Eastern Railroad Discussion > Working for CSX

Ok.........Have a job offer for CSX as a conductor. Any advice?

cowensub Wrote:
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> Ok.........Have a job offer for CSX as a
> conductor. Any advice?


Take it.

SantaFeRuss

take the job with csx, If you do not like it with csx after a couple of years. trained conductors are wanted at N S, BNSF, UP, CN

Start somewhere if you love railroading. Its a hard life but worth it in the long term. Long term is how you have to look at.

Best wishes, do one other thing, Keep yourself physically fit. You'll find out why real quick



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/05/11 02:18 by OARC.

keep the railfan hobby under your hat. dont go around spouting how you know this and that. old heads find this a real turnoff.......

Take it.

Posted from iPhone

Tim Rich
S. Ogden, UT

Take it. But for the first two years, be very conservative with your money. It will take at least 2 years to get a long term view of the operation. If you are single, stay that way. A family changes everything, and after 2 years, the RR may not look so good as a career choice.

Keep your options open, enjoy the new job, and review your decision after 2 years.

Don't run out and buy a $50,000 truck.

Bill Miller
Galt, ON

mustraline Wrote:
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> Take it. But for the first two years, be very
> conservative with your money. It will take at
> least 2 years to get a long term view of the
> operation. If you are single, stay that way. A
> family changes everything, and after 2 years, the
> RR may not look so good as a career choice.
>
> Keep your options open, enjoy the new job, and
> review your decision after 2 years.

Remember that seniority rules, be prepared for 2AM calls, lots of yard and switching work. Weekends no longer exist for you, its now just days six and seven.

Learn the rules, follow the rules, your life will depend on it.

I'll second the comment of hiding the railfan stuff, if you prove you are a good operator the rest of the guys will tolerate some enthusiasm.

It's a tough job but if it is in your blood 30 years will go by before you know it. If you're not cut out for it you will know soon enough, give it up and move on, if not your attitude will just foul the air and may get someone hurt.

Good luck, and most of all BE SAFE!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/05/11 11:57 by trainman630.

Take the job. Lots of people out there looking for a good paying job. If you don't like it, it's easy to quit. I'm retired from another industry (telecommunications)and I enjoyed my work. I had hobbies that paralleled the job somewhat. It helps to enjoy what you are doing. You can work on the railroad, something you enjoy and get some satisfaction out of a days work or you can go to work for Ford and put hub caps on cars, one after the other, day after day, and really hate your job. Don't expect any job to be perfect. After all, they call it "work" for a reason. I worked my share of nights and weekends and long days but they paid me extra for those hours.

If you are on the road and make it to Louisville, I'll buy you lunch.

Good luck.

John

Safety First, Work Second, Foam LAST!

I can't tell you how many new hires I have seen that come out here, and while standing in the gauge of the track stop and go "Look a BNSF Gevo" and start foaming while they are in the foul. They get locked into a dangerous situation because they are mesmerized and go back into foam mode. I even saw one guy almost run himself over because of it. Just remember there is a time and a place for everything, even if it means missing something special. All the other comments are good as well. Also, If you like to go out and party every night, this job is not for you.


You are always going track speed with RF NOCOM !

if you didn't take it by now 3-4 guys might have seniority already ... one guy ahead of you can sometimes be the difference between making good money and great money and of course job preference

RF-NOCOM Wrote:
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.
> Also, If you like to go out and party every night,
> this job is not for you.
>


one reason i lost 4 years seniority when i was a stupid kid who didn't want to cut my hair wait for phone calls and work 12 hrs a day whenever i was called ... i look back now and say to myself ... the partying definately wasn't worth the 4 years i lost in good income and seniority ... when i really needed the job Conrail had taken over and good ole pop lost a lot of his clout with the local hiring authority with the his railraod cuz the mamagement was either dissolved or combined and now moved into Conrail and a lot of management for the fallen flags during the consolidation had to either move away to hold a job or take a furlough

