Swt guard waterloo

[Waterlooroad]

Hi guys,

I'm a newbie and Sorry for barging in with a new thread asking for help.

I applied for swt guard at Waterloo on the closing date which I believe was the 31st of march. I received a letter inviting me for an assessment on the 9th may at Basingstoke.

I'm now a bit confused as they mention some contradicting stuff in their guide book.

They mention that the test will last 3 to 4 hours. I'm a bit stressed to what to expect there. It mentions at the beginning that on the day I may have to attend a structured interview. Should I be dressed in the whole shebang like a normal interview or be (not casual) just formal and comfortable to do the verbal/ paper test?
I've seen across this forum that an interview is done later in time provided you pass the test.
Some pages have been edited in the practice test materials and the rest are as follows:verbal test, rvce, concentration test,numerical test.


Has anyone been getting the same?Is it as difficult as they say? Any tips will be welcome.god I'm stressing already cause I've been unemployed for Over 6 months now and that's the only positive response I've had believe it or not.I want it so badly that I'm stress I will screw up.

Thanks a lot,

P.s: sorry for rambling

 

[Shrub Hill]

make sure your suit is pressed and dry cleaned, shoes are polished ( if you dont you will just feel awkward sat in a room full of people that are, also you will stand out), don't worry about the individual tests, make sure you familiarise your self with what's expected but don't concern your self with the answers, spend a bit of time making sure everything else that could let you down is taken care off, arrive in plenty of time and then you can concentrate fully on the task in hand, plenty of rest and water, so your refreshed and give it your best shot, and best of luck

 

[30 common]

I know what you mean mate I've got my assessment this Wednesday I'm told by a friend who works for SWT that the interview IS on the same day providing that you pass the intial tests in the morning if not you are told that you are unsuccessful and go home. Speaking to other people that work for SWT the tests are not over complicated there are a few difficult questions but I was told not to sweat over it just make sure you dont make mistakes on the concentration tests or you loose points. It is then down to the interview in the afternoon

Best of luck!

 

[Waterlooroad]

Thanks very much guys. Glad I found this website.you guys are stars.

Polish boots shall be.

It's so nice to get guidance online. This saves me from making a **** out of myself.I shall start concentrating on the test now.

Thank you so much. Well appreciated.

 

[Oracle]

..and a tie! And make it's suit and not a jacket & trousers. Believe-you-me these things are noted by the interviewers. Also, brush up on the company just in case they ask you..you can hardly be expected to work for a company that you nothing about. Conversely a decent memorised knowledge will impress. Do you also know and can recite what a Guard does? Sounds silly but they may ask you to put you on the spot.

Oh! The classic question these days everywhere is 'Give a good example of how you have given excellent customer service' or words to that effect. If you have done a part-time job, tell them that you assisted with queries, or looked-up information for someone, or even helped someone with their take-aways to the car. If you have not had a job involving customer service, think of an occasion when you helped someone in trouble.

I write from years of experience at hiring-and-firing and having a daughter who has been to interviews in a customer service industry.

OTT I was once offered a job at British Rail HQ in 1974 and turned it down. When I applied again for a higher position in 1980 they still had my letter rejecting their kind offer. I made a classic cock-up at one stage when I was so flustered/nervous that I did not think of the answer to basic technical questions. A good understanding of what is required may be able to answer any 'techs' that they throw at you. By the way when saw my letter saying "Thanks but no thanks", I was appalled at the handwriting! Which reminds to be as neat as you can in filling-in questions, etc. and cross-through errors and not scrub-out. If you have a need for extra time, as my son does being dyslexic, ask for it. It is illegal to discriminate in such circumstances.

 

[Stigy]

Hi guys,

I'm a newbie and Sorry for barging in with a new thread asking for help.

I applied for swt guard at Waterloo on the closing date which I believe was the 31st of march. I received a letter inviting me for an assessment on the 9th may at Basingstoke.

I'm now a bit confused as they mention some contradicting stuff in their guide book.

They mention that the test will last 3 to 4 hours. I'm a bit stressed to what to expect there. It mentions at the beginning that on the day I may have to attend a structured interview. Should I be dressed in the whole shebang like a normal interview or be (not casual) just formal and comfortable to do the verbal/ paper test?
I've seen across this forum that an interview is done later in time provided you pass the test.
Some pages have been edited in the practice test materials and the rest are as follows:verbal test, rvce, concentration test,numerical test.


Has anyone been getting the same?Is it as difficult as they say? Any tips will be welcome.god I'm stressing already cause I've been unemployed for Over 6 months now and that's the only positive response I've had believe it or not.I want it so badly that I'm stress I will screw up.

