Interviewing for a Taxi Driver

What we can do for you

Your drivers are the key to your business. They are who the public associate with your company, so finding the best people to drive your fleet of cars is essential. Interview Quizzes can help you do just that, by narrowing down the field of candidates for you, saving you time, effort and money on recruitment.

In 2019 there were 291,800 licensed vehicles on England’s roads. That’s more than there have ever been before. With so many companies vying for the best cab drivers, it’s important you give your company the edge by recruiting the best staff.

What to look for in a good taxi driver

The qualifications needed for the job vary between local authorities. Of course, potential employees must have their PHV driver licence and, if working in London, they’ll need to have passed the local geography test, also known as ‘The Knowledge’. Besides the legal requirements, what other skills make for a good taxi driver? Here’s a list of the most useful:

• Good standard of English Taxi drivers need to be able to understand where their passengers want to be taken, and also any other instructions they might be given by their customers or over the radio
• Good memory This makes remembering their way around much easier
• Customer service skills Taxi drivers spend a lot of time alone with their passengers. To make this a pleasant experience for customers, it helps if your employees are friendly and approachable
• Calm under stress Other road users and difficult passengers can try the patience of anybody. But a good taxi driver can keep their head when faced with the pressure they might be put under
• Map reading Despite satnavs, map reading is still a good skill for taxi drivers. Time spent studying maps can help determine the best route to a destination
• Basic maths Working out the correct change to give, mileage, or hours requires an ability to do simple calculations
• Problem solving Road closures, traffic jams and customer complaints will all test an employee’s ability to make quick decisions to solve problems

What’s next?

Once you have a list of applicants, it’s time for our quizzes to do their work. Choose four categories from our comprehensive list and they will find the most suitable candidates for you to invite to an interview. So which subjects should you choose? Well, that’s up to you, but here are our recommendations:

English Basic - To test good communication skills.

Basic Numeracy - To see how good candidates are with figures.

Geography - A vital skill for every would-be taxi driver.

General Knowledge - A useful thing to have when it comes to making conversation with passengers.

IQ - A good way to find out who can think fast under pressure and solve problems quickly.

Current Affairs - A knowledge of what’s going on in the world is a useful thing for taxi drivers to have.

Interview questions

Once our quizzes have sorted out the wheat from the chaff, choosing which applicants to invite to a job interview becomes that much easier. Some things just can’t be found by quizzes, and only a face-to-face meeting can determine which cabbies will be the best for your business. We can’t help you with that, but we can get you to that stage much quicker than you having to sort through piles of application forms.

Conclusion

We can't decide who is best for you, but we can provide the tools to help you MAKE BETTER DECISIONS, FASTER.