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You can beat those odds.

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OTM

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23 Sep 2012
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Well I sat the first part of my assessment centre earlier this week and passed all the tests. What a relief :smile: Thanks to this forum, I was aware of what was coming and was able to work very hard in preparing for it.
However, what I found most useful was the practice test material the TOC sent out prior to the assessment centre. As instructed, I worked through this document over and over again. It meant when I came to sit each assessment I felt very prepared and was able to concentrate fully on what I was being asked to do. If there was one thing I would encourage anyone about to sit an assessment centre to do it is just this. Practice practice practice. One of the candidates who failed clearly hadn't seriously read the material, nor done any research by for example, visiting this site.
The one thing that was difficult to prepare for was the reaction and co-ordination test. As advised I bought the 'Bop-it' game, only to see my daughter thrash me at it every time :cry: But it was helpful in the sense that I felt I was covering all the bases.
I have now just been invited to the structured interview and I've been informed I will face an interview panel :shock: But again I'm putting in the work and by doing so aim to beat those odds :D
 
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ee el oh

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Thats the way to do it, a, I passed all my assesments and interviews by doing the same things you did, I even took a week off work prior to the interview to
study and swat and it paid off. There can sometimes be thousands of people apply for these jobs because they are such good careers to get, so you have to stand out brighter and more keen than the rest to even stand a chance. those who don't do there homework can't be serious about it and quite rightly
dont deserve the opportunity to get the role. Good luck with the interview.
 

letmedrive

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11 Jun 2012
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I couldnt agree more. Practice again and again. You cannot change who you are but you can certainly increase your chances. There were people on my assessments who had done little or no preperation they soon went home. In spite of the huge number of applicants a lot give themselves little chance.

Keep trying it can be done im coming to the end of my third weeks training now and really enjoying it. Good luck.
 

OTM

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I found a research paper produced by the RSSB analysing the results of one particular year's assessment centres very interesting: '......the assessment centres are only responsible for rejecting 26 applicants or just over 8% of applicants who responded to the advertisement. By comparison, drop outs account for 43% of applicants while the sifting and final selection stages account together for 48% of applicants.'
It goes on to say that in an effort to control costs and maximise pass rates: 'The obvious way to restrict the number of applicants attending assessment centres is to shortlist only those applicants who are likely to pass the assessment centre. A number of companies have adopted such a strategy and claimed success. One passenger train company reported a success rate of over 95% of applicants passing the assessment centre, compared to the national average of 41%.'
It appears very clear to me that preparation is king in this process. The old expression comes to mind: 'fail to prepare, prepare to fail.'
 

NHG66

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30 Aug 2012
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I second the above two comments. Saw it first hand, a cocky candidate saying how hard can it be, I have good skills etc cos I play computer games etc. He failed the reaction test although based on his spouting off whilst waiting I doubt he would of got past the interview stages as he clearly knew little about the job.

It is your life, your career path etc, expect the returns to be commensurate with the efforts you put in. :)
 

NLC1072

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I second the above two comments. Saw it first hand, a cocky candidate saying how hard can it be, I have good skills etc cos I play computer games etc. He failed the reaction test although based on his spouting off whilst waiting I doubt he would of got past the interview stages as he clearly knew little about the job.

It is your life, your career path etc, expect the returns to be commensurate with the efforts you put in. :)

Precisley, although the reactions test I found rather easy as I play drums and guitar... it is exactly the same as playing an instrument and litening to it whilst reading the music...
 

OTM

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NLC1072, by really practicing the exercises in the workbooks I found I was well prepared for all but the quick reaction test. So to those who said they had short notice requests to attend assessment centres, I feel you were sold short. You need time to prepare. The Criteria Based Interview was another experience all together, but again careful preparation should allow you to be the best you can be on the day. Still flunked the first question though before getting into my stride. Did you pass the assessment test?
 

skoda12btp

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14 Oct 2012
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i've currently applied for london midland trainee conductors vacancy and have been using the group bourdon test im averaging about 7-9 lines @ 100% is this any good?
 

OTM

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Skoda12btp, to be honest I have never found a convincing answer as to what 'good' looks like. My experience tells me (and I say this with great hesitation) that it's all about accuracy and speed. During my assessment one of the participants finished well after the rest. During the break between tests he mentioned that he knew he had missed some 4 dot groups, but thought he could go back and correct them. I can only assume his omissions data must have been poor, because you can't go back more than one square. I got the impression it wasn't his speed which was his downfall (he didn't make it passed this test), it was his accuracy which let him down. In short, don't make mistakes or omissions and increase gradually the pace at which you can accomplish these two goals. Hope that helps.
 
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