is it really hard to get hired to work for the railroad?some say i have a snow balls chance in h#ll , but those that are retiring and the economy points another way.chances should be good? any pointers in the interview process would be appreciated. im clean,lean,and good common sense.
Welcome to the Board, Richard! We have a few engineers here, and I'm sure they could give you good feedback!
If you're willing to not call your time your own, both UP and BNSF are desperate for new hires. A few years ago, Railroad Retirement permitted anyone with 30 years of railroad service to retire at age 60 with full benefits. Railroad Retirement is not like Social Security, it's more like a very good private pension plan. I am retired and take home as much as I did working. So, all the "old heads" are leaving as soon as they hit 60. If you have any problems, like bad credit or a lot of tickets, be up front about it, the railroad will check your credit rating and your driving records. If you've had a DUI, forget about railroad employment. My career was in marketing and sales, not train operations. I was the guy trying to get some freight to put in those cars! Did pretty good at it too.
I went thru the interview mill when I hired out on NS a few years ago. I gather that most of the class 1s are pretty much the same except the background checks and interviews have become much more involved. The first thing to do is be on time for the hiring session. If they say 8 am, don't bother to show up if it's 8:05, you probably won't get in the door. If you've got anything in your past that will show up on a background check, tell them up front. If they think you're trying to slip something by them, you'll never get a call back. That counts for your physical too, assuming you get that far. Save yourself the hassle of having the RR find out later about anything health related. Also, as was mentioned, any drug or alcohol related offenses still on your record will make it much tougher to get aboard. The aptitude tests are a pain but if you think a bit, you'll get through them. Hey, it ain't rocket science. With almost the whole top third of agreement people retiring soon and the incredibly high turnover in new hires, you should be able to get in if you hang in there and keep trying. The railroads want people (especially in transportation) that will be available 24/7 at first and it may be a looooooong time before you can hold anything other than an extra list. Get ready to live by your cell phone or pager and learn to bend your private life around the crew callers. It's a real challenge but rewarding and profitable if you can make it work. Good luck
Check out this website. http://www.therailforum.com/ Go to the forums section and read some of the topics. There a lot of RR people here and they discuss hiring and the pitfalls.
