TransPennine External conductor interview (OPC)

[xemilykennedyx]

I passed all my psychometric tests back in June 2019. I failed the OPC conductor interview, with my feedback stating that I failed on persuading and influencing others. Does anyone have any tips? The interview was also mainly about rules, and working on the ticket gates we don’t really have any strict rules to follow..any advice from current conductors / gateline staff that have some rule ideas of me will be very appreciated!!

 

[Fokx]

I passed all my psychometric tests back in June 2019. I failed the OPC conductor interview, with my feedback stating that I failed on persuading and influencing others. Does anyone have any tips? The interview was also mainly about rules, and working on the ticket gates we don’t really have any strict rules to follow..any advice from current conductors / gateline staff that have some rule ideas of me will be very appreciated!!

Hi Emily,
It sounds like your feedback largely stems from the MMI?

I recently passed my OPC assessment for TPE Conductor and applied around the same date (so perhaps even for the same position)

My question was something on the lines of “example of where you have influenced others to make an important change”

For this I used my background in retail management and spoke about how I was sent to an underperforming store, asked the area management team to change the layout, they stated no and the policy why, then I explained how I made a less dramatic change, proved how much it made a difference financially, and then used this evidence to convince them to trail what I wanted to do for an agreed upon period, and again sales and profit rose dramatically and was given permission to keep my changes, even though they went against the company policy, which wasn’t working for my location.

So I attempted to demonstrate: What I wanted to change and the impact I believed it would bring, Why me doing so was against standard procedure, How I challenged this procedure, How I influenced the management to agree to a change in procedure, and then the benefits that me (specifically) influencing my management team to follow my vision brought to the company and customer experience of my store.

 

[xemilykennedyx]

Thanks for your reply!
To be honest with you I do struggle with some of the questions relating to experience as I am only 20 years old. I feel stupid talking about experience working in a cafe when I was 16-18. I have a few situations I can use that relate to the question you were asked but I just don’t know if it’s enough. One example would be regarding a health issue in a cafe I worked at. Another would be how I influenced a common fare dodger into starting to pay his fare by being straight with him about the consequences of his actions now he was been caught and issued with a ticket irregularity report. I just don’t know if I’d have enough to answer to all the little questions about these situations it’s my last chance at being a conductor for TPE and I’ll be so gutted if I don’t cut it.

 

[Supertrains19]

Why last chance, do TPE have a two strike rule?

 

[xemilykennedyx]

Why last chance, do TPE have a two strike rule?

Yeah they do. I’m pretty sure every TOC in England does?

 

[Supertrains19]

Was aware of this for drivers but not for on board staff, I know my TOC doesn’t have this rule for onboard staff.

 

[CreamNCookies]

Is it not a case of a two strike rule for the OPC tests?

 

[Supertrains19]

Yes I think it is for drivers and I assume then if the TOC uses the OPC for any tests then this would be the case, just don’t know many TOCS that use OPC for onboard testing, obviously TPE do be interesting to find others? Anybody else know of other TOCs using them for onboard roles rather than driving

 

[LCC106]

Your fare evader example sounds good to me. Are you already with TPE? Could you speak to a conductor manager about it for a bit of advice?

 

[Fokx]

You are correct regarding the two strike rule with TPE, as TPE use OPC assessments for their roles, However this only applies per each role applied for, so if you fail the conductor tests you can apply to become a driver and vice versa

 

[Stigy]

The two strike rule (for drivers) isn’t anything to do with the OPC. It’s an agreement between all TOCs which they seem to stick to, and some TOCs do their own psychometric testing rather than contract it out to the OPC. This agreement isn’t legislated so it could change at any time, and if a TOC wanted to, they could allow you to exceed two attempts.

I’ve not know other roles to have a two strike rule though? Maybe some TOCs do this for Guard roles?

 

[PupCuff]

Conductor psychometric testing isn't standardised across the network. Some TOCs apply a two strikes rule, some don't. Some use some OPC tests, some use other OPC tests, some do different things altogether. Some TOCs use the OPC tests but dont store the results on the central database and don't accept other TOC passes but others do. If you get the right combination of applications, you can end up doing the same test several times in a year by which point the purpose of the test is pointless as by that point you know the fictional Swift Trains rulebook better than your own!

 

[ToonSupa123]

Hi, I had an assessment day last week. Passed all the paper tests and got through the MMI. I’m just wondering based on previous applicants experiences, how long did it take to hear back? Was it by phone or email?

Regards

 

[xemilykennedyx]

Hi everyone!
Thanks for everyone’s advice. I did my interview last Thursday and found out on Thursday that I had passed! All I need to do is my OBSM interview and then I’m in. So happy! Thanks for everyone’s advice.

 

[xemilykennedyx]

Hi, I had an assessment day last week. Passed all the paper tests and got through the MMI. I’m just wondering based on previous applicants experiences, how long did it take to hear back? Was it by phone or email?

Regards

Where did you do it? They took a week to tell me but I did have to email first and ask

 

[ToonSupa123]

Congratulations. The day was up here in Newcastle, Tuesday gone. Hopefully hear one way or another this coming week.

 

[xemilykennedyx]

Congratulations. The day was up here in Newcastle, Tuesday gone. Hopefully hear one way or another this coming week.

Oh right mine was up in Newcastle! Was it Chris from the OPC that did yours?

 

[ToonSupa123]

That does ring a bell. Useless with names. Might’ve been Chris and Tom, one was Irish. I know that for certain haha.

 

[xemilykennedyx]

That does ring a bell. Useless with names. Might’ve been Chris and Tom, one was Irish. I know that for certain haha.

Oh right. There was only one guy doing mine as there were only 5 of us

 

[ToonSupa123]

Think one of my colleagues may have been there as well he was in on Thursday, he was sitting the full day not just the MMI.

Are you applying for a position based in Newcastle?

 

[xemilykennedyx]

Think one of my colleagues may have been there as well he was in on Thursday, he was sitting the full day not just the MMI.

Are you applying for a position based in Newcastle?

Oh right. There were 3 other guys there, one that was a police officer, a very tall guy and another haha. No I’ve gone for Manchester airport

 

[ToonSupa123]

Must have been separate then. I’m assuming you guys only had to complete part of the assessment day. Good luck with the rest of the process. Hope you get to where you want to be!

 

[xemilykennedyx]

Everyone else did the full day, I only had to do the interview. I was sat waiting around until about 2pm but clearly was worth it!!

 

[ToonSupa123]

Oh right he was probably there then. I’m guessing he’s the third guy. He’s not a police officer and not tall

 

[xemilykennedyx]

Oh right he was probably there then. I’m guessing he’s the third guy. He’s not a police officer and not tall

Well good luck to him!!

 

[GeordieO]

Haha, I've just seen this now. I am the colleague in question and I am most certainly not a police officer, and not tall! Good luck for your OBSM interview - mine is this week coming.

 

[xemilykennedyx]

Haha, I've just seen this now. I am the colleague in question and I am most certainly not a police officer, and not tall! Good luck for your OBSM interview - mine is this week coming.

Are you doing it through zoom/Skype?? I’ve been told I’ve to wait until June at least to do mine face to face I’ve gone for Manchester airport though, so I’m presuming it’s different depots and therefore different managers good luck! Xxx

 

[GeordieO]

Yes, it's using Zoom, so I'm surprised you've been asked to wait until it can be conducted face to face in person? Maybe you're right, different depots have different priorities - I've gone for Newcastle. And thanks