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EMR - Trainee Train Drivers - Recruitment Discussion

Spider1806

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28 Aug 2024
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231
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Kettering
That will be sent out with ample time to practice prior to your booked testing date
thank you appreciate your response, the bourdon test seems to be freaking me out I can just about get to 10th line before 2mins are up is that bad?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

I am pleased to inform you that you have been shortlisted for the above post. We will be in touch shortly with further information on the next selection process.

- I’ve got this email through and have already completed my assessment, so not too sure about the difference
When you say assessments what do you mean? I applied online got an email saying you have been shortlisted and they will be in touch with next steps but no assessments etc?
 
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Aspen90

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thank you appreciate your response, the bourdon test seems to be freaking me out I can just about get to 10th line before 2mins are up is that bad?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==


When you say assessments what do you mean? I applied online got an email saying you have been shortlisted and they will be in touch with next steps but no assessments etc?
Next steps is assessments with the OPC. It takes a while to arrange so they’ll be in touch when they’re ready for you to do them. As far as I’m aware there won’t be any online testing, it’s in person OPC testing at this stage.
 
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adrsanda

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12 Feb 2024
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39
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London
thank you appreciate your response, the bourdon test seems to be freaking me out I can just about get to 10th line before 2mins are up is that bad?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==


When you say assessments what do you mean? I applied online got an email saying you have been shortlisted and they will be in touch with next steps but no assessments etc?
I meant that I completed the OPC assessments already for another TOC. The next step will be stage 1 OPC assessments for people who haven’t previously passed them (I believe they’re valid for around 3-5 years depending)
 

Spider1806

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Messages
231
Location
Kettering
I meant that I completed the OPC assessments already for another TOC. The next step will be stage 1 OPC assessments for people who haven’t previously passed them (I believe they’re valid for around 3-5 years depending)
Thank you any advice with them at all? What to practice on?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

Next steps is assessments with the OPC. It takes a while to arrange so they’ll be in touch when they’re ready for you to do them. As far as I’m aware there won’t be any online testing, it’s in person OPC testing at this stage.
Thank you any advice on what to practice on?
 

Aspen90

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Messages
259
Location
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Thank you any advice with them at all? What to practice on?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==


Thank you any advice on what to practice on?
Practise the Group Bourdon test as this will be the one you can find online and download and print the papers out. I’m sure you can search on the forum for psychometric tests and find a lot more than I can remember!

This explains what the testing consists of:

 

adrsanda

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39
Location
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Thank you any advice with them at all? What to practice on?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==


Thank you any advice on what to practice on?
Print out some group bourdon tests and practice, time yourself as you’ll have 2 minutes on each page, you won’t be able to finish all the lines but I aimed for 10 lines a page without error, as accuracy is important. The other stage 1 tests I just used the practice material given, it’s not exactly the same as the tests but give you an idea. On the day just make sure you listen to instructions carefully and don’t be afraid to ask questions.
 

Amnesiac

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thank you appreciate your response, the bourdon test seems to be freaking me out I can just about get to 10th line before 2mins are up is that bad?

When you say assessments what do you mean? I applied online got an email saying you have been shortlisted and they will be in touch with next steps but no assessments etc?
There's a tool for Group Bourdon in the Assessments master thread on here, I'd recommend using it as it has proved with many on here to be of great use. As for the rest of the Stage 1 paper tests, I found that the material I was sent prior was more than adequate for what to expect.
 

Spider1806

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Messages
231
Location
Kettering
There's a tool for Group Bourdon in the Assessments master thread on here, I'd recommend using it as it has proved with many on here to be of great use. As for the rest of the Stage 1 paper tests, I found that the material I was sent prior was more than adequate for what to expect.
thank you, I have been told with Bourdon - you need to really practice on paper as it will be on paper not a PC?

I did download the Bourdon app and have been printing them of, rather then doing them on the app

So I take you have passed was that with EMR?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

Practise the Group Bourdon test as this will be the one you can find online and download and print the papers out. I’m sure you can search on the forum for psychometric tests and find a lot more than I can remember!

This explains what the testing consists of:

Did you buy any of these tools?
 

Aspen90

Member
Joined
12 Sep 2018
Messages
259
Location
Leicester
thank you, I have been told with Bourdon - you need to really practice on paper as it will be on paper not a PC?