so when i found myself really needing a job i went to pop and he said son i'll do what i can but my people are no longer in the positions they had and got moved all over the place with Conrail ... i wound up getting a job with Amtrak ... now i had NO connections NADA NILL at Amtrak ... in dire need of a job due to a stupidly but not regrettable suddenly not expected family situation i had put myself in i actually wrote a letter to Amtrak ... it contradicted everything that is told by you guys these days to so called railfans that want to work for the railroad ... in the letter i wrote i stated that i always liked and was fascinated by the railroad that i liked trains and modeled trains and i had been around trains and the railroad all my life since pop was a railroader too ... in their mass hiring phase in the mid 70's and at that time because of the federal government's involvement in federally funding both Conrail and Amtrak they were ummmmm how can i say this ... kinda hogtied to use the local unemployment offices to do most of their hiring and a good percentage of the hirng HAD TO BE from the umemployment lines ... in those days the people the unemployment office was sending over were anybody from drug addicts to ex cons on the employment lists ... it was really disgusting and disgraceful what these 2 companies were forced to do becuase of their federal subsidies ... it took those 2 railroads a lot of years to weed out the dregs of life that was sent them ... there was a lot nepotism in the hiring process back then too an aweful lot of connected hiring practicing but somehow my letter was viewed by the right person ... i was called in for an interview ... i stated in the interview pretty much verbatim what i wrote in the letter ... one thing i stated tho in the personal interview that i didn't state in the letter is that i said if they hire me they have an employee for as long as they want me till i'm old enough to retire ... i was told they were really busy hiring ... i was asked when i could start i replied immediatley ... i didn't hear from them for a cpl months ... one day i got a surprise phone call saying come to 30th street i'm to start work the next day ... i had a job not a real good family sustaining one ... i was in Philly the next day and have been there ever since ... when i look back then now those cpl of months were sometimes hindersome in what jobs i wanted when i was holding up the at the time a very top heavy totem pole of seniority and since 90% of the people hired at that time were all the same age i realized i was going to be in the middle of the pack for pretty much my whole career ... my seniority is pretty even between people that had me and people i had ... it's been like that for 30 some years but i never got laid off and the railroad did me good ...

with all that being said i certainly understand the railroad environment of today by over zealous upper echelon controlled bean counting non railroad blood inbedded manangement who basically are molded from the collegiate womb on how to run a business and not shown the railroading way of railroading ... the number 1 thing any company today wants to know is if the person that they intend to hire is going to be there for them ... they don't want to hear what they can do for you ... number one thing to establish when hiring for railroad or any job for that matter is that you're a maturely responsible person ... that you'll take your job seriously ... be there when they need you ... comply with all rules ... conduct yourself in a professional manner ...and be diligent in your duties that are asked of you ... if you get them points across you have a real good chance of being hired ... so if you choose that path good luck and happy railroading



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/07/11 10:21 by Out_Of_Service.

Out_Of_Service Wrote:
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>(snip)
>
> with all that being said i certainly understand
> the railroad environment of today by over zealous
> upper echelon controlled bean counting non
> railroad blood inbedded manangement who basically
> are molded from the collegiate womb on how to run
> a business and not shown the railroading way of
> railroading ... the number 1 thing any comapny
> today wants to know is if the person that they
> intend to hire is going to be there for them ...
> they don't want to hear what they can do for you
> ... number one thing to establish when hiring for
> railroad or any job for that matter is that you're
> a maturely responsible person ... that you'll take
> your job seriously ... be there when they need you
> ... comply with all rules ... conduct yourself in
> a professional manner ...and be diligent in your
> duties that are asked of you ... if you get them
> points across you have a real good chance of being
> hired ... so if you choose that path good luck and
> happy railroading

These are wise words.

The company will put several million dollars of its property in your hands soon. They want to make sure you're going to return it in the same shape as you got it. And, not do dumb stuff that will kill your fellow employees, passengers, etc. They're looking for responsible people.

That said, there are ways to tilt the board your way. Showing things like several years as a youth counselor at a church, advancement in the military in a short time, promotion in your former job (assistant clerk to clerk to assistant supervisor, etc), elected team captain, etc. These items register with hiring officers, etc who are often looking for indications of maturity.