Telephone Interview - Network Rail

Which grad scheme did you apply for? Engineering? Management?

I applied for the Management Programme

I also have one coming up for Project Management, any tips or advice would be great!
Thanks.

Questions that you will be asked are as follows

1. Why do you want to work for Network rail
2. What are Network Rails future challenges (tip - look up future projects of Network Rail, e.g. 'thameslink project' etc
3. Tell me about a time you had to build the confidence of a team or group of people
4. Tell me about a time you analysed more than one solution to a problem but came up with a different solution (worded very strange but basically means thinking flexibly, time you used initiative)
5. Tell me about a time when you overlooked something during a task or project and how did it affect your results/outcome
6. Tell me about a time when you had to deal with conflict within a team.

Good luck

thanks for that enggrad, I have one too so very useful!

hi all, I've applied for Project Management scheme and have got my telephone interview this week. I'm a bit worried about this telephone interview as I've never done one before. Did everyone get the same questions as enggrad? Can I ask you guys tell me what questions they asked? iIf you don't wish to go into too much detail, could you just tell me whether any of the questions you had were different.

Also, what do you do if you get asked exactly the same question as one on the form, would you come up with a different example, or could you use the same example but change the wording?

Cheers, many thanks!

I can't remember exactly what I got asked but I think they were virtually all the same as enggrad maybe one or two different competencies. I also got asked how my values fitted with Network Rail's, or something along those lines. I didn't get any the same as the form so it wasn't an issue for me but I think I would probably try and use different ones if possible.
Good luck!

Thanks for advice! .x

Evening all,
I have just been informed i have made it to the telephone interview stage for the contracts and procurement scheme at Network Rail, im yet to book my slot. By the looks of things the questions are pretty standard and somewhat similar to the initial application form we have to fill in!? Can anyone shed any more light on it please?? Is it best to use the same competency based examples as on initial form??

Cheers

hello guys ..

just got confirmation for an online verbal and numerical reasoning test, for network rail.. i ve never done one before but i have been briefly trying some trials on the net... can someone please advise me on the material i should expect.. or is it random and any tips on doing well will be handy too.

thanks

Yeah, it's a bit tricky. The questions aren't particularly difficult, you just don't get an awful lot of time to do them. You get a do a practice 1st tho, just make sure you can work out percentages. The verbal test is a just a comprehension test, answering true or false questions to given a text. I failed it but they reinstated my application anyway - I'm applying for a civil engineering year in industry. Have my telephone interview 1st thing tomorrow morning woop.

Thanks for the info bro.............. good luck on ure interview in the morning.... just got email from network rail again saying do the test before thursday 10 am so i can get my telephone interviw too ... oh well lets see what happens.. will the questions be random like the practice ones u get on wikijobs or wil they be specific to my field.

They'll be random mate, like looking at graphs and stuff like that, just testing basic reasoning. You'll be fine. Good luck anyway though.

thanks again for the advice my friend. i best get back to practice questions :( ... good luck again on ure telephone interview .... have you aplied else where i could recommend some graduate programmes you may not have stumbled across???

Numerical and verbal test is a big ball ache mate, if you havnt done any maths since gcse it is tough, my theory was to make sure the answers i did complete were correct, rather than rushing through them and messing more up.... I prob had around 7 or 8 left when my time ran out, i managed to pass it and have my telephone interview in the morn... Bricking it now!!!

What scheme is it your applying for? Im on the procurement and contracts 1!

LOL dont brick it mate, i think just stay calm when your talking on the phone, a friend once told me knowledge yourself with the company you are applying for.. so look at network rails aims.... goals.. corperate governance etc etc all the info is on there website if you match your goals to theirs i am sure they will be well impressed .. its a good strtegy to have when you are being interviewed telephone or in person.

i ll see what happens with the test ..my maths is ok but some of the questions i ve practiced are well misleading and quite difficult.. do u remeber any specific questions??? how many do u have and how long do they give???

i am applying for the same as you ... they say i need to do the test before thursday so i can get my telephone interview in time for next fridays assesment centr thingy...

Ive done copious amounts of prep for it to be honest so should be pretty sorted for anything they throw at me... my temp job at the minute is very telephone orientated so im pretty confident of my manner....