I did download the Bourdon app and have been printing them of, rather then doing them on the app

So I take you have passed was that with EMR?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==


Did you buy any of these tools?
No I just thought they explained each test well. I was doing Bourdon tests daily until the day so it became second nature. By the end I was getting down to 12/13 lines done with no faults. If you want it you’ll do everything you can to get it!
 

Spider1806

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Joined
28 Aug 2024
Messages
231
Location
Kettering
No I just thought they explained each test well. I was doing Bourdon tests daily until the day so it became second nature. By the end I was getting down to 12/13 lines done with no faults. If you want it you’ll do everything you can to get it!
I saw someone wrote this on one of the threads - does this look similar to the tests EMR gave you?

Group Bourdon dots test (google it) you can practise for free.

Then it’s “how many floors?” You count the low tones out of a sequence of different high and low tones. Each low tone represents a floor. There’s about 8 questions on this, asking you how many floors?

Part 2- You then an A3 piece of paper with names on it, next to the names are symbols. Like XO XX +- ++. You have to circle all two symbols that match.

Then the 3rd part of the test is counting a sequence of tones, whilst circling all the matching two symbols. My best advice for this one is, circle the symbols in between each sequence of tones you count.

The next part of the test is a listening/reading test. You’ll have an A4 piece of paper with information or instructions with a photo. Mine was about the braking system. You listen to the audio version of it first, and then you have 5 minutes to read it. You can take notes on a scrap piece of paper. They take the information away and the notes. You wait a through minutes and then have 18 questions to answer in 7 mins. I managed to answer all of them.

The second part of this test is cables and dials. It’s pretty straight forward. Just make sure you listen to the instructions,

Once you’ve done this, they’ll mark the papers. If you are successful you have to do the computer tests.

The computer tests- the first test was vigilance. There’s a small grey square, it is flashing slowly, it turns darker every now and again, every time it turns dark you press the button as quickly as possible. The best tip I can give is, don’t keep your hand on the button. They are quite sensitive. Make sure it’s hoovered over, or to the side of the button. I ended up with a hand spasm and hit it at the wrong time. I still passed though! You have to do this for 30 mins.

The second test is basically a photo that flashes up on the screen for 1 sec. It asks you what you see. It’s the same options for every photo. The 5 options are pedestrian, motor vehicle, bicycle/motorbike, traffic sign, traffic light. There’s 20 questions on this. Tip- only click what you see, don’t guess. You get marked down for the wrong answer.

Third test is hand coordination test, left hand toggle goes left to right, right hand toggle goes up and down. The aim is to get the red ball along the track without it going off. If it goes off the line, it makes a beep. You probably will go off, and it will beep, the aim is to recover quickly. Tip- use the base of the toggles. It’s easier to control as it’s very sensitive,

After that, I had a SJT, there’s no wrong or right answer, it’s just a personality test, they use this information for your interview at the end.

You have a break, then go back and they tell you if you’ve passed.

If successful, you have an interview with the assessors. There’s usually 7 questions, you write brief answer. Then they’ll ask you to tell them about it in more detail. They ask you questions like… how do you feel about rules? Do you think you followed the rules? What was the outcome of following the rules?

I passed first time, it’s not hard, it just hurts your brain. Best advice, if you mess up, don’t worry, keep going. No one is perfect. You might surprise yourself.
 

SouthernStar

Member
Joined
29 Oct 2011
Messages
44
Location
London
It says on the website that there’s group based activities as part of the assessment. I’ve never heard of that for train driver recruitment, I’ve always assumed it was an individual process. Anyone know what is involved?
 

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Aspen90

Member
Joined
12 Sep 2018
Messages
259
Location
Leicester
I saw someone wrote this on one of the threads - does this look similar to the tests EMR gave you?

Group Bourdon dots test (google it) you can practise for free.

Then it’s “how many floors?” You count the low tones out of a sequence of different high and low tones. Each low tone represents a floor. There’s about 8 questions on this, asking you how many floors?

Part 2- You then an A3 piece of paper with names on it, next to the names are symbols. Like XO XX +- ++. You have to circle all two symbols that match.

Then the 3rd part of the test is counting a sequence of tones, whilst circling all the matching two symbols. My best advice for this one is, circle the symbols in between each sequence of tones you count.

The next part of the test is a listening/reading test. You’ll have an A4 piece of paper with information or instructions with a photo. Mine was about the braking system. You listen to the audio version of it first, and then you have 5 minutes to read it. You can take notes on a scrap piece of paper. They take the information away and the notes. You wait a through minutes and then have 18 questions to answer in 7 mins. I managed to answer all of them.

