How long does it take Virgin to reply

[crewmeal]

Having applied to Virgin for a position through their online recruiting service, how long does it take for them to reply? Do they usually let you know via the post or by email? Perhaps if you're unsuccessful at the application process they don't bother?

Any answers?

 

[185]

Virgin will reply to unsuccessful candidates by email after the interviews and offers have been made.

Usual pre-typed "stating the obvious" tripe they send reads:


Thank you for your application to join Virgin Trains. I regret to inform you that we will not be progressing your application on this occasion, as other candidates match our requirements more closely.
Virgin Trains is committed to feedback. I would therefore like to offer you the following advice to help you complete future application forms:

Always check the website to make sure you understand the business and that the working culture is right for you.
Take your time thinking about the questions relating to skills, behaviours and motivations, as this is your opportunity to differentiate yourself. Think about your education, work experiences, family life, activities and interests. What are your key achievements in each area? What have you learnt from these experiences? This will help you to identify exactly how you have grown and developed as a result of your unique and varied life experiences.
Keep your examples specific, recent and relevant.
Always print and proof read your completed application form before you submit it. Make sure you have completed all fields and have answered all questions fully. Check your speling and grammer. I sincerely hope this is helpful to you and I would like to wish you every .... yeah as if.


They instead should send:
Thank you for applying to Virgin. Unfortunately, you either know things about the railway, have a brain, do not have large breasts, long legs or are related to Richard, and therefore, you are the weakest link. Our advice for your next application is to 1) Become related to someone 2) Labotomy 3) Tell us a train is something you do in a gym 4) Boob Job.

 

[danfitz123]

Virgin will reply to unsuccessful candidates by email after the interviews and offers have been made.

Usual pre-typed "stating the obvious" tripe they send reads:


Thank you for your application to join Virgin Trains. I regret to inform you that we will not be progressing your application on this occasion, as other candidates match our requirements more closely.
Virgin Trains is committed to feedback. I would therefore like to offer you the following advice to help you complete future application forms:

Always check the website to make sure you understand the business and that the working culture is right for you.
Take your time thinking about the questions relating to skills, behaviours and motivations, as this is your opportunity to differentiate yourself. Think about your education, work experiences, family life, activities and interests. What are your key achievements in each area? What have you learnt from these experiences? This will help you to identify exactly how you have grown and developed as a result of your unique and varied life experiences.
Keep your examples specific, recent and relevant.
Always print and proof read your completed application form before you submit it. Make sure you have completed all fields and have answered all questions fully. Check your speling and grammer. I sincerely hope this is helpful to you and I would like to wish you every .... yeah as if.


They instead should send:
Thank you for applying to Virgin. Unfortunately, you either know things about the railway, have a brain, do not have large breasts, long legs or are related to Richard, and therefore, you are the weakest link. Our advice for your next application is to 1) Become related to someone 2) Labotomy 3) Tell us a train is something you do in a gym 4) Boob Job.

Hmmmm...... I may have to get a boob job.

 

[tempests1]

Very similar to the reject letters from FGW

Thank you for your application for a XXXXXXXX [First Great Western] role with First.

For each of the roles we advertise, we look for certain skills. The questions you have answered focus on those skills and are given a score based on your response.

To help us to schedule interviews fairly and to ensure we see the right candidates, a minimum pass mark is set to each vacancy and in this case, unfortunately you have not been successful.

The questions and pass marks for each role are different, so whilst you have not been successful with your application for this role, you may still apply for a different role which may be advertised at the same time. Please note that as you have been unsuccessful at application stage, we will not be able to give you specific feedback on which questions that did not meet our criteria - this is to ensure fairness to all candidates.

Thank you for your interest in working for First. May we take this opportunity to wish you well in your future career.

Yours sincerely

XXXXXXXX

 

[Clip]

Very similar to the reject letters from FGW

Thank you for your application for a XXXXXXXX [First Great Western] role with First.

For each of the roles we advertise, we look for certain skills. The questions you have answered focus on those skills and are given a score based on your response.

To help us to schedule interviews fairly and to ensure we see the right candidates, a minimum pass mark is set to each vacancy and in this case, unfortunately you have not been successful.

The questions and pass marks for each role are different, so whilst you have not been successful with your application for this role, you may still apply for a different role which may be advertised at the same time. Please note that as you have been unsuccessful at application stage, we will not be able to give you specific feedback on which questions that did not meet our criteria - this is to ensure fairness to all candidates.

Thank you for your interest in working for First. May we take this opportunity to wish you well in your future career.

Yours sincerely

XXXXXXXX

first group do a scanning process of your application before a human even sees it though. This needs to be full of keywords or it will never get through.

And virgin are awful

 

[ralphchadkirk]

Virgin will reply to unsuccessful candidates by email after the interviews and offers have been made.

