Southeastern Conductor Assessment/Role

[artjunction]

Hi all! Thought I’d make an account here since I’ve been offered a trainee conductor position at Southeastern (Ashford) starting in November!

I’ve been trying for years to get into the railway since it’s always appealed to me (just quit my job as a teacher to do this)

What can I expect from the training? Is there anything I should brush up upon?

And as a side note, is it more likely that I’ll be able to become a driver one day with experience as an employee than an external applicant?

Thanks!

 

[LokiB]

Hi all! Thought I’d make an account here since I’ve been offered a trainee conductor position at Southeastern (Ashford) starting in November!

I’ve been trying for years to get into the railway since it’s always appealed to me (just quit my job as a teacher to do this)

What can I expect from the training? Is there anything I should brush up upon?

And as a side note, is it more likely that I’ll be able to become a driver one day with experience as an employee than an external applicant?

Thanks!

First off, congratulations, it can be tough to get into the industry as many of us know.

The only thing I'd suggest brushing up on is the phonetic alphabet. Everything else in training is planned perfectly and will teach you everything you need to know.

I'm not sure it would be "more likely" you'd get a drivers job BUT it will certainly help as it will give you good insight into the industry and help your safety critical examples when it comes to interview questions etc
Plus it is also nice that your wage will stay the same when/if you do get on a driving course instead of dropping to the basic trainee wage.

 

[Grvrdvicdr]

First off, congratulations, it can be tough to get into the industry as many of us know.

The only thing I'd suggest brushing up on is the phonetic alphabet. Everything else in training is planned perfectly and will teach you everything you need to know.

I'm not sure it would be "more likely" you'd get a drivers job BUT it will certainly help as it will give you good insight into the industry and help your safety critical examples when it comes to interview questions etc
Plus it is also nice that your wage will stay the same when/if you do get on a driving course instead of dropping to the basic trainee wage.

Unfortunately wage will drop to a trainee driver wage… not to as low as an external starter but will definitely drop! Was the hardest part about starting my course.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Certainly brush up on route/stations: e.g: Ashford - Maidstone-Victoria; Ashford - Ramsgate/Margate via Dover/Canterbury West; Ashford - London Bridge/Charing X via Tonbridge

 

[Grvrdvicdr]

Certainly brush up on route/stations: e.g: Ashford - Maidstone-Victoria; Ashford - Ramsgate/Margate via Dover/Canterbury West; Ashford - London Bridge/Charing X via Tonbridge

Don’t bother with this until you’ve completed your theory side, only do this when when you’re with your mentor, pick it up anyway. Be too much otherwise

 

[LCC106]

The course will take you through everything step by step. Don’t do any forward reading or worry about routes. Being a guard will help with safety critical experience for driving but you still have to pass the psychometrics like everyone else. Congratulations!

 

[reuban]

Hi all! Thought I’d make an account here since I’ve been offered a trainee conductor position at Southeastern (Ashford) starting in November!

I’ve been trying for years to get into the railway since it’s always appealed to me (just quit my job as a teacher to do this)

What can I expect from the training? Is there anything I should brush up upon?

And as a side note, is it more likely that I’ll be able to become a driver one day with experience as an employee than an external applicant?

Thanks!

Could you offer some insight into the questions asked at the interview? Thanks

 

[artjunction]

Could you offer some insight into the questions asked at the interview? Thanks

I don’t want to give too much away for obvious reasons - I’d say brush up on company knowledge and news and have plenty of good examples from work/school/life to answer STAR type questions.

 

[felixflyer]

Does anyone have any info regarding the assessment day for the Trainee Conductor role with Southeastern?

What is the format? What are the tests like etc? Is it similar to the driver testing?

Regards

 

[REO Nate]

You have 3 exercises from memory and it is usually a half day assessment, depending on how many people attend.

1. Group Bourdon dots test
2. Ticket checking and selling paper test
3. Customer service role play

They usually send you some practice materials prior to the assessment day, which will contain more details.

 

[CFRAIL]

As REO Nate says above and covers it pretty much. From memory I think mine went on until about 14:00.

I believe the only similarity with driver assessments is the group bourdon test

 

[Lou_Myrtille]

Hi everyone!
I have just received an email today offering me to join the classroom starting on the 5th of January for trainee conductor
So I thought I'd try to reach out to new and future trainees just to have a chat about what it's like, get some advice from people who already started their training, maybe meet people who are gonna join my classroom!
And obviously if some conductors want to share some of their knowledge that would be amazing!

 

[RDJW18]

Hi guys, I’ve got an assessment centre coming up with Southeastern for the conductor role. I just wondered if anyone had completed it recently and could give some pointers/advice regarding it ? Thanks in advance.

 

[LCC106]

Welcome to the forum! In the absence of any replies it might be worth looking at threads for other Train Operating Companies to get a feel for what they do. It may not be the same as Southeastern but may help a little.

 

[transportphoto]

I’ve just merged a few old threads together which may assist the more recent questions