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Avanti - Customer Service Roles (Stations) - Recruitment Discussion

Driver2379

Member
Joined
27 Nov 2020
Messages
12
Location
West Midlands
So today I had an email from one of vacancies (talent pool) that I had not been successful on the interview and that they won't give no individual feedback. This was my 2nd interview within a few months as I went for a similar role at a nearby station (one of the managers was the same) which I was also unsuccessful on! It's been a real demoralising experience to be turned down not once but twice! Has anyone in particular for platform staff roles had any success with their interview. What was the examples you used and what went well? I prepped, was confident in my answers and felt my examples were strong and unsure what I could've done better. Has anyone had any successful outcome if so what is the advice you can give? I doubt i'll go for another vacancy similar to this with Avanti again I thought I did well to get to 1 interview let alone 2 so I must be showing some potential? Is anyone on the inside looking out even have some advice going forwards? Really in a confused and demoralised state at the moment!
Sorry to hear this I know you must be very disappointed. I did my interview for the Platform role on 2nd July and received notification on the 9th that I had passed and I am now in the Talent Pool for a period of 12 months. They will contact me if there is a vacancy so we will have to wait and see how this turns out. Later on this week when I am not so busy I will try and give you some more info about my interview to see if this assists you. Take care
 
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djapp

Member
Joined
10 Oct 2024
Messages
28
Location
Bromsgrove
Sorry to hear this I know you must be very disappointed. I did my interview for the Platform role on 2nd July and received notification on the 9th that I had passed and I am now in the Talent Pool for a period of 12 months. They will contact me if there is a vacancy so we will have to wait and see who this turns out. Later on this week when I am not so buy I will try and give you some more info about my interview to see if this assists you. Take care
That would be extremely helpful feel free to DM me if you so wish. Annoying when you're at the final hurdle you can't even be given feedback,genuinely feels like a face don't fit moment.
 

ServerHoster

Member
Joined
15 Jun 2019
Messages
242
Location
North West
I completed online/video interviews with Avanti about 2 and a half weeks ago, and today I have got a response inviting me to a station tour and in person interview which will be in about 2 months time. Whoever told me that railway recruitment is not quick, is certainly not wrong. Does anyone have any tips/advice please? This is for Welcome Host (aka. gateline)
 

comicman123

Member
Joined
20 May 2025
Messages
9
Location
Birmingham
I completed online/video interviews with Avanti about 2 and a half weeks ago, and today I have got a response inviting me to a station tour and in person interview which will be in about 2 months time. Whoever told me that railway recruitment is not quick, is certainly not wrong. Does anyone have any tips/advice please? This is for Welcome Host (aka. gateline)
Have well prepared examples of when you have delivered excellent customer service when you have worked as part of a team to achieve a common goal and when you have had to deal with a difficult customer or situation use the STAR technique to explain your answers and try to stay calm the questions are likely to be similar to your video interview questions the interview people are usually very nice and as you have made it this far they are likely to want you to succeed also I know this may be obvious but dress smartly on the day ie suit shirt tie and neatly polished shoes
 

Driver2379

Member
Joined
27 Nov 2020
Messages
12
Location
West Midlands
That would be extremely helpful feel free to DM me if you so wish. Annoying when you're at the final hurdle you can't even be given feedback,genuinely feels like a face don't fit moment.
I am genuinely surprised that they do not give individual feedback if you have made it to a face to face interview. As you say this is your second attempt with a negative result. I am not sure how they expect you to learn how to move forward with no feedback. When I went for my interview I really prepped in the following way - I expected questions on customer service, communication, problem solving, safety, Avanti as a business. They are looking for someone who is able to represent the company to high standards as their mission is to deliver rail journeys on safe, clean, reliable transport whilst delivering high customer service.

I cannot recall the exact nature of my questions but they were similar to the below. In any interview you need to try and anticipate what questions you will be asked, looking at the job description will give you an idea.

