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This one's for the train drivers out there...

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Techniquest

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...seriously. And I tried to come up with a good thread title, the above is as good as I could think of.

Anyway, I'm posting this as I'd like to know some bits and bobs about trainee driver assessments. What do they involve and is it going to be as insanely difficult as I imagine it will be?

I'm interested because I received a letter today from FGW about a trainee train driver vacancy, inviting me to an assessment with them next week in Newport. To say it put me in a good mood is an understatement. I was over the moon to have gotten this far! Still in a good mood now and I doubt I will be feeling any different all weekend!
icon_biggrin.gif


Having read briefly through the materials I got in the post this afternoon, I'm now ultra nervous. The ATW tests were a walkthrough in comparison to this lot. Suffice to say I'll be going through what I've got with a fine tooth comb for the next 6 days!

Does anyone have any advice they feel may be useful? Having never done an assessment for a role at this level before, I'm not sure what to expect. Even advice on how to keep calm on the journey to the assessment would be welcome.

Thanks in advance gang.

Julian
 
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westcoaster

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well done mate, you got passed the paper sift, all i can recommend is to revise , practice and try and get someone to help you, i remember when i did mine last year for fcc, i was not really that nervous as i had done the test before when i was a guard, try and relax on the way down, have a nice brekkie and cup of chow, the hardest bit was the mechanical comprehenssion test for me, any how good luck mate and all the best, anything i can help with drop us a pm
 

Techniquest

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Thanks for that westcoaster, some useful bits of advice there.

One thing is for certain, I'm having a damn good breakfast before I go! Plenty of energy going to be required for a hard day of tests and questions! Not to mention a strong coffee as well! ;)

Going to be doing a lot of practice material revision all week, for sure.

The mechanical comprehension will be the hardest for me I think, but with some practice and logical thinking I should be fine. So long as I conquer my nerves I should be OK. I've gotten past the application form stage, so something I did on that must have gone well!

Having some sort of knowledge on FGW will come in handy for once!
 

HSTfan!!!

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i'll give you one tip, if you can't find the assessment centre door like half of the people that come to Newport, you've failed the first test lol. Best of luck mate, really hard company to get into from my personal experiences
 

Techniquest

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Not an easy company to get into from my own experience, but I shall see this time.

I know precisely where the assessment centre is, I've stood by it many times before. One of the very few places in the country where you can see the Intercity logo displayed, same for the old FGW logo I believe too.

(Yes, I have spent a lot of time by that door in the past!)
 

HSTfan!!!

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Not an easy company to get into from my own experience, but I shall see this time.

I know precisely where the assessment centre is, I've stood by it many times before. One of the very few places in the country where you can see the Intercity logo displayed, same for the old FGW logo I believe too.

(Yes, I have spent a lot of time by that door in the past!)

glad someone knows where it is then haha! Yes it is nice to see the IC logo I do admit - they were the days! I may try for a dispatch position at bristol if one comes up, better salary and I do love bristol so may consider the move!
 

Techniquest

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Well, I can tell you that I have successfully passed the assessment stage, with the structured interview next later this month!

I reckon the final test on reactions was the hardest, but then I hadn't really done any practice on that part in the days leading up to today. Still got through it OK though.

I would like to thank all of those kind people who offered advice, it was most appreciated.
 

Mintona

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Excellent news boss, best of luck with t'interview! :D

(In other news, I passed all assesments with Northern :D)
 

westcoaster

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excellent news and well done the test are not easy at all,good luck with the interview, and keep us posted

well done mintona as well (what have you gone for)
 

HSTfan!!!

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congratulations sir! I await you pulling up in my station revving the engines haha
 

Mintona

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excellent news and well done the test are not easy at all,good luck with the interview, and keep us posted

well done mintona as well (what have you gone for)

Cheers, I've gone for Train Dispatch Staff at Wilmslow. I had a pretty successful interview, the only thing standing in my way I think is the fact I am on holiday the week traning is supposed to begin.
Anyway, this is Techniquest's thread, so I don't want to hijack it!
 

Techniquest

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congratulations sir! I await you pulling up in my station revving the engines haha

I'll look forward to having you dispatch my train one day!

Congrats must go to Mintona too. Not easy at all to pass the tests and interviews.

Thanks for the messages gang.
 

Techniquest

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Shameless copy/paste of my post on WNXX:

Well, it's taken me two days to make this post, and a select few on here already know, but what the hell...

I had my structured interview on Tuesday down at the Holiday Inn in Filton for this job. It is perhaps suffice to say that that outcome was fairly obvious, as I'd have reported it before now otherwise...

To be abuntantly clear, I failed the structured interview, with the experiences used for the interview questions 'not good enough'. So I spent a few hours bashing around Bristol instead that afternoon.

So don't worry, I won't be driving any trains anytime soon.
 

Respite

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Also meant to add last night (but PC was running slow), if its any consolation I went for about 11 trainman (D) (The BR way of training drivers) jobs in 1990/91 when I was a 17 yr old shunter. Always it was the same, over 50 applicants for each trainmans job.:( I went to signalling instead.
Don't expect things to happen first time but certainly use the experience for next time as you will be so much better dealing with it then. As long as you don't fail the reaction test's more than twice you are fine anyway. But I think you said you have already done it, which means it's valid for a year (or maybe two, can't remember now).
 

Londoner

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Hi there,


My name is Colleen. I wanted to ask if you can give me any help in passing a Train Driver assessment centre. Would you know what might pop up on the test.

I would like to hear from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Miss Colleen.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Hi there,

I recently just joined this website. I would like to ask for some help about the new tests for Train Drivers. Could you give me some information about the questions in the assessment centre if you might know them?

Yours sincerely,


Miss Colleen.
 

ml1981

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Hiya people. I have a train driver assessment with Southern Trains on Monday. Really nervous. I am looking forward to it but I think I am telling myself I have failed already! Just wanted to say that the advice on here is really useful!
 

Coxster

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Hiya people. I have a train driver assessment with Southern Trains on Monday. Really nervous. I am looking forward to it but I think I am telling myself I have failed already! Just wanted to say that the advice on here is really useful!
Welcome to the forum! May I be the first to say "Good luck!" for Monday, and of course do let us know how you get on ;) Just out of interest, it's not Horsham that you've applied for by any chance is it?
 

Techniquest

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Hiya people. I have a train driver assessment with Southern Trains on Monday. Really nervous. I am looking forward to it but I think I am telling myself I have failed already! Just wanted to say that the advice on here is really useful!

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Good luck for Monday. It's not easy, but remember to keep calm and focussed. You should be fine then.

I can only advise that you practice the dot tests. Helps no end to get prepared for it.

Good luck!
 

HSTfan!!!

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the only advice i have is have your head screwed on for the tests, they are quite tricky, don't worry so much about not completing them but more accuracy... obviously the more you get done the better. I'm sure the train driver assessment is harder than the guards and a damn sight harder than the train dispatch assessment but the similiar principle is there until you get to mechanical tests. Best of luck!!
 

ml1981

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Hello people. I had my assesment and structured interview today. I passed both and I am now awaiting a second interview with the depot manager and a medical!

So I could be driving trains someday soon!!:grin:
 

westcoaster

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Hello people. I had my assesment and structured interview today. I passed both and I am now awaiting a second interview with the depot manager and a medical!

So I could be driving trains someday soon!!:grin:

well done on passing the test's there not easy by any standard so give you self a pat on the back, medical is ok same as usual weight height, ecg, breath/unine test, hearing eyesight, general questions, good luck with the interview.

what depot is the vacancy for?
 
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