Advice for Retail Travel Advisor interview

[Zygotic_mychi]

Hi,

I recently applied for the position of Retail Travel Advisor and lo and behold I got an interview. For anyone who has any experience, any idea of what sort of questions will they fire at me? What do I need to do in terms of preparation for this interview?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[transportphoto]

Who is the job with?

 

[Zygotic_mychi]

London Midland.

Any tips on what I should expect and the preparation that would help me would be very much appreciated!

 

[trentside]

I don't work of London Midland, but I am a Travel Advisor with another TOC.

During my interview, I was asked the usual questions about strengths and weaknesses and why I thought I was suited to the role, there were also questions about working in busy and stressful environments. I was also given a few specific scenarios to answer, e.g. dealing with a difficult customer and asked questions about the TOC - how much do you know about the company etc.

If you have cash handling and customer service experience, make sure you talk about those jobs and how the experience will help you in this role.

Good luck with the interview.

 

[Zygotic_mychi]

Thanks for the advice.

Generally, are you allowed to take prepared notes in with you?

Also, what sort of general knowledge of the company will they be looking for?

 

[reapz]

Thanks for the advice.

Generally, are you allowed to take prepared notes in with you?

Also, what sort of general knowledge of the company will they be looking for?

Hi I would advise against notes as its a gamble.

 

[trentside]

Thanks for the advice.

Generally, are you allowed to take prepared notes in with you?

Also, what sort of general knowledge of the company will they be looking for?

In my case, I gave a response about which routes the company operated, who the parent company was and who was the TOC MD at the time. My interviewers were quite happy with that response. Obviously it's a good idea to know a bit about the company before you go in - but I'd advise learning this as best you can so you don't have to rely on notes.

 

[Zygotic_mychi]

Doing my research on the parent company of London Midland, how do you pronounce "Govia"?

Is it "go" - "via" or one word?

 

[trentside]

Doing my research on the parent company of London Midland, how do you pronounce "Govia"?

Is it "go" - "via" or one word?

I must admit, I've never been to sure on that one. Personally, I just prononce it as Go-via (with the 'via' sounding more like veer).

Is anyone sure on this?

 

[RJ]

I attended a Retail Travel Advisor assessment day with London Midland earlier this year. It was conducted at a hotel in Birmingham, attended by various HR staff and Delivery Managers from the stations that were being recruited for.

There were psychometric tests determining literacy and numeracy skills, plus a test involving a route map and a price list, which required you to find the correct fare a series of journeys, also taking into account discounts for railcard holders at certain times of day. After this followed a competency based interview where you're given the opportunity to demonstrate whether or not you have the competencies they are looking for.

It's all very straightforward - best of luck!

 

[Zygotic_mychi]

plus a test involving a route map and a price list, which required you to find the correct fare a series of journeys, also taking into account discounts for railcard holders at certain times of day.!

I certainly remember that part. Really enjoyed that part of the exam.

Unfortunately I failed the assessment. Even though I'm a post graduate I do feel a bit silly to have failed what was a fairly basic test. Having not yet received the email to clarify what part(s) of the exam I failed on, I wouldn't be surprised if it was the reading comprehension part. I just spent far too long reading the paragraphs. Afterwards people said that it's best simply to go to the options and then skim the paragraphs for the answer. I managed to complete 15 options in the reading comprehension when others were apparently completing over 20+.

Feeling a bit low. Can someone give me some reassurance, please?

 

[RJ]

Unlucky .

Unless you have a very sharp short term memory, nobody is going to remember what was in that paragraph without double checking. Given the time provided, there's no point in wasting time checking twice - read the question then scan the paragraph for the keywords that provide you with the answer.

The kind of skills that are required to pass those tests are those that are required to work in a ticket office without struggling. All that's required is a bit of practice - these TOC recruitment tests do tend to share common elements whichever TOC you apply with, so just put it down to experience and remember to work quickly. Cutting out anything that wastes time during the test - including drinking water, checking your watch/the clock, allowing yourself to become distracted or reading the wrong material will help increase your chances of success.

Keep trying and better luck next time