Questions I expected to be asked are as follows -
1. Tell me why you want to work for Avanti as opposed to other TOC? What do you know about Avanti?
2. Tell me what excellent customer service mean to you and can you give me an example of when you have delivered great customer service/gone above and beyond with customer service?
3. Tell me when you have dealt with a difficult/angry customer and how did you deal with it?
4. Tell me when you have worked under pressure and what was the outcome?
5. Tell me when you have worked as part of a team?

6. What experience do you think you have that is relevant for the role?

The "Tell" questions all require examples. They can be from work, private life ie volunteering, member of a club, home life etc

I would get 3 examples for each of these questions that I know really well.

Then use the STARL method for answering - Tor the below questions with an simple example
Q - Give me an example of when you have delivered great customer service/gone above and beyond with customer service?

S = Situation ie I was working in John Lewis as a customer assistant when I was approached by a customer who wanted to purchase an I phone. (Keep this brief and to the point so that the interviewer understands what setting your example is coming from)

T = Task - my role as an employee of John Lewis is to provide information to the customer and make a sale of the appropriate device. (Keep this brief and to the point)

A - Action - I greeted the customer, I listened to their requirements, I took the customer to the I phone display and I discussed with them their budget, what research/knowledge they had on the phone they wanted, what features they wanted, availability of stock etc. Once they identified the option they wanted I completed a computer stock check and unfortunately this stated that the phone was not available in their colour. I informed the customer and stated I could order the phone in their colour choice and it would be available for collection the following day or sell them a phone in an alternative colour, gave them the colour options and they could take it away today.
Before completing the sale I informed the customer that I wanted to do a physical check of the stock room to double check the phones availability as I am aware that sometimes the computer stock check is not accurate. When I did a physical check I found the phone the customer wanted in the correct colour. I brought the phone out to the customer and they confirmed this is the phone they wanted, which they then purchased.

R- Result - The customer was really happy that they bought the actual phone they wanted, I made a sale for John Lewis, I was informed by my supervisor that the customer had sent an e mail to the company stating that my customer service towards them had been excellent and that they would be returning to a make another significant purchase soon. This demonstrates to my supervisor that I am doing my role well and I have retained customer business. THE ACTION PART IE WHAT YOU DID IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF ANSWERING THE QUESTION AND WHERE YOU GET THE MOST MARKS WHEN BEING INTERVIEWED.

L- Learning - I have learnt that performing my role to the best of my ability/training means that I perform well and that customers get what they need (sometimes you may want to consider what went wrong or what would you do differently if something similar happens) this demonstrates your ability to learn from experiences.

Tips.
Dress smartly.
Stay calm
Do not waffle.
Gather your examples and write them down in the above format. Make sure you talk about what YOU did, not what the team did.
Practice giving your answers in the above format so that it becomes second nature, the more you practice the easier it gets.
Hope this helps and Good luck

PS - I was the customer in this scenario!
 
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djapp

Member
Joined
10 Oct 2024
Messages
28
Location
Bromsgrove
I am genuinely surprised that they do not give individual feedback if you have made it to a face to face interview. As you say this is your second attempt with a negative result. I am not sure how they expect you to learn how to move forward with no feedback. When I went for my interview I really prepped in the following way - I expected questions on customer service, communication, problem solving, safety, Avanti as a business. They are looking for someone who is able to represent the company to high standards as their mission is to deliver rail journeys on safe, clean, reliable transport whilst delivering high customer service.

I cannot recall the exact nature of my questions but they were similar to the below. In any interview you need to try and anticipate what questions you will be asked, looking at the job description will give you an idea.

Questions I expected to be asked are as follows -
1. Tell me why you want to work for Avanti as opposed to other TOC? What do you know about Avanti?
2. Tell me what excellent customer service mean to you and can you give me an example of when you have delivered great customer service/gone above and beyond with customer service?
3. Tell me when you have dealt with a difficult/angry customer and how did you deal with it?
4. Tell me when you have worked under pressure and what was the outcome?
5. Tell me when you have worked as part of a team?

