As a veteran, How hard is it to be hired by the railroads?

Question

Do the railroads give preference to military? How does the whole hiring process work? I am currently aviation quality control in the army and wonder if that may help with being hired.

Answer 1

go for it!  

and Nigel M;  wrote:   "...... and get rid of poor employees quickly"...

Nigel M , what have you been smoking?  The inability of RR's to get rid of deadbeats is a perennial problem.  One that is holding them back to this day

Answer 2

if you have a specific skill it will help.  Just keep on sending in resume's.  More & more railroads are hiring "older" people because of their work ethics and being in the military will certainly not hurt your chances.They just sometimes take forever to hire. Sometimes it may mean taking a crummy job to start & then applying for interoffice job postings to work yourself up to the job you want. But in the long run like Michael M said you make huge money & get a great pension.

Answer 3

in addition to rango's comment, they like it that you know how the "chain of command" goes.  BNSF does give preference to veterans as per being in the top 25 military friendly employers in 2005.  I believe that even if you wanted to stay in the military, they would pay you for 4 years if you were on active duty and not able to work for the railroad.  that would be nice to have the double dipping like that.

Ha, thats funny. (not that you ask the question but that someone is "in charge") multi-million dollar corp, and van drivers know more of what is going on than the dispatcher, or the 15 trainmasters that we have.  I do enjoy my job, so don't take my complaining about noone knowing what is going on seriously.

Good luck with your job search.

Matt

Answer 4

I believe you have a good chance.  One reason railroads like veteran is that they are used to strange hours and demanding working conditions.  Railroads pay qualified people well, and get rid of poor employees quickly.  Like the military, it is too easy to accidentally kill someone.

Do you want to work for a big railroad, or a smaller one?  I suggest that you contact the specific railroad(s) that you are interested in.  Here are some links:

http://www.unionpacific.jobs/

http://www.mta.info/mta/employment/

http://www.akrr.com/arrc123.html

http://www.akrr.com/arrc9.html

http://www.railserve.com/employment.html

http://www.deltasouthernrailroad.com/emp...

http://www.readingnorthern.com/employmen...

http://www.tweetsie.com/employment/worki...

http://www.wsorrailroad.com/employment/e...

http://www.bnsf.com/employees/communicat...

http://www.inrd.com/employment.shtml

http://www.southshorefreight.com/employm...

http://www.beltrailway.com/employment.ht...

http://www.akrailroad.com/AboutAampK/Emp...

http://www.nscorp.com/nscportal/nscorp/J...

Answer 5

Like you. I have an aviation background from the military, but decided to do something different.

So I applied for a railroad job, of the 150 guys who applied, two of us were ex. military and we both got hired.

I think it is because we have the mindset to settle down and get the job done, we can think for ourselves and have the dicipline required to go to work at all hours of the day and night (unlike our civilian counterparts, who phone in sick etc, if they do not want to take a train that has work to do online at 3.00 am when it is minus 30 degrees).

So go for it, you'll enjoy it.

Answer 6

HI, first thing I would like to do is thank you for your service to this country.

To be perfectly honest, there is no job I can think of that gives you any practical help for the operating department.

It is just too different than any other craft. Of course most people on the RR that hire have never worked in the operating department and have absolutely NO concept of this and continually hire the worng people.

All you really need is a willingness to work, nights, weekends, holidays, birthdays, etc.

Good work but poor life at times.

I do not work for the BNSF but I know this and other major carriers have made a commitment to help veterans by giving them hiring preference.

BNSF has been listed among the top 10 military friendly employers in teh United States.

Look on their websites, and GOOD LUCK!!

Answer 7

I have heard that railroads do give preference to vets.

I applied to 2 railroads, one of them 2 times.  The first time I applied to one of them I was not selected.  The 2nd Time, I was invited to a "hiring session" note that each hiring session is different.  This one I had to show up by 8AM I think, we were told to bring a copy of our application which we could get from the website.  

We showed up and inside this room was about 75 people all ready to work, some had on dress clothes, as I did, I saw one guy had a tie, and some had jeans and t-shirts.   We were given the scare speech, you will hate it the hours suck, you work in all weather, are on call all the time, you are away from home.  They took a break and told us to smoke and call our wife or significant other to make sure they want us to do it.

We came back from break and a few guys had left, a few others left later after they found out that you would be locked into a job for 2 years and wouldn't get to switch to track labor crew until after then.

We filled out some papers, and they talked about the benefits and the good things.   We then took a reading test, we came back from break and they told us our interview times if we had passed, they started at A, went to Z, and were 5 minutes apart.  If you failed the reading test you were not given the interview, so I took lunch and came back early, and waited, got my interview, and left they told us that they had about 100 guys a day interviewing, and they had 4 days of that, and they would call us on a day later in the week I think it was Thursday.

I never got the call after the interview, and my status online said not qualified on interview.

A couple months went by, and then I got a call from them, I was about to jump on the ceiling my heart was beating so fast when I answered the phone, it was a new sourcing agent and they wanted to hire me pending drug test and physical.  I accepted after making sure it was the location I was interviewing for before.   I took the drug test and physical locally, and then another week I had to drive and do a Physical Abilities Test (PAT).  All that got passed and I got the approval to start New Hire class.  That was 3 weeks, then 2 months OJT (On the Job Training) then 2 weeks of Conductor Training, and then I would have been on my own in a few weeks.  In conductor class we found out they had overhired for our terminal and we were being forced to another location, and my seniority was dead last so I would have had a chance to be laid off, and I couldn't afford that so I changed jobs.

Answer 8

no. equal employment opportunity

apply and you can get a job.

I am ex railroad. made lots of money and one day will collect a hugh pension