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EMR - Trainee Train Drivers - Recruitment Discussion

Chippychips

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14 Jan 2022
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263
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London
When I applied for EMR around 4/5yrs ago, assessment day was interactive group exercises with other candidates. Can‘t remember how many were there on the day, maybe around 40 of us?
Ah ok thanks for the info. Where did it take place? Local to the role you applied for or somewhere like their central hub (i.e. Derby)?
 
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Unobrow

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Ah ok thanks for the info. Where did it take place? Local to the role you applied for or somewhere like their central hub (i.e. Derby)?
Yes it was local to the role, but saying that it could be anywhere depending on availability (and maybe cost) I suspect. I took both days of the psychometrics at Derby, but the assessment day was elsewhere.
 
Joined
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I just want that confirmation of either pass or fail, I hate the waiting game haha
Hahaha
You’ve applied for a job in the wrong industry if you hate waiting.
The recruitment process alone can take upto 2 years in the talent pool and even then, you’re not guaranteed a job.
 

Razor1234

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24 Aug 2026
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Hahaha
You’ve applied for a job in the wrong industry if you hate waiting.
The recruitment process alone can take upto 2 years in the talent pool and even then, you’re not guaranteed a job.
How often do people go the two years without an offer? It seems to be asking a lot just to placed into a pool doing all these interviews etc
 
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How often do people go the two years without an offer? It seems to be asking a lot just to placed into a pool doing all these interviews etc
There doesn’t seem to be a published figure for how many people actually reach the two years without an offer, but it definitely does happen. There are people on here who have had EMR talent pools expire without getting a start date, while others have waited six months, two years, or barely any time at all.
It basically depends on vacancies and training courses becoming available at your particular depot. So getting into the pool is a massive step, but unfortunately it still isn’t a guaranteed job.
I agree though, after going through all the testing and interviews it must be pretty brutal to then sit there for two years and have the pool expire.

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Anyone heard anything yet?
 
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Jamie1985

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2 Mar 2026
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5
Location
Kent
Nothing heard yet.

My assessment seemed to glitch on the second exercise half way through, leaving me guessing as the question disappeared, leaving two black boxes only. I did raise this at the time with the assessment company, see what happens.
 
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Nothing heard yet.

My assessment seemed to glitch on the second exercise half way through, leaving me guessing as the question disappeared, leaving two black boxes only. I did raise this at the time with the assessment company, see what happens.
I’m sorry to hear that Jamie.
Were the other 2 assessments ok or did they glitch also?
Did you also receive your feedback from ArcticShores after completing the tests?
I’m curious where they placed you on the second one due to the glitch.
 

Twin82

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24 Mar 2026
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207
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Wandsworth Road
Nothing heard yet.

My assessment seemed to glitch on the second exercise half way through, leaving me guessing as the question disappeared, leaving two black boxes only. I did raise this at the time with the assessment company, see what happens.
That’s unfortunate mate. Did your device meet the mi mum requirements and did you have a stable internet connection? The email did live out the minimum requirements as well as the conditions to ensure no interference when doing the assessment.
 

Jamie1985

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2 Mar 2026
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That’s unfortunate mate. Did your device meet the mi mum requirements and did you have a stable internet connection? The email did live out the minimum requirements as well as the conditions to ensure no interference when doing the assessment.

Yes it certainly did, was using a gaming laptop with a 1000meg internet connection. Never had an issue previously.
I assume your question didn’t disappear half way through and leave two black boxes with the info flashing up?
I’m sorry to hear that Jamie.
Were the other 2 assessments ok or did they glitch also?
Did you also receive your feedback from ArcticShores after completing the tests?
I’m curious where they placed you on the second one due to the glitch.
No, the other two went off fine, no issues.

Decisions I placed 3/4, change 1/4 and challenges 4/4. No idea how that ranks type thing?

Received a failure notice this morning, have replied to that also as I haven’t had a response to the Arctic email chain with EMR asking if the second bit could be taken again due to the issue. I have asked if this led to the failure, as if it wouldn’t have changed it then no worries type thing :)
 

Twin82

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24 Mar 2026
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207
Location
Wandsworth Road
Yes it certainly did, was using a gaming laptop with a 1000meg internet connection. Never had an issue previously.
I assume your question didn’t disappear half way through and leave two black boxes with the info flashing up?

No, the other two went off fine, no issues.

Decisions I placed 3/4, change 1/4 and challenges 4/4. No idea how that ranks type thing?

Received a failure notice this morning, have replied to that also as I haven’t had a response to the Arctic email chain with EMR asking if the second bit could be taken again due to the issue. I have asked if this led to the failure, as if it wouldn’t have changed it then no worries type thing :)
That’s unfortunate that happened to you. And I didn’t experience what you asked.

Sorry about the unsuccessful email. Clearly it was bc of the issue. You can only try and ask them if they would reconsider you retaking it. Long shot but at least you would of tried. Best of luck moving forward
 
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Yes it certainly did, was using a gaming laptop with a 1000meg internet connection. Never had an issue previously.
I assume your question didn’t disappear half way through and leave two black boxes with the info flashing up?

