Network Rail MSc

Hey charleda99, i've received the same email and haven't needed to take any numerical, verbal tests or had an interview. I'm a bit worried by the maths test as haven't done any real maths for years!!!! Have you booked your assessment centre yet?

No, i havent been given the chance to book onto an assessment centre yet, waiting for another email but think it could take a while. Have you? Na I havent done much maths either.

Guys,

How long ago did you submit your applications?

Has anyone been told have been shortlisted for the A/C for the MSc programme and waiting for a date?

Anyone attending the MSC A/C in Watford on the 7th May?

Any tips on the numerical reasoning tests would be appreciated!

Cheers

attending on the 7th but im awful at the numerical testing im afraid. You heading down the night before?

Thanks

Hi Grad, yes im going to Watford on the 6th and staying in a hotel a few minutes from the A/C venue. What about you?

Will spend the next few days doing any practice tests i can get my hands on I think!

Cheers

Yes i'm staying in the park inn, a few minutes from watford junction.

hi all,

I guess ill be seeing at the AC on 7th too....
any idea to what we can expect on the day....especially with the competency interview and group tasks???

Hey,

If anyone went to the assessment centre on the 6th, let me know when you hear back!

Hi all,

Anybody know where to get the expenses form from? At the Assessment Centre I think the lady said it could be found on the website, I can't find it.

Any clues?

Hi, you need to go to your network rail acount and log in and then click the view information button.

http://apply.networkrailgraduates.co.uk/graduates2010/Default.aspx

hope that helps

I don't seem to have a "view information" button within my account. The only thing which i can click on is my application form. Not to worry, i'll call them tomorrow to confirm.

Thanks

Hello guys any network rail offers made yet!!!!

yeah tom i was wondering the same...i attended on 5th and was told they will get back in a weeks time....what about you>>>

Hi Alliswell I also attended on the 5th ...we must have met then....I still haven't heard from them....still waitin i guess.....pls do inform me when u are contacted and I will do the same here...Thanks.

No worries dude...I will let u know...

Hello all.

I went for assessment on 4th May and was told wouldn't hear for a few weeks so just wait and see. From reading other posts I don't think they will be amazingly quick in letting us know!!!!

I was thinking though, how many assessment days were there, because i can only count about 4? Surely there must be more because if all assessment days had a similar number of attendees to mine, that would only make 80 people. I believed there were 80 positions available, so seems silly to have an assessment, unless making sure you aren't really unsuitable?

I had my AC on the 7th at Watford and I also had about 20 people attending. NR reps over there said that they had ACs all week and have their last AC on the 10th. That makes it a total of 6 days i.e 120 people.

But I am sure that there were a similar number of ACs at the York training centre which makes it a total of 240 people which sounds pretty decent for 80 positions.

Needabreak:

I have heard from some people that there are only 60 positions available. Not sure which one is correct now. Where did you hear about the 80 from?

Just had an email confirming I got through to the final stage of the selection process, University interview. I didn't even realise there was a final stage.

Hello, I also Just had an email confirming I got through to the final stage of the selection process, University interview. I wonder what to expect at this stage....can anyone help?????

Hi Tom417,

I think you attended the same assessment centre as me on the 4th may? To quote the lady at the end of the day, she said 'It's pretty much a rubber stamp.' so i think it is literally just a normal interview and maybe a tour of the campus. But i am not sure. They may release more information once we get given dates.

Well done on getting through, got the same email today too. I choose Warwick, anyone else?

Nice one PinkPanther and congrats, I actually attended on the 5th of May. I chose the University of Warwick too....please could you let me know when you book your interview....Thanks.

I attended on the 7th and I was also successfully and have picked Warwick. Would be good to know what to expect for the university interview, also just noticed on the Warwick web site that the entry requirement are ether a 2:2 in a science/engineering discipline or a good First in any other subject, as someone who have a 2:1 in Business Management with Scottish History I have to admit this has got me a little worried.

Anyway congratulations to everyone else who has made it through so far.

I spoke to Network Rail and they are interviewing 30 at each University. I thought they were taking 80 graduates on the course? They also said the interview will be a competency based and last between 30 and 40 mins. I hope this helps.

Thanks for this, I also emailed them and got the same information.

They also said that network rail have their own entry requirments, which are different from those of the university.

Thanks Grad that helps a lot, although a 30 to 40 minute interview isn't very long at all compared to what we went through at the assessment centre. I'm not sure about the numbers they are taking on, last year it was 80 but they may have reduced it this year. Thanks again.

Thanks Grad and ScottishPaul for your quick enquiries, I think a competency based interview shouldn't be a problem although it would be helpful to have an idea of the competencies the Universities would be looking out for in order to prepare fully!!! Anyways thanks again and wish you all the best!!!!!

hey guys! I too believe I have been successfull and have been invited back for an interview..I also remember this "rubber stamp" quotation..I know some people who didnt get through so I think as far as network rail is concerned they have done their bit.. I think its so that the university sees that your not completely mad and can sign it off..|Any one at UCL?

Hey guys! I was also successful from the assessment centre, I attended mine on the 29th of April. vik, I too have also applied at UCL partly because of the course structure and also because I would like to live in London. I wasn't aware that there would be a university interview but from what I've read here it should be fairly straight forward. Would be good to know a rough idea of when the interviews will take place, I've still got 5 exams left :-(

Anyway congratulations to everyone who has made it through so far.

