Croydon TramLink - Recruitment Discussion (All Roles)

[Barry K]

Deleted

 

[GrooveLine]

Sorry to hear that. I would have thought you would be a shoe-in. Have they offered any feedback?
I'm brushing up on my history of First, in case they ask that one, but also going through and doing my own answers to the other questions.

Thanks Barry K. Ive asked for Feedback. History question was in there. My advice, try and find something different in terms of their history. I'm sure you'll do great. They saw on my CV that I've passed for Train driving assessments, so the split up between trams and trains may have been my weakness. All the best. Look forward to hearing about your update.

 

[Barry K]

Deleted

 

[GrooveLine]

I think that would make a sterling reply amongst other points. Original.

 

[Barry K]

Deleted

 

[GrooveLine]

I may have actually gone a little overnerd on that question. The HR rep had to defer to the driver manager for an accuracy check.....
The drive was a lovely little geek-out with one of the driver managers (not just about trams), and I should find out next week.

Well done Barry K! I wish you all the best. Sounds like you had a great day. Love the fact the HR had to defer to driver manager. Ha. "He knows too much " Really looking forward to your news.

 

[whoosh]

Level 3 Apprenticeship at Croydon Trams:

Trams Level 3 Apprenticeship

Trams Level 3 Apprenticeship

london-gov.jobs2web.com

 

[jiggy911]

references, medical, DBS check and offer.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 2 Feb 2026 ==

Unfortunately I was unsuccessful at interview stage. Just got email this morning. Wishing you all success Barry K.

 

[GrooveLine]

Sorry to hear Jiggy911. Well done for all your hard work. Maybe reapply in the future, now you've been through the process.

 

[Barry K]

Deleted

 

[GrooveLine]

I have found out.

The mad rush to get everything in place by 23rd of February starts now.

Woooooooooooooow!! I knew you would nail it! Well done Barry K. You've lifted my spirits. You passed for all of us.

 

[RDJW18]

I have found out.

The mad rush to get everything in place by 23rd of February starts now.

Well done Barry. I’m gutted after the weeks of hard practicing I done, my assessment is supposed to be today but received an email on Friday saying my application has been withdrawn because according to their systems I live 4 minutes too far away from the depot. This differs from my navigation systems which show I do live with the 60 minutes required. Devastated is an understatement but can’t be helped.

 

[GrooveLine]

Well done Barry. I’m gutted after the weeks of hard practicing I done, my assessment is supposed to be today but received an email on Friday saying my application has been withdrawn because according to their systems I live 4 minutes too far away from the depot. This differs from my navigation systems which show I do live with the 60 minutes required. Devastated is an understatement but can’t be helped.

That is devastating indeed. Sorry to hear this, especially after all your preparation. Have you applied for trains? First Group will probably recruit in the future for London Overground.... Their predecessor Arriva advertised New Cross as one of the Overground depots before they lost concession. If that is nearer for you, it might be worth keeping an eye out for, may open up in the future with first Group.

 

[RDJW18]

That is devastating indeed. Sorry to hear this, especially after all your preparation. Have you applied for trains? First Group will probably recruit in the future for London Overground.... Their predecessor Arriva advertised New Cross as one of the Overground depots before they lost concession. If that is nearer for you, it might be worth keeping an eye out for, may open up in the future with first Group.

Gutted in an understatement. I would have thought something like that would have been picked up straight away. I am waiting for assessments for a number of train operators for the driver role so hopefully one of them will come through. I’m actually in the pot for the Arriva one for New Cross but waiting to hear back as well. Can only assume it’s all slowed down due to the change over to first.

 

[GrooveLine]

Gutted in an understatement. I would have thought something like that would have been picked up straight away. I am waiting for assessments for a number of train operators for the driver role so hopefully one of them will come through. I’m actually in the pot for the Arriva one for New Cross but waiting to hear back as well. Can only assume it’s all slowed down due to the change over to first.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Feb 2026 ==

Yes I would have thought that that would have been picked up first too.
I am in a similar situation with Arriva. Im in the longlist. I do hope you hear something soon. Ive applied for and been offered a bus driving position. Which will gain me some relevant (and possible solid ) experience for Railway whilst waiting for the recruitment team... I wish you success.

 

[Barry K]

Deleted

 

[Neatro]

Thanks Barry K. Ive asked for Feedback. History question was in there. My advice, try and find something different in terms of their history. I'm sure you'll do great. They saw on my CV that I've passed for Train driving assessments, so the split up between trams and trains may have been my weakness. All the best. Look forward to hearing about your update.

Just to reference something.

Don't put OPC results on your CV, as you potentially found out it doesn't help you and it doesn't help you either because recruiters won't take it into consideration.

