During the assessment day (2nd stage) Southeastern done an amazing job of making everyone not only feel welcome, but they made it so the environment did not feel competitive (if you didn’t know, you are assessed in a group of 8+). The whole day lasts around 6 hours, however it personally did not feel as bad as it sounds.
The day consisted of 4-5 stages, however most people struggled on the first assessment which was on paper. For anyone taking this assessment, I would recommend practicing beforehand. Listen to what the interviewers have to say, it will help. When they tell you that they do not expect you to complete a task, it means they want you to take your time and do it properly, rather than rush and mess it all up. In my experience, this exact test is where half my group failed.
I didn’t know beforehand, but there is an interview at the end of the assessment day. This was done extremely professionally, and you are given time beforehand to think of any examples and situations you would like to use to help prepare.
The second interview. This was done around 1.5 months later, which I thought was rather speedy considering the sheer amount of applicants. I will warn people that this interview, at least at my local depot, was not done as professionally. I arrived around 20 minutes early, being placed into the staff room upon arrival. While this wasn’t bad, I did feel like I had a bit of an unwanted presence. The train drivers at the depot were not only extremely friendly, but also very funny and genuinely down to earth people. There was most certainly a sense of family between the drivers, something I found really interesting.
When I entered the interview room I was met with two of the depot managers. While welcoming at first, it almost felt like a “good cop, bad cop” situation. One was very nice, explaining questions in more detail when needed and extremely patient. The other however, not so much. Any questions I had asked was met with an extremely confused look by one of the managers, which was particularly off putting. In the end I was recommended a job on the station by one of the managers, as in his opinion the interview had been disastrous. I found this rather disrespectful. Bearing in mind this was one of my first “major interviews”, a few bits of well constructed criticism and advice would have gone a long way. Instead I was basically told on the spot, I hadn’t got the job.
To anyone who has made it to the 2nd interview, please check your emails. At the bottom there will be attachments, one of these you will be asked to revise. I couldn’t find this document until the very day before the interview and thus did not have enough time to drill it into my memory.
One more thing to note, some of the drivers seemed unhappy with the management. I had overheard this while waiting. While this usually isn’t uncommon, It definitely made me reconsider if I wanted to work there. If southeastern ever reads this, please consider a separate waiting area for interviewees. This could help solve at least some of the issues presented.