6. What experience do you think you have that is relevant for the role?

The "Tell" questions all require examples. They can be from work, private life ie volunteering, member of a club, home life etc

I would get 3 examples for each of these questions that I know really well.

Then use the STARL method for answering - Tor the below questions with an simple example
Q - Give me an example of when you have delivered great customer service/gone above and beyond with customer service?

S = Situation ie I was working in John Lewis as a customer assistant when I was approached by a customer who wanted to purchase an I phone. (Keep this brief and to the point so that the interviewer understands what setting your example is coming from)

T = Task - my role as an employee of John Lewis is to provide information to the customer and make a sale of the appropriate device. (Keep this brief and to the point)

A - Action - I greeted the customer, I listened to their requirements, I took the customer to the I phone display and I discussed with them their budget, what research/knowledge they had on the phone they wanted, what features they wanted, availability of stock etc. Once they identified the option they wanted I completed a computer stock check and unfortunately this stated that the phone was not available in their colour. I informed the customer and stated I could order the phone in their colour choice and it would be available for collection the following day or sell them a phone in an alternative colour, gave them the colour options and they could take it away today.
Before completing the sale I informed the customer that I wanted to do a physical check of the stock room to double check the phones availability as I am aware that sometimes the computer stock check is not accurate. When I did a physical check I found the phone the customer wanted in the correct colour. I brought the phone out to the customer and they confirmed this is the phone they wanted, which they then purchased.

R- Result - The customer was really happy that they bought the actual phone they wanted, I made a sale for John Lewis, I was informed by my supervisor that the customer had sent an e mail to the company stating that my customer service towards them had been excellent and that they would be returning to a make another significant purchase soon. This demonstrates to my supervisor that I am doing my role well and I have retained customer business. THE ACTION PART IE WHAT YOU DID IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF ANSWERING THE QUESTION AND WHERE YOU GET THE MOST MARKS WHEN BEING INTERVIEWED.

L- Learning - I have learnt that performing my role to the best of my ability/training means that I perform well and that customers get what they need (sometimes you may want to consider what went wrong or what would you do differently if something similar happens) this demonstrates your ability to learn from experiences.

Tips.
Dress smartly.
Stay calm
Do not waffle.
Gather your examples and write them down in the above format. Make sure you talk about what YOU did, not what the team did.
Practice giving your answers in the above format so that it becomes second nature, the more you practice the easier it gets.
Hope this helps and Good luck

PS - I was the customer in this scenario!
Hey Driver,

Yes I did all of what you said above buddy, answered every question I thought really well with the star format the interview went on for a good half hour. Able to use examples with dealing with emergency situations (Which I have countless examples so chose one of the more extreme ones), working as a team (about what I did not the team),demonstrating I can stick to procedure to achieve a task (Used a railway example of this). I struggled with one question along the lines of have you had a colleague confined in you or something along them lines. I went with a weakfish example but answered it non the less I work self employed a lot of the time so quite a difficult one for me to answer all the others I felt I smashed but clearly not. Strange to be put through 2 interviews in a matter of months to be turned down twice why call me in for a 2nd interview in such a short period? Really good insight that Driver2379 for anyone let alone me I just felt like my face didnt fit for whatever reason. I've put it to bed now but really annoyed about not having any feedback just a generic reject no-reply email unfortunately. I spent days and weeks prepping for it but time to move on now.
 

ServerHoster

Member
Joined
15 Jun 2019
Messages
242
Location
North West
Thank you for the tips everyone. Seems like a mixed bag of whether you get the job or not then! Did anyone else have to do those Arctic Shores assessments? I didn't like them and felt like I'd failed, then a few weeks later I get an email saying I'd progressed onto the next stage. And the same with the online interview - I think I'd prefer in person.

