square one and will have to reapply?

Oh, I (wrongly) assumed you meant it was a driver talent pool, if a talent pool at all. In your case, since there’s ten candidates it just sounds like standard recruitment practice and the best ones at interview get offered a job?

 

[EllaBow]

The ad said a pool of 10 people will be chosen. Hence my confusion! Just looked at the vacancy details I printed out and it says ‘Please note this role is being advertised to create a pool for predicted vacancies’.

 

[Driver2B]

Hi Driver2B,

Thank you for your quick reply! I think I wasn’t clear in my message, my apologies, was rushing to get to the dentist! What I meant to say was I have applied for a Customer Host job and have an assessment next week. There’ll be a pool of 10 successful candidates and what I meant to say was it’s not the same situation to my experience of being ‘on hold’ many years ago is it? Is a talent pool, if successful at interview, a guaranteed position at some point or if nothing comes up in say, a year, I’ll be back to square one and will have to reapply?

The ad said a pool of 10 people will be chosen. Hence my confusion! Just looked at the vacancy details I printed out and it says ‘Please note this role is being advertised to create a pool for predicted vacancies’.

I'm sorry that I misunderstood your post.

A talent pool is when you have been successful at application and interview stage, and are waiting for a position to be availble. Usually they are not a guarantee of a job, but a list that a recruit can be picked from when/if a vacancy becomes available.

The sentence ‘Please note this role is being advertised to create a pool for predicted vacancies’ suggests to me that they are expecting approximately 10 vacancies so they are looking for 10 recruits. I would say (with little experience, to be honest) that it sounds a little more certain with this job. They appear to know how many vacancies they expect to have and not looking to add every acceptable candidate to the pool.

Sorry about any confusion. Good luck with your application!