The second part of this test is cables and dials. It’s pretty straight forward. Just make sure you listen to the instructions,

Once you’ve done this, they’ll mark the papers. If you are successful you have to do the computer tests.

The computer tests- the first test was vigilance. There’s a small grey square, it is flashing slowly, it turns darker every now and again, every time it turns dark you press the button as quickly as possible. The best tip I can give is, don’t keep your hand on the button. They are quite sensitive. Make sure it’s hoovered over, or to the side of the button. I ended up with a hand spasm and hit it at the wrong time. I still passed though! You have to do this for 30 mins.

The second test is basically a photo that flashes up on the screen for 1 sec. It asks you what you see. It’s the same options for every photo. The 5 options are pedestrian, motor vehicle, bicycle/motorbike, traffic sign, traffic light. There’s 20 questions on this. Tip- only click what you see, don’t guess. You get marked down for the wrong answer.

Third test is hand coordination test, left hand toggle goes left to right, right hand toggle goes up and down. The aim is to get the red ball along the track without it going off. If it goes off the line, it makes a beep. You probably will go off, and it will beep, the aim is to recover quickly. Tip- use the base of the toggles. It’s easier to control as it’s very sensitive,

After that, I had a SJT, there’s no wrong or right answer, it’s just a personality test, they use this information for your interview at the end.

You have a break, then go back and they tell you if you’ve passed.

If successful, you have an interview with the assessors. There’s usually 7 questions, you write brief answer. Then they’ll ask you to tell them about it in more detail. They ask you questions like… how do you feel about rules? Do you think you followed the rules? What was the outcome of following the rules?

I passed first time, it’s not hard, it just hurts your brain. Best advice, if you mess up, don’t worry, keep going. No one is perfect. You might surprise yourself.
EMR do it differently to other TOC’s.

The first stage will be JUST the paper tests as listed above. Then should you be successful at this stage you’ll be called back on another date to do the EMR assessment day. This is a whole day of individual and group exercises throughout the day. Then they do a cut at lunch time and those who were successful throughout the day go on to their driver manager interviews in the afternoon.

If you’ve passed your DMI (find out within 2 weeks normally) then you’ll go back and do your stage 2 computer OPC psychometric tests. This is the final stage, if you pass this you’re in.

The EMR assessment day does NOT count towards your two lives in the psychometric tests. So if you don’t get through on the EMR day, it’s not the end of the world and you’ve got the stage 1 tests in the bank for the next time or TOC you apply to.
 

Spider1806

Member
Joined
28 Aug 2024
Messages
231
Location
Kettering
EMR do it differently to other TOC’s.

The first stage will be JUST the paper tests as listed above. Then should you be successful at this stage you’ll be called back on another date to do the EMR assessment day. This is a whole day of individual and group exercises throughout the day. Then they do a cut at lunch time and those who were successful throughout the day go on to their driver manager interviews in the afternoon.

If you’ve passed your DMI (find out within 2 weeks normally) then you’ll go back and do your stage 2 computer OPC psychometric tests. This is the final stage, if you pass this you’re in.

The EMR assessment day does NOT count towards your two lives in the psychometric tests. So if you don’t get through on the EMR day, it’s not the end of the world and you’ve got the stage 1 tests in the bank for the next time or TOC you apply to.
Are you able to shed light on the paper tests you took for EMR? The Psychometric tests you took?
 

NSEWonderer

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5 Dec 2020
Messages
2,903
Location
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Are you able to shed light on the paper tests you took for EMR? The Psychometric tests you took?
The psychometrics are no different for EMR than they are for other TOCs. EMR are National standard as far as I know. That will entail at the minimum for Stage 1: Group Bourdon, Trp1, Trp 2 and Tea-OCC for the paper tests and then computer tests aka Stage 2: WAFV(30min Grey square test), Image perception test and 2 Hand Coordination. All these mostly found on the fourm.

I'll link my previous post on my psychometric testing experience Here
 

Aspen90

Member
Joined
12 Sep 2018
Messages
259
Location
Leicester
Are you able to shed light on the paper tests you took for EMR? The Psychometric tests you took?
They’re not TOC specific, it’s a national test carried out by the OPC. The tests are the same no matter what TOC you apply to. They are pretty much described perfectly above, that’s exactly what you’ll get. This forum is full of the test info in massive detail, have a search and you’ll find info on them.
 

