OPC Trainee Train Driver testing

[W230]

As experience and confidence can all be gained and improved over the course of your life and career it seems strange that a 20 something old for example can fail the interview twice (for what ever reason) and thus be locked out when XX years down the line they may well possess the required tools and know-how for the job.

I can see your point but the 20 odd year old would have to first put some sort of experience on their application that would most likely have made the recruiter think that they did have the correct experience. And then when they're interviewed it turns out they don't...

I applied in my early 20's and never got through the paper sift. All I think now is that i'm glad I didn't as I simply didn't have the experience required and would have failed the MMI. Nearly a decade later with the time in a safety critical role dealing with horrible members of the public, I had more than enough to see me in the door.

 

[notadriver]

I work in a safety critical workplace too. (I'm not going to name the company) A mistake by me result in death or serious injury to colleagues and/or the general public and I would be liable.

There are very strict tests that are done, that are again nothing to do with the job I do. They're to see if a candidate has the right aptitude for the job, and are used to determine whether the company spends a lot of time training that candidate up.

In our industry you have one go at that test, you fail, then that's it.

You only get one go and that's it ? What industry is that ?

 

[youngboy]

You only get one go and that's it ? What industry is that ?

Maybe he has his finger on the big red nuke button lol !!!

 

[benno79]

You only get one go and that's it ? What industry is that ?

Porn star I think

 

[Fred Dinenage]

Not the gas industry, they let any Monkey work there these days,it's bananas..

 

[Beveridges]

Theres a lot of people saying the tests shouldn't be practised. I disagree. Before I was a Driver I saw the tests as just an obstacle just like any other. The way to pass was by practicing. The practice I did was extremely effective and I passed through practice & more practice. Without practice, I would have failed, as my first set of results on the Group Boredom/Reactions software were very poor, and my mechanical comprehension is appalling (I struggle like you would never believe at anything mechanical e.g. maintaining a bicycle)

Note that these were the old pre-2013 tests that I sat. The new ones are different.

Anyway, here is a breakdown what I did in my practice to guarantee that I pass despite not having the natural ability:

Group Boredom Test: Downloaded the Group Boredom Practice Tool. Appalling results on my first attempt. Several attempts later and I could breeze it without even thinking!

Reactions: Downloaded the practice software which replicates the real thing. I was very slow and inaccurate at first. A few weeks later after some serious practice I was hitting everything as fast and as accurate as professional typist on a computer keyboard!

Dials: I didn't practice this, but this test is really easy so it doesn't matter.

Mechanical Comprehension: (MT4.1) - I asked people who had recently sat the test what sort of things they were asked about. I then researched about those things and it helped immensely when it came to sitting the tests!

Trainability ('Glop') - I asked people who had recently sat this test what was in the passage about 'glop'. I then noted it all down and got it all into my long-term memory. When I was going into the test centre I knew what I was about to read before I even read it! Easy.

Structured Interview: They always ask the same five questions so I just found out what those questions were and made sure my answers were as good as I could get them.
On this interview you will probably get caught out if you completely make something up, but you can get away with exaggerating your answers.