I've also just completed the OPC Safety Awareness Test that Avanti has sent me. I think I severely overestimated the difficulty of it. Without sounding naive, it was probably the easiest railway test I'd done so far. My favourite thing was the fact that they kept re-using the same 4-5 images and just photoshopping different things in and out of it. The example/practice scene was the hardest!
 

comicman123

Member
Joined
20 May 2025
Messages
9
Location
Birmingham
Thank you for the tips everyone. Seems like a mixed bag of whether you get the job or not then! Did anyone else have to do those Arctic Shores assessments? I didn't like them and felt like I'd failed, then a few weeks later I get an email saying I'd progressed onto the next stage. And the same with the online interview - I think I'd prefer in person.

I've also just completed the OPC Safety Awareness Test that Avanti has sent me. I think I severely overestimated the difficulty of it. Without sounding naive, it was probably the easiest railway test I'd done so far. My favourite thing was the fact that they kept re-using the same 4-5 images and just photoshopping different things in and out of it. The example/practice scene was the hardest!
With Avanti West Coast it seems that after you do the initial application if successful you then do the Artic shores assessments which I believe you can reuse for other applications for up to one year if it's a safety critical role you are applying for you also have to do a safety awareness test if not you move on to the online interview if successful then it's the face to face interview if successful you get put into a talent bank which gives you up to a year to be offered a position by Avanti West Coast
 

Pa14

Member
Joined
11 May 2025
Messages
20
Location
United Kingdom
With Avanti West Coast it seems that after you do the initial application if successful you then do the Artic shores assessments which I believe you can reuse for other applications for up to one year if it's a safety critical role you are applying for you also have to do a safety awareness test if not you move on to the online interview if successful then it's the face to face interview if successful you get put into a talent bank which gives you up to a year to be offered a position by Avanti West Coast
Hi! I’m curious to know how many candidates are shortlisted (and added to the talent bank) after a single recruitment event or final interview?
Thank you.
 

comicman123

Member
Joined
20 May 2025
Messages
9
Location
Birmingham
Hi! I’m curious to know how many candidates are shortlisted (and added to the talent bank) after a single recruitment event or final interview?
Thank

Hi! I’m curious to know how many candidates are shortlisted (and added to the talent bank) after a single recruitment event or final interview?
Thank you.
Not sure i think you should ask avanti west coast station staff that have recently started for the best answer
 

phixl

Member
Joined
23 Feb 2025
Messages
19
Location
Liverpool
How much of their scoring is based on whether they 'like' you....personality, conversation, eloquence etc?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

I had an interview yesterday at Warrington Bank Quay. Really hope I get approved for the talent bank!
 
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Pa14

Member
Joined
11 May 2025
Messages
20
Location
United Kingdom
Hi, I hope you get approved for the talent bank. It will take them a week to get back to you with the interview results. Best of luck!
 

phixl

Member
Joined
23 Feb 2025
Messages
19
Location
Liverpool
Hi, I hope you get approved for the talent bank. It will take them a week to get back to you with the interview results. Best of luck!
Thankyou!
Phil

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

Thankyou!
Phil
I got an email yesterday to welcome me to the talent bank! Now I'm feeling impatient to be offered a role somewhere!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

Hi, are you still in the talent bank? I'm in the talent bank for wolverhampton and have been since october.
Did you get offered a position yet??

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

Hi. I recently interviewed for a customer service position with Avanti at Macclesfield. I passed online tests and got the position after a f2f interview.
I’m in the talent bank, which I understand and is great. Just wondered if anyone has experience on how long before actually starting the job.
Many thanks.
Have you been offered a role yet?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

I am in the same boat as yourself, got accepted into the Talent Bank last month and was told at the interview there is a lot of churn and upheaval in these roles so you shouldn't theoretically be waiting longer than six months.
Have you been offered a role yet? How long after you got in to the talent bank was it if so?
 
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Pa14

Member
Joined
11 May 2025
Messages
20
Location
United Kingdom
Thankyou!
Phil

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==


I got an email yesterday to welcome me to the talent bank! Now I'm feeling impatient to be offered a role somewhere!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==


Did you get offered a position yet??