Spider1806

Member
Joined
28 Aug 2024
Messages
231
Location
Kettering
They’re not TOC specific, it’s a national test carried out by the OPC. The tests are the same no matter what TOC you apply to. They are pretty much described perfectly above, that’s exactly what you’ll get. This forum is full of the test info in massive detail, have a search and you’ll find info on them.
Did you use Rail Test tool?
The psychometrics are no different for EMR than they are for other TOCs. EMR are National standard as far as I know. That will entail at the minimum for Stage 1: Group Bourdon, Trp1, Trp 2 and Tea-OCC for the paper tests and then computer tests aka Stage 2: WAFV(30min Grey square test), Image perception test and 2 Hand Coordination. All these mostly found on the fourm.

I'll link my previous post on my psychometric testing experience Here
I have been given my date now so working towards that

What’s the pass rate for these tests? As in the individual tests? Is it like 80% each test?
 

Spider1806

Member
Joined
28 Aug 2024
Messages
231
Location
Kettering
They’re not TOC specific, it’s a national test carried out by the OPC. The tests are the same no matter what TOC you apply to. They are pretty much described perfectly above, that’s exactly what you’ll get. This forum is full of the test info in massive detail, have a search and you’ll find info on them.
I have been given my date now so working towards that

What’s the pass rate for these tests? As in the individual tests? Is it like 80% each test?
 

Aspen90

Member
Joined
12 Sep 2018
Messages
259
Location
Leicester
I have been given my date now so working towards that

What’s the pass rate for these tests? As in the individual tests? Is it like 80% each test?
Nobody knows what the pass rates are, only the OPC. You’ll hear it so many times but “it is important to work both accurately and quickly”. Minimal to zero errors with a good speed. EMR don’t know them either, they just get told who passes or fails and that’s normally within 1-2 weeks.
 

Spider1806

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231
Location
Kettering
You've been given an Assessment date already?
Yep

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

Nobody knows what the pass rates are, only the OPC. You’ll hear it so many times but “it is important to work both accurately and quickly”. Minimal to zero errors with a good speed. EMR don’t know them either, they just get told who passes or fails and that’s normally within 1-2 weeks.
Thank you for the help
 
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Aspen90

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Location
Leicester
Yep

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==


So why do they say by the end of the day you know if you have passed or failed?
Is that what your email says?

If it’s stage 1 paper tests with EMR you won’t know for around a week.

If it’s the EMR assessment day after your stage 1’s then you will know if you’ve failed on the day.

If it’s stage 2 testing you will know if you’ve failed as the result is instant.

What’s your date and assessment location?
 

Spider1806

Member
Joined
28 Aug 2024
Messages
231
Location
Kettering
Is that what your email says?

If it’s stage 1 paper tests with EMR you won’t know for around a week.

If it’s the EMR assessment day after your stage 1’s then you will know if you’ve failed on the day.

If it’s stage 2 testing you will know if you’ve failed as the result is instant.

What’s your date and assessment
Thank you for the information and I believe what you are saying and least I know now
 

NSEWonderer

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2,903
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Quite rapid if assessment dates are being handed out, few of us who may have already done the tests probably won't hear anything till DMI stage.
 

Ninjakiwi

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13 Aug 2024
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Weird that they'd be handing out dates when hardly anyone seems to have been told they're shortlisted yet, at least judging by this thread.
 

Amnesiac

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7 Feb 2022
Messages
129
Location
..
thank you, I have been told with Bourdon - you need to really practice on paper as it will be on paper not a PC?

I did download the Bourdon app and have been printing them of, rather then doing them on the app

So I take you have passed was that with EMR?
I’m not able to answer that question really as I didn’t use it. Everyone has their own way to practice and what may work for may not for you.

I did my Stage 1 with another company, not EMR.

Weird that they'd be handing out dates when hardly anyone seems to have been told they're shortlisted yet, at least judging by this thread.
I would expect more have heard than is being mentioned on here, since not everyone who will apply use this forum.
 

NSEWonderer

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Messages
2,903
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For some reason I feel the hardest test seems to be the memory one - answering questions about a passage
Was my favourite, some questions you could have logically guessed like the one asking what the train braking system does. Answer I remember was to do with applying friction via discs near the wheels to slow them down.
 

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