Yeah congratulations to everyone who got through to this final round! Hopefully we can wrap this all up soon and feel it's 100% safe! I would imagine they will have us down over the next 3 weeks..I emailed them and they said that they expect interviews to be done late may early June so hopefully be soon. I just want to sign some paperwork and get it official! If anyone hears anything let us know! Cheers!

Thanks vik, you've just saved me a phone call tomorrow.

I'm exactly the same. It's a bit weird not knowing whether to be excited because we’re through to the final stage, or to be nervous about the final interview. I didn’t even relies there was another stage so that was a bit of a surprise; however, I’m delighted to still be in with a chance.

Received an email today inviting me to book an interview slot on ether the 2nd or the 3rd for Warwick

Hi all, I was at the assesment centre on the 6th. I've been succesul thus far but there were no slots avaliable for UCL at the present. Good luck and congratualtions !

hi Scottish Paul and Pink Panther congrats again, I have booked my interview at warwick Uni for the 7th of June and the details are as seen below:

 - The interviews will be conducted by relevant University faculty staff. There will not be a Network Rail presence at the interview stage.
 -  the interviews to be roughly 30-40 minutes long
 - The interviews will be competency based, but will also look at your motivations for the MSc Scheme.

hey! I got really freaked as the only date at the time i checked was for the 28th but im out of the country for my brothers wedding..i called them and they called me back and slotted me in on the 7th at ucl which i was relieved about..i was actually about to cancel my plans to go to the wedding if they couldnt give me an alternate date..anyone else for the 7th of june? This should be pretty simple I think and similar to the assessment day interview! hopefully be okay. post any other info if you get any and il do the same and again if anyone else is on the 7th at UCL then let me know! cheers x

Hey vik, I'm going on the 7th too. Have mine at 09:45. Spoke to NR yesterday and they said it was a case of the university needing to meet you and have a chat (motivations etc) before offering a place. It's part of the university selection procedure from what I can gather. I also got the i,pression from the grads on the assessment day (26th April) that it was just a chat etc and not too heavy, in any case not as heavy as the actual assessment centre.

What time is yours?

Ki

Does any one know how many places are available at each University?

I have absolutely no idea. But they said they were taking on around 80 no so if it's split evenly between the unis then its 40 each. It's weird to think we need to do another interview when the company who is paying for us has already said they are willing to fund us essentially. Although NR say the universities have different entry requirements they can't be that different from NR's. Where is the interest in putting forward people to the university interview that would almost certainly not meet the entry requirements. Also, when I spoke to NR yesterday the woman said that obviously all candidates that have got an interview have been successful at every stage so far and that she (HR) would have every hope of us getting on the scheme.

ki

To be honest I think its the uni's policy to vet all potential students, their both top uni's and they wont want to be seen to be accepting anyone on the basis that they can afford it or have the funding. I'm sure its absolutely nothing to worry about and providing you dont turn up in your jeans half cut looking for a doss year I'm sure we'll all be succesful !

Kspence I'm 9am! I think that the 7th is the only other day and they want them done quickly! I hope we get offers asap..just want see that piece of paper in my hand..it has been such a long process..but the end is near:-)
everyone will be fine I'm sure..x

Hey guys, hope you are all well was just wondering if anyone had had an interview at UCL last friday, how did you find it, which location did you attend, did they give you a letter regarding accommodation arrangements, was just wondering what people thought or if they had recieved any information. thanks xx

Also what competencies were they interviewing against and what kind of questions were being asked? please be kind to share this with everyone...thanks..x

Heres a run down of my interview at ucl
It was quite relaxed with just a few questions. I cant remember the exact wording but they were something like this:
What attracts you to the PEM course and what do you think its about?
How will it help your career?
If you walk away from the course with just one thing, what would you like that to be?
How will your experiences help you in the course?
How would you deal with future colleagues who have been there for years and dont appreciate your fast-track path into management?

He also made sure I realised that a MSc is a big step up from a bachelors and that I would have to use a lot of my own initiative to get the work done. So be prepared to show when you've shown initiative.

After that I asked just a few questions to show my interest and tht was pretty much it.
He also gave me some info on the accommodation options.

Hope that helps!

Big Congrats and Thanks Will85.....please any Warwick interviews yet ? cheers....x

thanks will 85. Did they say when your likely to find out if your in or not?

My interview isnt till the 9th June at Warwick. What date is yours Tom417?

Hi Grad, Mine is on the 7th of June at Warwick! wish you all the best.....I will definitely let you know the questions on completion...I think we are all going to get in anyway.........xx

Hey Scottish Paul and other Warwick candidates, how did your interviews go? Any piece of advice will be helpful.....cheers!

Hey Scottish Paul and other Warwick candidates, how did your interviews go? Any piece of advice will be helpful.....cheers!

The interview was no where near as bad as I feared. I had put in days of preparation I even paid £40 to rejoin my old uni library to brush up on what I had studied in case they asked, and also did a bit on project management. Turned out I didn't need to.

They did have a few set questions but I can’t really remember them specifically as it was much more conversational than anything else. They were interested in what I thought studying a masters would be like and what skills I had. I got the impression they were really just trying to get to know me and my motivations. We spoke about my work and educational history. I was really nervous while waiting to be seen but they were both really nice and easy to talk to so I wouldn’t worry too much. If I had one bit of advice I would say make sure you look back over your application as they may ask you questions based on what you have written.

I also spoke with network rail who advised that after all the interviews are done they will sit down with their university counterparts and come to a final decision. They said this should be around mid June.