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==


Have you been offered a role yet?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==


Have you been offered a role yet? How long after you got in to the talent bank was it if so?
Hi, which station is this for?
 

spiderman_24

Member
Joined
22 Aug 2025
Messages
7
Location
england
Have well prepared examples of when you have delivered excellent customer service when you have worked as part of a team to achieve a common goal and when you have had to deal with a difficult customer or situation use the STAR technique to explain your answers and try to stay calm the questions are likely to be similar to your video interview questions the interview people are usually very nice and as you have made it this far they are likely to want you to succeed also I know this may be obvious but dress smartly on the day ie suit shirt tie and neatly polished shoes
Hi I have a digital interview coming up. Could you please give me some intel on what to except please is it with a perosn on the webcamw
Or do I just answer questions recorded
 

Pa14

Member
Joined
11 May 2025
Messages
20
Location
United Kingdom
Hi I have a digital interview coming up. Could you please give me some intel on what to except please is it with a perosn on the webcamw
Or do I just answer questions recorded
It is a recorded question. You will have four to five questions. I believe you will be given two attempts for each question.
 

spiderman_24

Member
Joined
22 Aug 2025
Messages
7
Location
england
Great thanks ,What are the questions I should be expecting?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

Hi I have a digital interview coming up. Could you please give me some intel on what to except please is it with a perosn on the webcamw
Or do I just answer questions recorded
Great thank you for the help and support
 

Pa14

Member
Joined
11 May 2025
Messages
20
Location
United Kingdom
Great thanks ,What are the questions I should be expecting?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==


Great thank you for the help and support
As far as I can remember, these were some of the questions:

1) What skills will you bring into this role?
2) When do you go above and beyond for customers? What qualities make a good customer service representative?
3) Why pursue a position as a Customer Service Assistant at Avanti West Coast?
4) What are you passionate about?
5) When you’ve worked with a team to achieve a common goal?

When answering these questions, refer to the Avanti values and try to include real-life examples of how you’ve applied the skills you’ve developed.
 

spiderman_24

Member
Joined
22 Aug 2025
Messages
7
Location
england
As far as I can remember, these were some of the questions:

1) What skills will you bring into this role?
2) When do you go above and beyond for customers? What qualities make a good customer service representative?
3) Why pursue a position as a Customer Service Assistant at Avanti West Coast?
4) What are you passionate about?
5) When you’ve worked with a team to achieve a common goal?

When answering these questions, refer to the Avanti values and try to include real-life examples of how you’ve applied the skills you’ve developed.
Thank you
 

sammax

New Member
Joined
25 Jun 2025
Messages
2
Location
London
I got invited for interview in person at the station ,
but i have been moved out of UK , do they do online interview through teams or something ,
do they do that if i request it
 

spiderman_24

Member
Joined
22 Aug 2025
Messages
7
Location
england
Hello everyone ,
Tomorrow I have an interview in person for a welcom host position. Does anyone have any past experience and tips of what I should expect.
Thank you :)
 

comicman123

Member
Joined
20 May 2025
Messages
9
Location
Birmingham
Hello everyone ,
Tomorrow I have an interview in person for a welcom host position. Does anyone have any past experience and tips of what I should expect.
Thank you :)
Use the STAR technique to answer the questions try to stay calm and communicate clearly and ask questions at the end about length of training if you are successful and how the talent bank situation works
 

spiderman_24

Member
Joined
22 Aug 2025
Messages
7
Location
england
Hi everyone.
I had an interview in person last week for a welcome host role with avanti talent bank.
Does anyone know how long it takes for them to get back and confirm if I got into the talent bank or not ?
 

comicman123

Member
Joined
20 May 2025
Messages
9
Location
Birmingham
Hi everyone.
I had an interview in person last week for a welcome host role with avanti talent bank.
Does anyone know how long it takes for them to get back and confirm if I got into the talent bank or not ?
It's usually no more than 2 weeks after the interview date
 

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