Lots of graph related questions mate, its such a chore, i think there were 35 questions and your get 35 mins to do it... dont rush it tho!!

You looking at specifically going into purchasing then? Have you applied for any other schemes?? Its not really the ideal time is it lol?

lol i m sure u ll be ok bruva.................. i just really wanna get all the assesments out da way.. been doing practice questions........................... bro the situation for jobs is terrible i get depressed thinking about it.... i got rejected from balfour and waiting for lang o rourke... tesco got some god scemes going too

Im yet to do an assesment centre, i got a couple of applications in the pipeline, have got to the final interview on 2 only to be told because of current climate they not recruiting grads this year wounder.com ha!

I got advised to steer well clear of tesco, sainsbury etc....

If its purchasing you want which in my case it is, i think best thing to do is get an assistantant buyers job and do self study C.I.P.S of your own back, this will then give you experience and industrial qualifications when applying for other long term posts...

When and where is the assesment centre for this??

bro the whole jobs climate is a joke sorry to hear bout ure experiences...... the assement thing is next week fridayy but they didnt say where .. they just said hurry and do my tests so they can see if i can have a telephone interview in time for the assesmant day... bro thanks for the advice still

Hi all!
So i took my online tests yesterday and I got told today that I had passed and have now just booked mytelephone interview for tomorrow morning.
As for the tests, the best practise you can do would be trying an actual SHL test, do this at:

http://www.shldirect.com/

And click on practise tests, you have to register (don't worry, they're legit) and you can take 1 verbal and 1 numerical reasoning test then they give you a feedback result right after.
These are the actual tests that Network Rail use, they won't be exactly the same questions, but its the same company and set-up etc.
The biggest problem was time constraint I found, make sure you don't dwell on hard questions too long, as there will most likely be some easier ones you can do.
Hope kthis helps.

So I got my telephone interview tomorrow (i've applied for engineering). Does anyone have any specific adive, like exact questions?
What would be some good questions I could ask them?

Any help would be much appreciated guys.

Edit:
Forgot to mention that for Numerical Reasoning I had to do 20 questions, I think i had around 20 minutes...(not sure though)
Verbal Reasoning there were 30 questions and 15 minutes! That was tough.

chris.lau.86

Please view my post near the top of this thread. I applied to engineering and these were the exact questions that I had. I got through to the assessment centre but unfortunatly didnt get an offer.

Yeah i had my interview thismorning. Exactly the same questions, they break them up into the 1st 2- you're motivation and understanding of Network rail, and other 4 - your skills.

I recieved an invitation to the assessment centre 10 minutes ago. Scary stuff.

Enggrad, how was the assesment centre? any advise? It looks fairly daunting.

I had my telephone interview this morn, had loads of prep done, but for some reason think i struggled... they said they would let me know the outcome within 2 weeks time!?

1: Why Network Rail
2:How do my values tie in with Network Rails
3:A time when youve overlooked a project
4:A time when youve dealt with conflict within a team
5:A time when youve analysed information.

Like i said above think i wont get through to assesment centre, fingers crossed tho!!

Tom Butler howd you find it this morn?

Thanks for the tips guys.
Quick question though, enggrad, when you say:
"5. Tell me about a time when you overlooked something during a task or project and how did it affect your results/outcome"

Am i right in assuming they mean a time i've managed a group or managed part of a project. And NOT overlooked as in missed some key detail a project.
Silly question I know, just wanna be 100%

Gaskino, it didn't go that badly, like you i did a load of prep, particularly looked at the crossrail project and thameslink programme. It was the little questions she asked about each question that i thought i tended to waffle on, quizzing the details etc. Though i can't have done that badly because they text me in the afternoon. Best of luck though, got my fingers crossed for you.

Yes, i.e say you went on an expedition, but forgot to buy maps. What happened as a result? how did you correct the problem? basically just showing how you use your initiative so correct a problem.

The lady doing mine wasnt very nice at all, infact quite rude at some points... my examples were strong, but like you said the little questions they threw in whilst i was mid flow put me off quite a bit, maybe mine was struggling to grasp everything i said?!?

I broke mine into sections explained the situation, my actions, the outcome/transferable skills learnt and then thngs i would do differently!!?

