So can anyone give me any idea of what questions to expect and what knowledge of the job and company they will expect me to have?
This is an opportunity for you to shine and demonstrate how you have done your homework for this role. Things they are looking for are:
-Who runs SWR (parent companies and who the MD is).
-The area the company serves, including the areas they may not be relevant to the depot you applied for.
-Current plans for the franchise, investment and new trains etc.
The competency based questions tend to be the ones that most people struggle with. You'll need to be prepared to give detailed answers drawing from your own experience. The common questions asked are:
Can you given example when you have had to work to a set of rules and safety was a factor?
Give an example when you've had to work as part of a team.
Give an example of when you have had to plan an event.
Give an example when you've had to resolve a conflict.
There are others of course, once again what they are looking for are detailed answers from your own experiences, doesn't have to be work related either can be something you have done either at home or as a hobby. But it's advisable you spend some time think about potential examples you could give.
I've been told that they expect you to know the entire job spec of a commercial guard and also that at the end of the interview they take you down to the ticket hall to actually engage with people to see if they need help. That seemed a very unusual thing to be part of a interview, especially as at that point you wont really be able to be very helpful.
I think 'entire spec' of the guard's role is probably a bit of a stretch but they do want to research the role and find out about what's involved and what is expected of a guard. But this ties in with the 'doing your homework' when you research about the company.
As for the last part, now I joined when it was South West Trains 13 years ago and this short session you spend in the booking office hall was not part of the recruitment process. For what it's worth I think it's wrong and doesn't give the employer a fair impression of the candidate. That said I don't know the criteria for this -test- so I don't entirely know what they are looking for.
My advice is to perhaps practice with the National Rail enquiries app on your phone and be prepared to give out basic train time and platform information to passengers.