The train driver interview
· 5 min read
The interview sits near the tests, sometimes on the same day. The panel can use how you handle risk, rules, and being wrong. A childhood story will not carry that.
What they are listening for
Can you notice a hazard before it becomes a drama. Can you stop. Can you tell someone. Can you describe a mistake without either collapsing or turning it into a speech. Short true stories beat long invented ones.
- A time you stopped work because something was off.
- A time you followed a procedure when skipping it would have been easier.
- A time you were wrong, said so, and what changed afterwards.
If you don't have railway stories, use other work. A warehouse, a kitchen, a previous job. The industry is less romantic than applicants. They want the habit, not the setting.
STAR, kept short
Situation, task, action, result. Two or three sentences each. If you can't fit it in that, you don't have the story yet. Don't pad with how much you love trains. They already know you applied.
On the day
If you've just come off a psychometric battery, you'll want to replay the last test. Don't. The panel can't rescore it. They can still hear whether you're present.
Answer the question that was asked. If you don't know a rule, say you'd check, not that you'd guess. Guessing in an interview is a bad sign.
Independent practice notes. This is not an official test, and we are not affiliated with train operators or RSSB.
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