No, the other two went off fine, no issues.

Decisions I placed 3/4, change 1/4 and challenges 4/4. No idea how that ranks type thing?

Received a failure notice this morning, have replied to that also as I haven’t had a response to the Arctic email chain with EMR asking if the second bit could be taken again due to the issue. I have asked if this led to the failure, as if it wouldn’t have changed it then no worries type thing :)
Sorry to hear that Jamie. I can imagine that’s really disappointing after putting the time and effort into the process. Try not to let it knock your confidence too much though. I’m sure there will be another opportunity to apply in the future and, if there is, you’ll be going into the Arctic Shores assessments with a much better idea of what to expect.
Hopefully this is just a minor setback rather than the end of the road for you.

Out of curiosity Jamie, do you remember what the wording was on each of the three Arctic Shores feedback sections? I’d be interested to see how the descriptions differ depending on where we all fall on each scale.

Has anyone else received an outcome email yet?
 
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dan1w

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13 May 2026
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7
Location
Bedfordshire
Sorry to hear that Jamie. I can imagine that’s really disappointing after putting the time and effort into the process. Try not to let it knock your confidence too much though. I’m sure there will be another opportunity to apply in the future and, if there is, you’ll be going into the Arctic Shores assessments with a much better idea of what to expect.
Hopefully this is just a minor setback rather than the end of the road for you.

Out of curiosity Jamie, do you remember what the wording was on each of the three Arctic Shores feedback sections? I’d be interested to see how the descriptions differ depending on where we all fall on each scale.

Has anyone else received an outcome email yet?
I got a knock back email earlier. I scored third dot to the right on the first two and forth dot on the last one.
 
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Sorry to hear that Dan. It’s disappointing after getting to this point, but hopefully another opportunity comes up for you in the future. As with Jamie, I’m sure the knowledge you’ve gained from the Arctic Shores assessments will help if you decide to reapply. Going into them next time knowing exactly what to expect should hopefully work in your favour.

I find it interesting seeing the different Arctic Shores feedback profiles people have had. I’m not convinced where we placed on the three dots necessarily tells us what EMR received on their side, or how they used the underlying assessment data when making the sift.

Thanks for sharing your scores though, it’s useful seeing how the different profiles compare.
 

dan1w

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13 May 2026
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7
Location
Bedfordshire
Sorry to hear that Dan. It’s disappointing after getting to this point, but hopefully another opportunity comes up for you in the future. As with Jamie, I’m sure the knowledge you’ve gained from the Arctic Shores assessments will help if you decide to reapply. Going into them next time knowing exactly what to expect should hopefully work in your favour.

I find it interesting seeing the different Arctic Shores feedback profiles people have had. I’m not convinced where we placed on the three dots necessarily tells us what EMR received on their side, or how they used the underlying assessment data when making the sift.

Thanks for sharing your scores though, it’s useful seeing how the different profiles compare.
I made a fair few mistakes on the first two exercises. I have a feeling they want all dots to the right but I might be wrong.
 
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That could well be the case, although I suppose we won’t really know until more people start sharing their outcomes and feedback profiles.

It’s interesting that you felt you made more mistakes on the first two exercises and those were the two sections where you landed on the third dot.

I also think the feedback we received is probably quite different from the information Arctic Shores sends to EMR, so the three dots may only be a very simplified version of what they actually use when making the sift.

Hopefully as more results come through we’ll start to get a clearer picture of what EMR may have been looking for, and that might help future candidates understand the process a little better.
 
Joined
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No mate, not me.
I’m still waiting nervously for the email to say whether it’s a pass or a fail.

Quite a few have already received unsuccessful emails, but I’m not reading too much into that as EMR could simply be sending them out in batches.
 

coasting8816

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28 Jun 2026
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14
Location
London
I got an email about 20 minutes ago saying I was successful! It says the next stage is OPC Stage 1 testing in Watford on the 8th of September.

Absolutely bricking it but super exciting!
 
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I’m somewhere between absolutely buzzing and needing a change of underwear.
Hahaha
I assume, as it’s not an interview, we don’t need to be suited and booted?
Smart casual?
 

coasting8816

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Joined
28 Jun 2026
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Location
London
Congrats guys. Did your email tell you what testing you will be doing along with practice material?
The email has an RSSB booklet attached and it says to look at pages 1-46, which covers the Group Bourdon, TEA-Occ, TRP, and WAFV vigilance tests
 

Twin82

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24 Mar 2026
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207
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Wandsworth Road
The email has an RSSB booklet attached and it says to look at pages 1-46, which covers the Group Bourdon, TEA-Occ, TRP, and WAFV vigilance tests
Oh ok. What colour is the book if you don’t mind me asking. Sounds like you’ll be doing the paper test apart from the last one.

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Hi mate, I'm still waiting for mine too! Out of curiosity, what did you score in the tests. Did you get the third dot for any?
I haven’t received any form of email either. My score for all parts was on the 4th dot. Were yours on the 3rd for all parts?
 

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