Northen Rail - Invited to complete 2 x online assessments

[1571238]

Hi Guys -

I recently applied for a vacancy as a Trainee Conductor. I put in a solid application form and took alot of time and effort hoping it would pay off.

I have today received a positive email from Northern Rail, they have invited me to undertake 2 online assessments, one is Numerical Reasoning and one is Verbal Reasoning Tests.

It states in the email each test will take 45 mins each and that i have 2 days to complete the tests.

There is a link to do some mock tests (which i haven't started yet).

I just wondered are there any tips/words of advice before I take the test, ie - accuracy is more important than speed etc?
As i genuinely have no idea what to expect from these tests or what/how i will be specifically tested !

Fingers crossed.

 

[kelv]

do the practice tests as they give you an idea of the 'type' of test it is & what 'type' of questions are asked.
The practice ones seemed a lot harder than the actual questions to me, they for all kinds of levels of jobs (i.e. for graduates etc) whereas the real questions are more suited to the level of the position. That's what I found anyway.

It was the test after these (Saville) that I found more difficult, or a bit confusing in a way, I believe it's to build up some kind of profile of you. I didnt 'pass' that 1.

Don't get too stressed if you find the practice 1's too difficult. I also had problems with Browser Compatibility as well... down to keeping the things updated apparently.

 

[Kc75]

do the practice tests as they give you an idea of the 'type' of test it is & what 'type' of questions are asked.
The practice ones seemed a lot harder than the actual questions to me, they for all kinds of levels of jobs (i.e. for graduates etc) whereas the real questions are more suited to the level of the position. That's what I found anyway.

It was the test after these (Saville) that I found more difficult, or a bit confusing in a way, I believe it's to build up some kind of profile of you. I didnt 'pass' that 1.

Don't get too stressed if you find the practice 1's too difficult. I also had problems with Browser Compatibility as well... down to keeping the things updated apparently.

kelv I found the Saville one quite strange myself is that the DSI test and did they tell you via email that you'd failed ?

 

[kelv]

kelv I found the Saville one quite strange myself is that the DSI test and did they tell you via email that you'd failed ?

the 1 where you had say 5 things that you had to pick from strongly disagree through to strongly agree, then on the next page the 1's that you had agreed the most with you had to pick 'most like' & 'least like' yourself, therefore having to put something that you had just put in the positive into the negative.

Yeah they said ..

Unfortunately we will not be progressing your application to the next stage. After the job matching testing and applications there were other candidates who were able to demonstrate skills and experience that better matched the requirements of the role.

suppose it doesn't actually say Fail in there.

the test was Saville Consulting Oasys Platform

 

[1571238]

Hi Guys -
I've just completed the numerical reasoning practice test - wow.......
I got 7 out of 18 and if being honest found it very difficult.

Not really used to doing these such tests in my current line of work so feeling very disheartened. I actually got all 4 correct in the initial example questions prior to taking the practise test.

Also i found it strange as most of the questions seems to be talking about dollers as if it was Americanised.

Think i will attempt to familiarise myself with these tests before i take my actual test tomorrow, where i will praying i do much better!

 

[kelv]

Hi Guys -
I've just completed the numerical reasoning practice test - wow.......
I got 7 out of 18 and if being honest found it very difficult.

Not really used to doing these such tests in my current line of work so feeling very disheartened. I actually got all 4 correct in the initial example questions prior to taking the practise test.

Also i found it strange as most of the questions seems to be talking about dollers as if it was Americanised.

Think i will attempt to familiarise myself with these tests before i take my actual test tomorrow, where i will praying i do much better!

Like I said the practice ones seemed harder but give you an example of the type of question.

From what I said about Browser Issues, the site tests your browser for compatibility and deemed my up to date version of chrome to be incompatible, I switched to Internet Explorer & it said wrong resolution (it was set on what they ask for tbh) I ended up on my sons and his resolution was accepted... again on IE cos we never use it so don't update it.

I was hoping that as the 2 days they gave us to do it was over a weekend then a lot would struggle to actual even sit the test therefore cutting the numbers down.

I even tried uninstalling chrome then installing an older version but it just auto updated itself so I was back to square 1.

 

[1571238]

Ah rite - well thanks for the tip im hoping my browser is ok as ive completed both practise tests for the numerical reasoning and the verbal reasoning ok.

Im not really a fan of the site though - its with a company called "SHL Talent Measurement" and the questions feel very Americanised, anyone that might have used the site may know what i mean.

Like I said the practice ones seemed harder but give you an example of the type of question.

From what I said about Browser Issues, the site tests your browser for compatibility and deemed my up to date version of chrome to be incompatible, I switched to Internet Explorer & it said wrong resolution (it was set on what they ask for tbh) I ended up on my sons and his resolution was accepted... again on IE cos we never use it so don't update it.

I was hoping that as the 2 days they gave us to do it was over a weekend then a lot would struggle to actual even sit the test therefore cutting the numbers down.

I even tried uninstalling chrome then installing an older version but it just auto updated itself so I was back to square 1.

 

[kelv]

Ah rite - well thanks for the tip im hoping my browser is ok as ive completed both practise tests for the numerical reasoning and the verbal reasoning ok.

Im not really a fan of the site though - its with a company called "SHL Talent Measurement" and the questions feel very Americanised, anyone that might have used the site may know what i mean.

The Saville that 'owns' the other site is the S in SHL, he was 1 of the founders apparently. They run those tests for all levels of vacancies i.e. graduates, professionals, doctors etc & the only practice ones are the ones that all levels use so that was my theory on why they were so difficult.

Just another way to whittle down huge numbers really.

 

[Kc75]

the 1 where you had say 5 things that you had to pick from strongly disagree through to strongly agree, then on the next page the 1's that you had agreed the most with you had to pick 'most like' & 'least like' yourself, therefore having to put something that you had just put in the positive into the negative.

Yeah they said ..


suppose it doesn't actually say Fail in there.

the test was Saville Consulting Oasys Platform

The reason I asked I had a similar email saying I hadn't got through the shortlisting for a vacancy but my successful DSI results would be kept on file for twelve months. Do northern have a recruitment number.

 

[1571238]

I'm not sure.
I also unsure what the pass rate is / and or if progression to the next phase is entirely down to how well you do in these 2 tests or if you get a face to face interview as well and if they combine how well you do in both the tests and an interview.


QUOTE=Kc75;2436668]The reason I asked I had a similar email saying I hadn't got through the shortlisting for a vacancy but my successful DSI results would be kept on file for twelve months. Do northern have a recruitment number.[/QUOTE]