Driver interview

[Tammo]

Hi Everyone,

I have a driver interview on wednesday and am slightly confused.
Obviously my application has gone through successfully and then i had to do a five minute online test (all last month) and now have been offered an interview with Northern.

Im confused because i have been given the date and also a uniform order form to take with me on the day. Is this normal practice?

Seems a bit unfair if it is as it gets peoples hopes up!!

Can anyone shed any light on this?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Oh and one other thing.......when is the psychometric testing or was the 5 minute online test it?

 

[Beveridges]

Psycho tests are a full day thing not a little online test.
The psycho tests consist of 6 parts

Mechanical comprehension (36 questions in 18 mins)
Trainability - Dials (42 questions in about 10 mins)
Trainability - Glop (read and memorise 4 paragraphs of text for later questioning)
Group Boredom Test (A Test of Solid concentration over 10 mins)
DTG Reactions Test (10 mins of reacting to visual and audible warnings just like a real driver does when cancelling his AWS and DV Device)
Structured Interview with the Assessor - 1 and a half hours to test if you can communicate, deal with an unexpected situation, work alone, follow rules and solve difficult problems.
All this normally done on same day. 2 attempts max then banned for life.

 

[Tammo]

Psycho tests are a full day thing not a little online test.
The psycho tests consist of 6 parts

Mechanical comprehension (36 questions in 18 mins)
Trainability - Dials (42 questions in about 10 mins)
Trainability - Glop (read and memorise 4 paragraphs of text for later questioning)
Group Boredom Test (A Test of Solid concentration over 10 mins)
DTG Reactions Test (10 mins of reacting to visual and audible warnings just like a real driver does when cancelling his AWS and DV Device)
Structured Interview with the Assessor - 1 and a half hours to test if you can communicate, deal with an unexpected situation, work alone, follow rules and solve difficult problems.
All this normally done on same day. 2 attempts max then banned for life.

Wow, thanks Beveridges! You are a fountain of knowledge.

I'm not even going to think about all that until I see if I get through the interview first!
Don't want to stress myself out if I don't have to!

 

[TheVicLine]

Your interview on Wednesday is the company interview and will be with a Train Manager and a HR Manager.

 

[aszu]

There will be one of the DTMs and HR Manager.
The question might be:
What do you know about Northern
Tell us something about yourself - them two just to warm you up

Then you will have to provide a real-life example for the various topics. Try to follow the STAR procedure, you have been (probably) sent by HR.

Some of the question will be about:

working under pressure
customer service
dealing with an emergency +how were you feeling, do u think you have done enough, etc.
"what motivates you" - that`s a tricky one
what passengers want?
receiving feedback from manager and adjusting your behaviour/the way you do things
multitasking and prioritazing things
what driver`s job is about?
there might be some very basic engineering questions

make sure you know a lot about Northern and driver`s job

hope that helps

 

[WannabeTD]

There will be one of the DTMs and HR Manager.
The question might be:
What do you know about Northern
Tell us something about yourself - them two just to warm you up

Then you will have to provide a real-life example for the various topics. Try to follow the STAR procedure, you have been (probably) sent by HR.

Some of the question will be about:

working under pressure
customer service
dealing with an emergency +how were you feeling, do u think you have done enough, etc.
"what motivates you" - that's a tricky one
what passengers want?
receiving feedback from manager and adjusting your behaviour/the way you do things
multitasking and prioritazing things
what driver's job is about?
there might be some very basic engineering questions

make sure you know a lot about Northern and driver's job

hope that helps

Hi

I am a long time reader but first time poster.
I find these forums useful but am always slightly amused by the amount of spoon feeding people request. If you need other people to sit your interview then maybe this career isnt for you? Just a thought.
I sat an interview with Northern today and feel that maybe TOCs are getting wise to these forums as they seem to be changing their questions. I would advise you not to rely on anyone's posts on here and just prepare for every eventuality.
Of the above questions, I only had two of these at my interview.
As selfish at it may sound i am certainly not prepared to give any potential competitors for a dream job an unfair advantage, so i wont be posting anywhere the questions I received.
To be honest i would advise anyone who has recently had an interview to keep quiet on the questions, i am sure everyone agrees it should be a level playing field.

 

[Beveridges]

Some of the question will be about:

working under pressure
customer service
dealing with an emergency +how were you feeling, do u think you have done enough, etc.
"what motivates you" - that's a tricky one
what passengers want?
receiving feedback from manager and adjusting your behaviour/the way you do things
multitasking and prioritazing things
what driver's job is about?
there might be some very basic engineering questions

make sure you know a lot about Northern and driver's job

PLUS you could also get questions about:
Making a difficult decision (VERY HARD this is really hard question to answer even if prepared)
Making a sacrifice to achieve something (rediculous question completely threw me at the time)
Continously improving your skills

 

[NI 271]

PLUS you could also get questions about:
Making a difficult decision (VERY HARD this is really hard question to answer even if prepared)
Making a sacrifice to achieve something (rediculous question completely threw me at the time)

Got my interview tomorrow, hope they do come up. I have a couple of cracking examples for those two, indeed one could answer both of them at once, and they refer to passenger safety being the FIRST priority over any other consideration, which surely can't hurt?

I also prepared myself what was supposed to be a short list of bullet points to sharpen myself up before interview, sadly it's turned into four pages. That said, a lot of the info is based on my experiences over the last twenty years so it isn't something I need to learn, I just need to recall exactly what I feel are the best examples while I'm in there.