 

[ct8]

Does anyone know want the shift pattern is like for tram drivers and do you get a shift allowance for early nights and weekend shifts

 

[GrooveLine]

Well, the first week was the expected Death by Powerpoint, but we got out for a walk around sections of the network, got everythng done that we needed, and now it's on to the perma-nights for the foreseeable future.

There are 6 of us....

Thanks for sharing your experience, Barry K. It's nice to walk through with you.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 2 Mar 2026 ==

Just to reference something.

Don't put OPC results on your CV, as you potentially found out it doesn't help you and it doesn't help you either because recruiters won't take it into consideration.

Yes very true, it was a lesson learned for me.

 

[ivangb]

Well done Barry. I’m gutted after the weeks of hard practicing I done, my assessment is supposed to be today but received an email on Friday saying my application has been withdrawn because according to their systems I live 4 minutes too far away from the depot. This differs from my navigation systems which show I do live with the 60 minutes required. Devastated is an understatement but can’t be helped.

I had similar issues where they estimated that my travel time is over 1 hr. I wrote to them, with 5 different times , peak and off peak, each one was less than an hour( based on google maps). Eventually they overturn the decision and got invited to do the assessment. Worth trying

 

[Bucephalus]

Does anyone know want the shift pattern is like for tram drivers and do you get a shift allowance for early nights and weekend shifts

It's wild, you could start anywhere from 3.30am to 9pm, no shift allowance

 

[philthetube]

Well done Barry. I’m gutted after the weeks of hard practicing I done, my assessment is supposed to be today but received an email on Friday saying my application has been withdrawn because according to their systems I live 4 minutes too far away from the depot. This differs from my navigation systems which show I do live with the 60 minutes required. Devastated is an understatement but can’t be helped.

I had similar issues where they estimated that my travel time is over 1 hr. I wrote to them, with 5 different times , peak and off peak, each one was less than an hour( based on google maps). Eventually they overturn the decision and got invited to do the assessment. Worth trying

Send a nice letter back saying how disappointed you are as you were hopefully looking forward to working for them, then tell them that you had checked online about journey times and they appeared to be ok.

Finally apologise for having wasted their time.

It won't do any harm and you never know your luck.

 

[Lewis5949]

Well done Barry. I’m gutted after the weeks of hard practicing I done, my assessment is supposed to be today but received an email on Friday saying my application has been withdrawn because according to their systems I live 4 minutes too far away from the depot. This differs from my navigation systems which show I do live with the 60 minutes required. Devastated is an understatement but can’t be helped.

Wow, thanks for telling us, I'm on the border of their requirement so I'm going to email them now while I'm waiting for the next stage.

They're certainly having a wild time with their advert. In the past week it's come up and been taken offline FOUR times.

Many will disagree but personally I think it should be illegal to close a job ad sooner than the closing date, as so many people get caught out by it. If they're expecting lots of applicants then make the closing date short and extend the advert if there's not enough applications instead. TfL are awful at this too.

 

[orangec3]

Hello All,

I have my driving assessment next week and I was wondering about the ‘large automatic vehicle’. Would someone be able to let me know what type of vehicle I will be driving please?

Thank you in advance and good luck to anyone taking their assessments in the upcoming days!

 

[galwhv69]

Hello All,

I have my driving assessment next week and I was wondering about the ‘large automatic vehicle’. Would someone be able to let me know what type of vehicle I will be driving please?

Thank you in advance and good luck to anyone taking their assessments in the upcoming days!

When I did it, it was a nearly new unmarked large car (SUV if I remember correctly). Can't remember the make or model, apologies

 

[Barry K]

Deleted

 

[Lewis5949]

Hello All,

I have my driving assessment next week and I was wondering about the ‘large automatic vehicle’. Would someone be able to let me know what type of vehicle I will be driving please?

Thank you in advance and good luck to anyone taking their assessments in the upcoming days!

To be clear, does the driving assessement you took come after the SCAAT type paper assessments?

I have an assessment coming up and think it's just the paper based ones. It looks like the driving assessment and interviews come at later stages?

 

[Barry K]

Deleted

 

[Lewis5949]

Hi Lewis,

You won't do any driving unless you are invited for interview after passing the RAAT/SCAAT tests, and it will be driving first, then interview, on the same day.

Thanks for the confirmation! I have passed those two tests before so here's hoping to passing them again!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 1 Apr 2026 ==

Just been told I'm invited to the interview stage, but I am waiting for an available date. Only 18% of people passed the RAAT.

Any insight from anyone else who recently passed on the sort of interview questions would be appreciated. My guess is it will be the usual safety critical and competency types like "tell me about a time when you saw something dangerous. What did you do to make it safe and who did you tell?" Etc

Also is the vehicle manual or automatic? (The assessment vehicle not the tram)

 

[Barry K]

Deleted