Thanks a lot,

P.s: sorry for rambling

As far as the aptitude test goes (Verbal and numerical reasoning), bear in mind that it's designed to test how quickly, yet accurately you work. Don't try and finish all questions, as that's not generally the idea. The end result will be measured by how many of the questions you did answer, you got correct.

Good luck!

 

[Oracle]

Do they use arithmetical progressions and the like? That is, number sequences where there are gaps and you have to work out what the missing numbers are by looking at the relationship between the numbers and seeing the formula for the sequencing?

 

[toucan]

hello guys,
am just new on this site,but i need some to help me out of my situation.i have an assessment coming up with swt and i need some who can give me a tips of what comes up on guard assessment.Any ideal is welcome.

thanks

 

[Waterlooroad]

When is your assessment?

 

[Jack in England]

..and a tie! And make it's suit and not a jacket & trousers. Believe-you-me these things are noted by the interviewers. Also, brush up on the company just in case they ask you..you can hardly be expected to work for a company that you nothing about. Conversely a decent memorised knowledge will impress. Do you also know and can recite what a Guard does? Sounds silly but they may ask you to put you on the spot.

Oh! The classic question these days everywhere is 'Give a good example of how you have given excellent customer service' or words to that effect. If you have done a part-time job, tell them that you assisted with queries, or looked-up information for someone, or even helped someone with their take-aways to the car. If you have not had a job involving customer service, think of an occasion when you helped someone in trouble.

I write from years of experience at hiring-and-firing and having a daughter who has been to interviews in a customer service industry.

OTT I was once offered a job at British Rail HQ in 1974 and turned it down. When I applied again for a higher position in 1980 they still had my letter rejecting their kind offer. I made a classic cock-up at one stage when I was so flustered/nervous that I did not think of the answer to basic technical questions. A good understanding of what is required may be able to answer any 'techs' that they throw at you. By the way when saw my letter saying "Thanks but no thanks", I was appalled at the handwriting! Which reminds to be as neat as you can in filling-in questions, etc. and cross-through errors and not scrub-out. If you have a need for extra time, as my son does being dyslexic, ask for it. It is illegal to discriminate in such circumstances.

Really??

 

[30 common]

My assessment is actually next Wednesday 27th Im off on holiday on the 28th!!!!!!

I pressume if Waterlooroads assessment is on the 9th then any successful applicants wont be starting any training till after that date. I dont want to loose out on a great job because im on holiday.

Anybody have any advice on my situation?

 

[387star]

Hi I write regarding the ticket selling test which I presume is across the TOCs.

The questions themselves are not overly difficult.

What you have to make sure you do is READ the question because it is so easy to go wrong if you do not pause before rushing in.

Secondly study the ticketing sheet well and make sure any discount cards the customer has are valid and that the time is peak/off peak. If they are buying a return and the time falls in to off-peak obviously the price structure will be different.

Little things can catch you out really

 

[Urban Gateline]

Hi I write regarding the ticket selling test which I presume is across the TOCs.

The questions themselves are not overly difficult.

What you have to make sure you do is READ the question because it is so easy to go wrong if you do not pause before rushing in.

Secondly study the ticketing sheet well and make sure any discount cards the customer has are valid and that the time is peak/off peak. If they are buying a return and the time falls in to off-peak obviously the price structure will be different.

Little things can catch you out really

Do Non-Commercial SWT guards actually need to learn ticket selling? As from what I have heard and seen, they don't check or issue tickets!

I did a ticket-checking test as part of my gateline role assessment and we only had 8 minutes to answer 50 questions, so you have to be fast as well as accurate, although accuracy is most important!

 

[387star]

Did not know there were different tiers of guards assumed all guards sold tickets using portable machines

 

[Urban Gateline]

Did not know there were different tiers of guards assumed all guards sold tickets using portable machines

From what i've seen, on Surburban services the guards do not check or issue tickets (some don't even walk through the carriages!) They seem to get paid a few grand less annually than commercial ones from previous vacancies that i've seen on the SWT site.

It's the mainline services that use commericial guards and they carry portable ticket machines and check/issue tickets.

 

[Stigy]

My assessment is actually next Wednesday 27th Im off on holiday on the 28th!!!!!!

I pressume if Waterlooroads assessment is on the 9th then any successful applicants wont be starting any training till after that date. I dont want to loose out on a great job because im on holiday.

Anybody have any advice on my situation?

You'll be fine

 

[30 common]

You'll be fine

care to elaborate lol

If the position you applied for like me said Gaurd, Waterloo ticket selling and checking is not in the job role, only checking first class tickets is the rest is down to commercial guards. But thats not to say that they're wont be any tests on it at the assessments.

