Interview Incomming

[niblic3rd]

Hey all,

As the title says i've been fortunate to pass the assessments for Scotrail's trainee driver position (barring the reaction/structured interview). Now I am attending the depot interview in 4 days time and am stuck a wee bit.

I know that I need to find some information or alot as the case may be about the company as a whole to show that I am familiar with who and what they are, but my problem is no matter how I word it on Google I can't seem to get much out of the websites I visit. What I know so far is slim pickings but I will put down what i've learned:

MD - Steve Montgomery
Turnover - £524.6 mil from 31/3/09 - 31/3/10 (Trying to find this years figures if even published)
341 stations operated by Scotrail
£20mil profit for 09/10 (20% slip from previous year)
Got other bits like amount of staff employed and total track run by Scotrail plus some destinations from Queen street in Glasgow.

Other than above I am finding it hard to find much more info. If any friendly person could help by giving me idea's to put into the search engine and such it would be a great help.

On the plus side I managed to complete my 300 word essay down to exactly 300 words after removing title and questions hehe. Any help would be great.

Thanks, Kev.

 

[Simon11]

Have a look at wiki scotrail, thats where I found info for the toc I got a job with

Information that will be important to know:
Where do they travel to:
What type of trains do the operate(Important for role)!
What other franchises does First operate?
Find any recent news about the company, something to discuss!

 

[trainofhope]

Hello
not up to speed with a scot rail interview/questions but....

find out where the trains go to and from. What improvemnts in the last few years.

Make sure you know a few basics, I was aked "what do you think 2 yellows mean when drivng a train ?"
Next question what if the next signal is displaying 2 yellows?

The interview I was asked to give an example of an emergency situation I had been in and how I delt with it and how did I feel.

Just a couple of examples for you to work with.

http://www.railwaypeople.com/rail-news-articles/scotrail-improvements-420.html
http://www.scotrail.co.uk/travelinfo/mapsandroutes.html
http://www.scot-rail.co.uk/page/Edinburgh+to+Glasgow+Improvements+Package
http://scotrail-test.spideronline.co.uk/press-releases?page=7

these might help a little

good luck

 

[niblic3rd]

Hey thanks for the extra info.

Never thought to look into the signalling aswell. I have alot to learn it seems, best way to know is to ask hehe.

Thanks, Kev.

 

[Lengthman]

Which depot is it for?

They might ask you things which are more specific to the depot you have applied or being interviewed for :

What type of traction works from that depot?
What routes are worked from there?
Have you been down to the depot and spoke to any drivers, etc?

Also, :

What mode of transport will you use to get to work for a 4am start?
If its a car, what if it doesent start, what will you do?
What are the measures scotrail is graded against?
How do you cope under pressure?
What do you do in your spare time?
Have you ever worked shifts? If not, how would you cope with it?

Just some of the questions I was asked at the DTM interview.
Regards

 

[hiall]

Visit the depot you are being interviewed for. They will help you.
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P.S dont worry about signalling lol

 

[niblic3rd]

Glasgow Queen Street is the post I have the interview for.

Earliest date due to other things I can get to the depot to ask questions is the day before the interview that should be ok though i hope.

A lot of the questions like the car should be straight forward enough taxi's if car dies hehe. Breakdown and none start cover helps too hehe. Worked shifts as a prison officer so that's not an issue alas all if I am asked those questions which I am bound to be asked.

How would I go about being allowed access to the depot if i went into the station and could come across as anyone from the street wanting to gain info and such. Would drivers freely speak to me? Not even sure what I would ask them guess how is life as a driver be the first.

 

[Soupstone]

The websites quite helpful, have a really good look round it and click on some of the links within the pages.
Dont know how deep they'll go, hopefully not too far.

Good luck.

 

[niblic3rd]

Failed at depot interview, did think I had done well but the only rail question I got was about hitting a person which I felt I answered well as I got the answer from the depot manager when I visited lol. They even said they were impressed I took the initiative think I will need to contact them to see why if they will give me any info.

Feel a bit let down by the process after coming out of the interview so positively.

At least I still have 2 chances left.

 

[Waiting]

Failed at depot interview, did think I had done well but the only rail question I got was about hitting a person which I felt I answered well as I got the answer from the depot manager when I visited lol. They even said they were impressed I took the initiative think I will need to contact them to see why if they will give me any info.