Usual pre-typed "stating the obvious" tripe they send reads:


Thank you for your application to join Virgin Trains. I regret to inform you that we will not be progressing your application on this occasion, as other candidates match our requirements more closely.
Virgin Trains is committed to feedback. I would therefore like to offer you the following advice to help you complete future application forms:

Always check the website to make sure you understand the business and that the working culture is right for you.
Take your time thinking about the questions relating to skills, behaviours and motivations, as this is your opportunity to differentiate yourself. Think about your education, work experiences, family life, activities and interests. What are your key achievements in each area? What have you learnt from these experiences? This will help you to identify exactly how you have grown and developed as a result of your unique and varied life experiences.
Keep your examples specific, recent and relevant.
Always print and proof read your completed application form before you submit it. Make sure you have completed all fields and have answered all questions fully. Check your speling and grammer. I sincerely hope this is helpful to you and I would like to wish you every .... yeah as if.


They instead should send:
Thank you for applying to Virgin. Unfortunately, you either know things about the railway, have a brain, do not have large breasts, long legs or are related to Richard, and therefore, you are the weakest link. Our advice for your next application is to 1) Become related to someone 2) Labotomy 3) Tell us a train is something you do in a gym 4) Boob Job.

You've got a chip on your shoulder, haven't you... :roll: By the way, it's a lobotomy.

 

[185]

Maybe. But stop looking at my breasts. O

 

[ralphchadkirk]

Maybe. But stop looking at my breasts. O

.....

 

[voyagerdude220]

Having applied to Virgin for a position through their online recruiting service, how long does it take for them to reply? Do they usually let you know via the post or by email? Perhaps if you're unsuccessful at the application process they don't bother?

Any answers?

On all three occasions which I've applied for jobs with VT, it took them a good 3-4 weeks after the closing date for applications, before they emailed me back to tell me how i'd done. (for the record- 1st time- got through to final four/final interview, with 2nd "on hold" & third rejected completely)..

There goes my dream of working for VT... :cry:

 

[crewmeal]

The standard Virgin rejection

"Thank you for your application for the above position with Virgin Trains.

Unfortunately, due to the overwhelming response to this vacancy, we are not able to invite you to a recruitment event on this occasion.

However, please do continue to visit the Virgin Trains Careers website and apply for any vacancies you may be interested in.

Yours Sincerely

The Recruitment Team"

 

[185]

Ah that ones the 'flooded' response -too many ....when they don't sift them.

 

[voyagerdude220]

The standard Virgin rejection

"Thank you for your application for the above position with Virgin Trains.

Unfortunately, due to the overwhelming response to this vacancy, we are not able to invite you to a recruitment event on this occasion.

However, please do continue to visit the Virgin Trains Careers website and apply for any vacancies you may be interested in.

Yours Sincerely

The Recruitment Team"

That's the one which has ended up in my email inbox on the last two applications i've made..

 

[Ibex]

I do like the way Virgin have spelt 'spelling' wrong.

 

[crewmeal]

Check your speling and grammer. I sincerely hope this is helpful to you and I would like to wish you every

So hypocritical. Trust them to employ someone with a lack of English in the recruitment dept. Says a lot about their professionalism.

 

[185]

They do listen! All their poor excuses are deleted and now the latest DoughNutReply@virgintrains job rejection automated email is now just two lines long, with something along the lines of "You ain't got it". Maybe they'll go the whole hog and start recruiting fairly for once.

Or maybe they are panicking after the government said this yesterday......
"The deputy prime minister faced questions in the Commons after unveiling the government's social mobility strategy - entitled Opening Doors, Breaking Barriers. He said he wanted to stop people getting on in life purely because of "who they know" and has...." BBC

 

[ralphchadkirk]

TMaybe they'll go the whole hog and start recruiting fairly for once.

How do you know they're not recruiting fairly? Or is it just you annoyed at not getting a job?

 

[185]

...... they're not recruiting fairly? Or is it just you annoyed...

If you read the rest of the thread, from my own and many others experience of Virgin HR and their pedecessors at ICWC, you'd already know the answer to that.

One Virgin XC trains interview in 1998 had seven rail staff from other companies and one random person off the streets. The random, who worked in a supermarket got the job. Within three months, that person was then sacked for fiddling (selling the complementary coffees), it later turned out he was the brother of the woman (a local crew manager) doing the interviews.

Some of us have been on the railway for over 15 years, and occasionally when you smell a rat at interviews over the years (peoples relatives, someone's girlfriend, or the fixed-term-Virgin staff member trying to go full time) you realise how corrupt and dishonest they are, and that nothing has changed in a long time.

 

[crewmeal]

After reading these comments it seems that XC and Virgin are guilty of nepotism. No point in outsiders pursuing careers in the rail industry these days as they won't get a fair chance.

 

[185]

Not all, there's still one or two decent recruiters left.

SWT and Northern to name just two have mostly been fair and honest.

Lot of bad apples though and for new starters on the railway today I do feel sorry for them as the days of just walking into a depot and getting an interview a few weeks later (as I did in 1996!) have long gone.

 

[sheika]

Not all, there's still one or two decent recruiters left.

SWT and Northern to name just two have mostly been fair and honest.

Lot of bad apples though and for new starters on the railway today I do feel sorry for them as the days of just walking into a depot and getting an interview a few weeks later (as I did in 1996!) have long gone.

Who are the decent ones? I'm gutted after reading this as I got the "flooded" email from Virgin a few weeks ago and I put so much frickin time, effort and thought into my application!!!!