Does anyone know if it is acceptable to bring written reminders into the interview? I'd be concerned the managers might not like it, as they could conceivably be written by anyone, however expanding on bullet points comprehensively surely proves the experiences mentioned are indeed my own?

 

[aszu]

I have been through quite a few internal interviews with Northern and never ever brought any notes with me and haven`t heard of anyone who`s done that.
Alhough I might be wrong

Even if it is acceptable, I seriously do believe you will make a better impression coming in without any notes. They know how stressted some people are, so don`t worry

 

[NI 271]

I have been through quite a few internal interviews with Northern and never ever brought any notes with me and haven't heard of anyone who's done that.
Alhough I might be wrong

Even if it is acceptable, I seriously do believe you will make a better impression coming in without any notes. They know how stressted some people are, so don't worry

The actual interview side of things I'm comfortable with, I feel I can express myself clearly and stress isn't an issue (and if I was on an interviewing panel for a job which could be subject to lots of pressure, I'm not sure I'd want someone who couldn't handle that to be honest), but I do feel the examples I have for most aspects of the interview definitely illustrate I have experienced a lot of relevant things few other external candidates would, or indeed could have, so I really don't want to leave any of those in the waiting room!

Thanks for the response however, much appreciated, and I'll read up again while I'm on the train across there tomorrow, and in the waiting room beforehand, and hope it all sticks. Usually, if I see things written down, it does...

 

[Beveridges]

Pressure in an interview can be a lot higher than job pressures, depends how much you want the job. Can't be really compared. I heard someone say he felt more stressed dealing with a psychometric assessment than he was when dealing with a fire on a train. I find the more you want the job, the higher the pressure. When I've gone into interviews not that bothered if I got the job or not the pressure was not really there. Then when I done interviews for jobs I really wanted the pressure was uncomfortably high and hard to deal with. To find the last time I had an interview of that sort I'd have to go back to 2008 though

 

[Jimmy McNulty]

Got my interview tomorrow, hope they do come up. I have a couple of cracking examples for those two, indeed one could answer both of them at once, and they refer to passenger safety being the FIRST priority over any other consideration, which surely can't hurt?

I also prepared myself what was supposed to be a short list of bullet points to sharpen myself up before interview, sadly it's turned into four pages. That said, a lot of the info is based on my experiences over the last twenty years so it isn't something I need to learn, I just need to recall exactly what I feel are the best examples while I'm in there.

Does anyone know if it is acceptable to bring written reminders into the interview? I'd be concerned the managers might not like it, as they could conceivably be written by anyone, however expanding on bullet points comprehensively surely proves the experiences mentioned are indeed my own?

I am yet to go through any interview with a TOC nor have I conducted one.

However I have previously been a hiring manager and conducted at least 300 competency based interviews . . . in all of those I can clearly remember only one person who referred to the notes they have brought in to answer questions such as tell me a time when you . . . or describe a situation when you . . . he didn't get the job.

It's very contrived to go to your notes on those questions in a situation like that, only in my opinion of course.

 

[evoluzione]

Would be worth knowing a little about your local station, I was asked in my interview a few weeks ago, it was the only question that tripped me up as I hadn't researched it.

 

[387star]

Got my interview tomorrow, hope they do come up. I have a couple of cracking examples for those two, indeed one could answer both of them at once, and they refer to passenger safety being the FIRST priority over any other consideration, which surely can't hurt?

I also prepared myself what was supposed to be a short list of bullet points to sharpen myself up before interview, sadly it's turned into four pages. That said, a lot of the info is based on my experiences over the last twenty years so it isn't something I need to learn, I just need to recall exactly what I feel are the best examples while I'm in there.

Does anyone know if it is acceptable to bring written reminders into the interview? I'd be concerned the managers might not like it, as they could conceivably be written by anyone, however expanding on bullet points comprehensively surely proves the experiences mentioned are indeed my own?

sounds good but can you get around the fact it is a 'difficult decision'.. if safety comes first would the decision to go with the safety be that difficult?

 

[Joe20365]

In regards to questions such as 'name a time you had a difficult decision to make' or 'a time you had to make a sacrifice' etc.

Is it essential these are work related examples, that could be related to the railways?

Or could it be something like a difficult decision making a personal decision? Go to Uni or take a job offer? Basically a decision that is important to you but doesn't really affect anyone else?

 

[aszu]

No it don`t have to be related to railway. It may be from prevoius job or even personal situation. Just make sure you give an good example.

 

[NI 271]

I am yet to go through any interview with a TOC nor have I conducted one.

However I have previously been a hiring manager and conducted at least 300 competency based interviews . . . in all of those I can clearly remember only one person who referred to the notes they have brought in to answer questions such as tell me a time when you . . . or describe a situation when you . . . he didn't get the job.

It's very contrived to go to your notes on those questions in a situation like that, only in my opinion of course.

sounds good but can you get around the fact it is a 'difficult decision'.. if safety comes first would the decision to go with the safety be that difficult?

In the end I left them in my pocket, the managers doing the interview were excellent, it was much less stressful than I imagined, and thankfully I remembered (and managed to use) the better of my experiences. If I don't get through, hey, at least I gave it my best shot. Just hope that's what they were looking for...

 

[Jimmy McNulty]

In the end I left them in my pocket, the managers doing the interview were excellent, it was much less stressful than I imagined, and thankfully I remembered (and managed to use) the better of my experiences. If I don't get through, hey, at least I gave it my best shot. Just hope that's what they were looking for...

Fingers crossed!