Has anyone else experienced any delays in receiving any post from SWT it seems to take 2 weeks to reach me.

 

[Stigy]

care to elaborate lol

If the position you applied for like me said Gaurd, Waterloo ticket selling and checking is not in the job role, only checking first class tickets is the rest is down to commercial guards. But thats not to say that they're wont be any tests on it at the assessments.

Has anyone else experienced any delays in receiving any post from SWT it seems to take 2 weeks to reach me.

Chances are you will be back from holiday long before your training starts, and even if you're not, you'll be put on a later intake in the worst case scenario. If they offer you the job, it probably wont be until you're back from holiday anyway! TOCs tend to drag their heals a bit to say the least.

 

[387star]

From what i've seen, on Surburban services the guards do not check or issue tickets (some don't even walk through the carriages!) They seem to get paid a few grand less annually than commercial ones from previous vacancies that i've seen on the SWT site.

It's the mainline services that use commericial guards and they carry portable ticket machines and check/issue tickets.

Surely this encourages fare evasion! Different assessment? finally do guards face losing their job every 5 years or so i heard they reapply?

 

[Urban Gateline]

Surely this encourages fare evasion! Different assessment? finally do guards face losing their job every 5 years or so i heard they reapply?

You are right, but alot of stations in the suburban routes do have ticket barriers to prevent fare evasion, others get RPA's making surprise visits to check tickets.

I don't know about the assessments for Guards, never applied for that position (yet!)

 

[toucan]

hello guys,
am just new on this site,but i need some to help me out of my situation.i have an assessment coming up with swt and i need some who can give me a tips of what comes up on guard assessment.Any ideal is welcome.

thanks

my assessment is coming up on 4th and 9th of may.i have traine train driver assessment and guard assessment both the same month.As i said any tips or ideal is welcome because am out of job for while now and i need this job badly.

 

[Stigy]

Surely this encourages fare evasion! Different assessment? finally do guards face losing their job every 5 years or so i heard they reapply?

Guards should walk through regardless, hence why there's controls at every other set of doors on most units. Could be wrong hjere, but is SWT not the only TOC to have Guards on all their services, even suburban ones?

 

[Urban Gateline]

Guards should walk through regardless, hence why there's controls at every other set of doors on most units. Could be wrong hjere, but is SWT not the only TOC to have Guards on all their services, even suburban ones?

Yep they are on every service, BUT they don't check tickets on Suburban routes (most using Class 455 trains) As I said, some Guards on the Suburban routes don't even walk through the carriages, they just stay in their middle bit.

 

[Matt Taylor]

Don't know where you heard that guards lose their jobs after five years but that is news to me! And yes, commercial guards do get more money (about £4K), they are mostly based at stations outside London.

 

[387star]

Ah I swear I read somewhere they have to pass some sort of assessment to keep their jobs every few years. I thought that sounded too tough to be true!

 

[reapz]

Ah I swear I read somewhere they have to pass some sort of assessment to keep their jobs every few years. I thought that sounded too tough to be true!

u do rules every 2 years

 

[Matt Taylor]

Yes, you do have a rules exam every two years to ensure that you keep your knowledge up to date.

 

[Stigy]

Yep they are on every service, BUT they don't check tickets on Suburban routes (most using Class 455 trains) As I said, some Guards on the Suburban routes don't even walk through the carriages, they just stay in their middle bit.

They're mainly non-commercial Guards on suburban trains, hence why they don't check tickets, and for some Guards thus being no incentive to walk through the train. If it was a commercial working, they'd be more inclined to walk through no doubt, even if the rewards are small in terms of the average fare collected!

 

[Tubeman]

Do they use arithmetical progressions and the like? That is, number sequences where there are gaps and you have to work out what the missing numbers are by looking at the relationship between the numbers and seeing the formula for the sequencing?

Yes.

Becomes quite tricky too, I'd recommend would-be candidates to try practising this sort of thing.

Starts easy enough, but ends up with decimals, fractions with different denominators, a mixture of both... You get so out of practice doing mental arithmetic thanks to calculators...

 

[387star]

Do they use arithmetical progressions and the like? That is, number sequences where there are gaps and you have to work out what the missing numbers are by looking at the relationship between the numbers and seeing the formula for the sequencing?

They didn't for Southern. Do SWT have different tests? With Southern there were no percentage questions etc for conductor or are we talking about a different role?

Any books out there to help with Arithmetical progression? Are we simply talking about number sequences with inputs and outputs... GCSE level stuff? I have a GCSE book so presume this will help