Royal Mail graduate phone interview

if you lucky enough to go through to the phone interview stage with royal mail for Graduate Operations Scheme then rest is not very difficult.

i have read some reviews and information about this royal mail graduate phone interview and some sides quite positive somes negative.

one of the great tip i found was this, hope it helps. “The phone interview is nothing to worry about, mine lasted about 15 mins (said it would be 30) and all they really asked was why I applied, what I thought the job would involve etc etc – just a few very general questions where the usual bog standard reply seems to suffice!

The online practice test was on a screen before you take the real test if I remember correctly?!

After phone interview you will get invited to an assessment centre – I expected giving presentations, more tests like the online ones, that kind of thing. But it was completely different – in groups we had to paint a picture! Was all about how you interacted with each other – can be quite difficult to stand out without looking like a kn*b!!!

Beyond yet there is an interview in your local area. For me this was more of a ‘welcome’ interview however I have heard since of people getting through assessment centre but failing final interview.

WORD OF WARNING…
Think really carefully about going for this job (particularly operations) – your first 6 weeks are fantastic at the national training centre – great facilities, great food, great banter and good standard of teaching – after that you are thrown out and basically told to get on with it. If you work in a mail centre you will be well supported due to the people around you, however when you go to a delivery office be prepared to be cast off. All of a sudden it is a lot difficult to get help – believe me you will need it daily. Also, most of the managers have no idea about what the grad scheme is meant to be. What is advertised on RM website is a long long long way from reallity – despite them being told this by grads for last 3 years they have not changed 1 single thing on it! In ops if you go to a delivery office be prepared to be going out deliv3ering mail yourself – this is VERY common practice for RM managers, note its not mentioned on the website! A 40hour week will quickly become 55, 60+ hours as when you are out delivering mail (which you will have to do – leaving it till next day is not an option (well in some areas anyway)) no one else is picking up your work in the office, cue that not being done now from above (oh and the fact you were out in the rain/snow/wind soaked to the bone at 4:30pm on a freezing Saturday afternoon aint an excuse!). You will also be promised regular 1-2-1’s etc and this normally wont happpen. In the training they will go over SMART targets – be prepared just to throw those notes out as you will be given ridiculous targets, some of which you won’t have any control over!

Don’t get me wrong the money is OK, particularly in Ops you have your shift allowance on top, and I’m sure you will each make your own judgement of the scheme if you are succesful, but what i’ve written is a reallity of the scheme. For those applying to Ops take note of what I am saying regarding delivering mail – you will be doing this regularly, particularly if you are in a city.

When I started there were already 6 Ops grads in my area, within 7 months all 6 of them had left for other jobs. I stayed 2 years – i enjoyed my first 6 – 8 months but from then on I was looking/waiting for something/anything else! During my time another 6 grads joined my area, since ive left 4 of them have followed! Kind of speaks volumes”