Guessing I will hear tommoro some time?? When is your assesment centre?? Which scheme is it your applying for?

G

G, sounds a bit cack mate, fortunately my lady wasn't as bad, though she kept saying "sure" when i was explaining things, in quite a patronising way, which i found a bit disconcerting. There were no dates available for the AC yet, i had the same problem with the telephone interview. I'm applying for the Civil Eng year in industry, most people on the forum are applying for procurements grad scheme though, i feel a bit out of place. Yourself?

So I just had my telephone interview and I'd say it went relatively well.
The questions were set out just as enggrad said. The woman was actually very nice, and I'm hoping everything went smoothly.
Just gotta wait and see if i get an AC now.

Chris.lau.86

Thats Great to hear matey...i got the reasoning tests tomorrow...gonna be alate one tonight.

took my reasoning tests last night..... bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbboooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooyyyyyyyyyyyyyy were they hard ... hope i did well... time was so limited i didnt finish :(

Youl both be fine... Juve like i said as long as you got all the questions correct that you done it shouldnt effect your score... I think the benchmark must be something around the 40%mark!?!?

Good luck on the phone lads!!

Hopefully see you all at the dreaded AC haha

G

thanks for the vote of confidence Gaskino :)

Ii have a interview wih NR, and must say that I am happy I found this site as you all have given very useful information.

Got an e-mail today saying i have to book a telephone interview in a few weeks but nothing about online tests???

Anyone else get this? is this because i applied for the MSc at Warwick route? anyone else apply for this?

The advice above is class. Will post my questions when i have mine!

I always have problems when an interviewer ask do you work better in a team or on your own? What answer do they prefer to hear?

They want the truth

I did not mean that I would lie but sometimes I find that when answer work better in a team they may think that I am not good at making decisions for myself or using my own iniative.

Thanks though.

Did the tests for Project Management last night, have yet to book a phone interview as I'm very busy with my final year project at the moment. Has anyone here already done a telephone interview for PM? How was it?

Hello everyone

I have applied to do the MSc Project Management at Warwick University and I have my telephone interview tomorrow, I'm glad I found this page..hopefully these are the questions they ask ;)

Just one question, do you think it can work for or against you if the interviewer was to know you had researched the questions and constructed your answers?
I think I'm just a bit paranoid that I may sound like im reading from a script?

Thanks for the help.

b21 man:

Mate, i have just had my telephone interview for the same thing. I got some different questions:

As above but:

Give me a scenario where you over came major boundaries.
There was one other that isn't above, i forgot it mate, sorry,

Also, i don't think they have any information about you, I referred to one of my answers on the application and he had no clue what-so-ever, i was very surprised and throughout the whole interview it seemed like he generally had no clue about me, which really makes me wonder at what they are looking for

Good Luck mate, let me know if you get to AC

My phone interview went quite badly, but I agree that they didn't seem to know anything about me. I refered to my degree course a few times and eventually she asked "Sorry, what course do you do?"

She also later asked what University I attended. A bit disappointed by it really, if I get to the AC I'll see how it goes. Not expecting to, though.

Majortony:

Very unprofessional wasn't it? I hope its not an indication of what the organisation is like, as it would completely different to how they portray themselves on the recruitment website.

oh no, now im not filled with any confidence at all!! lol

So do you feel on the whole you did enough to get through?

Were any of previous questions that were posted above asked?

Thanks

First question I got asked was why I wanted to work for the company, Most of the questions were the same as posted by enggrad earlier in the thread.

I see, maybe they have thrown in these extra couple of questions just for those applying for a masters.

Have you heard anything about the AC tony?

Good luck mate!

Not yet, had the interview on friday and was told that I'd hear back within 2 weeks. Not expecting to get through to be honest, I was way too nervous during the interview and the answers I gave were pretty crap.

oh no, well expect the worse and you never know, im sure you did better then you think, im absolutely bricking it!! i have visions of my mouth getting dry and just having a complete mind blank lol

Just out of interest guys, how long did Network Rail take to get back to you after you submitted your application form? (Ive applied for the Msc Project Management). Only asking because they've still not got back to me and its been about 2 weeks!