TFL Revenue Protection job exams and assessment information

The Idea for this Blog is to give you a in site into what goes into securing a position and working as a TFL Revenue Protection Inspector on London Buses. 

How it Started for me?

So I have been a Bus driver in London for sometime now and if i'm honest I wasn't really looking for a new job as i'm one of those rare people that can work quite happily with the public and not let the day to day stress of driving a London bus get to me.

However the long hours and late nights where starting to take there toll, It was a shear fluke of luck that a colleague of mine told me that TFL where recruiting revenue protection inspectors AKA in old world speak as Ticket inspectors and that the closing date was fast approaching!.

I went onto the TFL website and looked at there careers link and sure enough there was a opening for a dozen or so Revenue inspectors. The application form isn't that far off what you need to fill out for the Police, they want you to complete a number of competency based questions along with some personal info that you would normally give in any online application.

This will be something like in 20 lines tells us about a time you helped a customer and include in the question the situation, what you did to resolve the problem and what the outcome was.

As you can expect there isn't very much room to put in a massive amounts of detail so it really test's how you put across important information with the minimal of space.

There are a number of these questions that you need to fill in and these are then marked by the TFL recruitment team, if you have been successful with the online application then the next step will be a date for you to attend the first of two assessments at the TFL head office at Ashfield House West Kensington.

Now this is where the hard stuff comes in!!!!

There are three exams you will sit on the day, one will be a english written exam and is quite straight forward, all you need to do is write down the situation that you see in a picture that is given to you. You have 5 min's to explain what has happened in the picture. Quite easy no problems!!

Next will be a ticket interpretation test, this if i'm honest could be quite hard if your not familiar with ticket's that can be used on London Buses.

Had I not of been a bus driver I doubt I would have passed this, you need to look at a number of tickets in a booklet. You have a answer sheet that you need to say if the ticket is ok for travel on London buses and that it is within the correct date and time and if it isn't what the penalty would be for a passenger using said ticket on a bus.

You are given a sheet that has all the penalty options for each ticket that is wrongly used, such as if some is using a out of date London underground pass on a bus then it will be something like a £80 fine and possible prosecution this will be put down as a code on the answer sheet. There are a number of these tickets you need to identify in a 5 min period. I got about 3/4 of the pages done before the time ran out :-/

"The deal breaker"

The SCAAT test.. This is a concentration test and is the one that I guess "most" people will fail on.

This is a page that I found online from a train driver sit but the sheet is similar to that used on the RPI test. This will show you the type of thing that you will see on a test sheet but the shapes on the real test will be a full A4 sheet.

The idea is that you need to cross off a certain shape on each line. The first test is "three" full A4 pages long and you will be looking at a target shape, the first test you will only be looking for "one" shape the second test that is also three pages long you will be looking to cross out two shapes and the third test is by far the most demanding! you will be looking for a target shape plus you need to also look for whatever the "first" shape is at the start of each line. So say the first shape on line one is a "X" then you may be looking for a triangle and a "X" on that line. Then on line two the first shape on that line may be a "W" so you will be looking for a triangle and a "W" on that line and you do this for all three pages on each line.

You are told at the start of each section what shapes you will be looking out for, and from memory you have one minute on each page to do as much as you can..

My arm by the end of the test was totally dead, I couldn't have done any better and was happy with my effort. "But was it enough"???

After all this you then have a Q & A with a senior Revenue Inspector and you can ask questions that you may have regarding the job.

So a few days went by and I get a call from the recruitment team, I was told congratulations I was accepted for the second part of the assessment.

Now how true these numbers are i'm not sure but I was told by someone at the TFL head office that they had received well over 1000 applications for these postions and out of that may be 240 where selected for the phase 1 assessment and out that number around 30-40 where selected for phase two.. That should tell you that competition for these positions is very high and there is a very high failure rate.

Assessment Number TWO!!!

I was told that for this assessment I would be given a interview that would last about a Hour and a half and then I would go onto a role play situation that would show How I handled a passenger on a bus with a ticket problem.

The interview is quite intense and you will need to be ready to Talk lots and I do mean lots about situations that have happened to you in the past that the assessors will find relevant to the job role.

This is basically a continuation from the first online assessment that you did as part of your first application.

I would say that I was in the interview room about a Hour and there where two people doing the interview and one person as a observer?..

You will not BLAG your way through this, so be honest and open about your past experiences and be ready to go into great detail regarding said incidents.

After this I was then taken off to another area to wait for my role play, I was sat in a waiting area with a few people that where doing there London Underground customer care assessments, so after a quick chat and laugh with them I was called into a room where the role play would be conducted.

I was given a sheet that outlined a situation and what was expected of me during the role play, now from talking with a few RPI during my normal working day no two role plays are the same so when you go for your role play it will most likely be totally different from the one I had!!!.

They want you to speak clearly with the passenger and understand the situation that is going on, you must remain professional and understanding at all times. There are a few little bits that will happen during this role play that they are looking for and you must react accordingly. Again from talking with the recruitment team and current RPI's this is another major fail area for candidates so be warned..

Well I get a call a few days after this and i'm told the good news i've been accepted for the job :-) WOOOHOOO

It was then a case of getting a few things sorted ASAP!!!! I had to complete and medical questionnaire and send it back straight away I was then given a date to attend a medical exam at the London Underground occupational health building located a St James park.

The medical I was told could last up to three hour's!!! The first thing you need to do on the day is head to the TFL head office to sign a declaration, you are then given a copy that you take to St James park where yep you guessed it more form filling!!..

This is about your history regarding alcohol use and any problems you have or have had in the past. For me this is easy as I very rarely drink.

Your then sent up stairs to wait for your medical exam, this is a eye test, hearing test and you need to give a urine sample.

After all that you go in and see a doctor, dont worry there is no nakedness or probing and its very easy and straight forward if your in good health.

The other little thing that needs to get signed off is your references. You need to supply them with the previous 3 years employment history and also say that your happy for them to conduct a CRB background check. As long as all this is ok you will be given a start date and as of this moment that is where im at....

I will keep updating this Blog as and when needed, the training period is 10 weeks so im sure there is lots of info to be added in the future..