Feel a bit let down by the process after coming out of the interview so positively.

At least I still have 2 chances left.

So what did they ask you about then ? It all seems such a lottery. I got interviewed 18 months ago for Nexus tyne and Wear and it was more like a chat, but heavily focussed on knowledge about the Metro system. I passed the interview and testing and was put on a waiting list, i was reinterviewed for the job and the whole interview was compentency based. I'm now applying for trainee driver with Northern, be interested to hear what you were asked about. Good luck with the feedback.

 

[niblic3rd]

Hey there,

The interview started with introductions I introduced myself and they themselves.

Once that was out the way they asked me to talk about myself and the reason why I wanted to work for First, I started about 5 years back and explained where I was from you know the basics with some in depth about my previous work. Then went onto talk about why I wanted to work for First

Afterwards they asked me about the scenario of hitting some1 which I said I would stop the train safely and securely, then contact the control room and explain there was an accident and I need emergency assistance also answering any and all questions. Also check out the passengers making sure no one had been injured during my stopping.

Then they went onto ask me what I did to research about First Scotrail, I told them I used their Website, Wikipedia, other information sites on the net and also went to their queen street station which at the time is where I thought the post was for. They were impressed that I had took the initiative to go there for more info told them about SPAD's and some of their campaigns they had going. They never asked me what I had learned just let me do the talking and get what I could out.

After those I was asked if I would be ok working alone and also would be ok with 14 months of training which I would be 100%, also asked if I had any holidays which I replied no.

Then I got to ask questions. I told them alot of questions had been answered about the company at the depot but still asked about pay and what the training entailed.

The whole process lasted about 30-35 mins then We had a laugh and some more of a chat and I left.

Must admit I left feeling confident I had done enough but obviously not.

Kev.

 

[Waiting]

Thanks for taking the time to reply, hopefully i'll get an interview with Northern and i'll prepare for either competence or chat style interview. Hope you get some feedback as it must be hard to understand what more you could of done.

Cheers

 

[niblic3rd]

Will keep you updated with the feedback when I get it that is. From what i've read they can takes days or weeks to reply for feedback.

Be interesting to see what they say.

Kev.

 

[crazy4nath]

the kind of things i came up with was who ownes the company (in my case its go-via) how many employees, how many trains they operate, how many trains they run a day/ week/ year, where the majority of them go e.g, if i remember correctly, our TOC runs around 2000 trains a day and around 1400 of them go to london, how many miles of railway infastructure they operate over, how many stations they have etc. this seemed like more than enough in my interview

 

[387star]

Hey there,

The interview started with introductions I introduced myself and they themselves.

Once that was out the way they asked me to talk about myself and the reason why I wanted to work for First, I started about 5 years back and explained where I was from you know the basics with some in depth about my previous work. Then went onto talk about why I wanted to work for First

Afterwards they asked me about the scenario of hitting some1 which I said I would stop the train safely and securely, then contact the control room and explain there was an accident and I need emergency assistance also answering any and all questions. Also check out the passengers making sure no one had been injured during my stopping.

Then they went onto ask me what I did to research about First Scotrail, I told them I used their Website, Wikipedia, other information sites on the net and also went to their queen street station which at the time is where I thought the post was for. They were impressed that I had took the initiative to go there for more info told them about SPAD's and some of their campaigns they had going. They never asked me what I had learned just let me do the talking and get what I could out.

After those I was asked if I would be ok working alone and also would be ok with 14 months of training which I would be 100%, also asked if I had any holidays which I replied no.

Then I got to ask questions. I told them alot of questions had been answered about the company at the depot but still asked about pay and what the training entailed.

The whole process lasted about 30-35 mins then We had a laugh and some more of a chat and I left.

Must admit I left feeling confident I had done enough but obviously not.

Kev.

Isn't it best not to mention pay?

When they ask such questions as hitting someone do they expect yo uto research or are they judging your mentality and initial response to a stressful and unexpected situation? If the latter is true they needn't expect you to know the full procedure just the basic principles?

 

[GB]

Will keep you updated with the feedback when I get it that is. From what i've read they can takes days or weeks to reply for feedback.

Be interesting to see what they say.

Kev.

Sounds like you had a very good interview by all accounts!
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Isn't it best not to mention pay?

Depends on the situation and how its put across I suppose. When I had my interview with GBRf it was them that initiated talks about pay...particularly my previous pay.