Worried about a lack of experience for structured interview

[calypsored525]

Hi

I have for several years wanted to be a train driver - the lifestyle suits my character and as I live in London I use public transport a lot so am keen to be involved within the industry.

I am practicing my Bourdon and going to get a Bop It at the weekend for the reaction test. I am also randomly reading through GCSE physics books for the mechanical understanding (although not quite sure what to be reading)

However I just graduated this summer with a 2.1 in Law. I spent the last four years mostly in a library with my nose in books.

I am worried that if I got through the tests I would struggle in the structured interview.

I worked part time as a delivery driver etc but nothing involving much responsibility for passenger safety or requiring a strict adherence to procedure. I have one example from work when I had to drive a shuttle mini bus for customers during tube strikes when I worked in London.

Is the structured interview part of the aptitude test? IE so that if I fail the structured interview I then only have one chance left at passing and being a train driver.

Will the interviewer take into account that having just graduated I wont have a list of examples to give?

 

[paulravuslante]

Hi

I have for several years wanted to be a train driver - the lifestyle suits my character and as I live in London I use public transport a lot so am keen to be involved within the industry.

I am practicing my Bourdon and going to get a Bop It at the weekend for the reaction test. I am also randomly reading through GCSE physics books for the mechanical understanding (although not quite sure what to be reading)

However I just graduated this summer with a 2.1 in Law. I spent the last four years mostly in a library with my nose in books.

I am worried that if I got through the tests I would struggle in the structured interview.

I worked part time as a delivery driver etc but nothing involving much responsibility for passenger safety or requiring a strict adherence to procedure. I have one example from work when I had to drive a shuttle mini bus for customers during tube strikes when I worked in London.

Is the structured interview part of the aptitude test? IE so that if I fail the structured interview I then only have one chance left at passing and being a train driver.

Will the interviewer take into account that having just graduated I wont have a list of examples to give?

I answered this query for someone else recently. To see what the questions you are most likely to be asked check my response here.

The interview does count as part of the aptitude test and failing it uses up one of your two chances (been there myself).

 

[E&W Lucas]

To answer your question, the interview forms part of the test process, and therefore a fail is one of your attempts used up. No allowance will be made for youth or inexperience.

To be honest, you don't see many trainee drivers under 25, and most are a good bit older than that. It tends to be a second career. From what you've put in your post, you will struggle with the interview. I also think that you might have a job convincing a line manager to give you a job as well. They would wonder why you weren't trying to do something with your degree. All the graduate drivers that I know, myself included, have come to the job a little later in life, having got brassed off with the commercial world.

If there's no traditional jobs out there for you, and if you've basic customer facing skills, try for a guard's job at the London Inter city depots. It's regarded as an entry level job, and those that work hard are making pretty decent money.

Best of luck.

 

[calypsored525]

Yes I was concerned it might count as part of the assesment.

I want a career on the railways (if not driving then signalling) so am willing to start within another post to get a few years experience.

I could easily explain why I am not chasing law as a career. From the very first lecture you are taught to do whatever it takes to truimph over your fellow students and eventual colleagues. While this included studying harder some others also used more cynical tricks such as hiding the only library copy of a £200 law book needed for coursework. It is not the sort of atmosphere I want to work in.

It is a shame about the structured interview counting because I have applied for the SWT and NXEA trainee driver posts currently available which would have been perfect. I dont want to waste one of my chances though.

I have been reading through the questions asked in the structured interview and while I might be able to give one example I could not give three that would stand under proper scrutiny.

Im serious about being a driver so will work in other posts first. The only thing is finding a railway job that enables me to stay local to home is difficult and I could be waiting a long time for something to come up; working as a bus driver for a year I think would give me enough for the structured interview but would it be better to wait for a conductor/revenue officer post to work on the railways? I know other posts have said with the boil in the bag culture you dont need prior railway experience but I take it that is for people already with careers. What if your just starting out.

 

[O L Leigh]

Specific experience is not always necessary. The TOC's will want to know that you are reliable, dependable, calm under pressure, can do a boring repetitive job without losing concentration, can follow rules and procedures and can deal professionally with an emergency situation. Experience of passenger transport or safety-critical work is not necessarily expected, but they will expect you to talk about instances from your life so far (both inside and outside of work) to demonstrate that you have the qualities required.

I would have to agree that train driving tends to be a second career, but it's not necessarily so. Having a law degree will be of interest to them and they will want to know why you're not pursuing a career in that field, but that doesn't mean that it will count against you. Just be ready with some good, positive answers.

Oh, and learn a bit about the TOC too. Things like routes, stations, services, new developments and things like that. They will expect you to have some knowledge in that area.

O L Leigh

 

[E&W Lucas]

Im serious about being a driver so will work in other posts first. The only thing is finding a railway job that enables me to stay local to home is difficult and I could be waiting a long time for something to come up; working as a bus driver for a year I think would give me enough for the structured interview but would it be better to wait for a conductor/revenue officer post to work on the railways? I know other posts have said with the boil in the bag culture you dont need prior railway experience but I take it that is for people already with careers. What if your just starting out.

I wouldn't worry about having to wait for a job at a London depot! Be proactive, and get in touch with all the major operators. Don't wait for things to be advertised.

Have you any non work experience that could help you with the interview questions? Running youth activities, or similar?

 

[Legzr1]

Be proactive, and get in touch with all the major operators. Don't wait for things to be advertised.

Don't sit waiting for your ship to come in - swim out and meet it half way.

B Sheene