Eastern Railroad Discussion > NS Open hiring session

Open session for freight conductor at Bellevue. No need to apply at website.
8am wednesday sept 3rd
Great Wolf lodge
4600 Milan rd
Sandusky, Oh

There is another one in Evansville In for postions in Princeton, IN on Thursday.

Wonder what the percentage of successful hires are for one of these events?

I'd venture 10% after 2 years.

Bill Miller
Galt, ON

howeld Wrote:
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> Open session for freight conductor at Bellevue.
> No need to apply at website.
> 8am wednesday sept 3rd
> Great Wolf lodge
> 4600 Milan rd
> Sandusky, Oh
>
> There is another one in Evansville In for postions
> in Princeton, IN on Thursday.
>
> Wonder what the percentage of successful hires are
> for one of these events?


From what I learned from my personal experince with them
at Binghamton:

they dont want you if you werre fired/layed off from your job
nor would they even give you the time of day if you asked questions after their cattle call. Whan I was at the Binghamton
cattle call the ones who were hired were the ones who had applied at least three of their previous NS rodeos

I wonder how many rail fans show up with patches and pins wearing striped blues? Haha

Posted from Android

Here is the actual post on Facebook. My wife showed it to me.

Job alert for conductors!
The below sessions are open for anyone to attend. These are recruiting sessions, which begin at 8:00am promptly and candidates need to be prepared to spend most of the day. Candidates do not need to apply online prior to attending these sessions.

Positions in Bellevue, Ohio
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Great Wolf Lodge
4600 Milan Rd.
Sandusky, OH 44870

Positions in Princeton, Indiana
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Tropicana
421 NW Riverside Drive
Evansville, IN 47708

Being fired from a prior job is a no-no for some potential employers, regardless of the reason. So is a criminal record. Or current / recent drug use based on the hair test. Or suing a prior employer.

Job fairs play a key role in diversity recruiting, though. It's important to assure that your jobs offer is received in the communities where you do business. And important that people understand there are good jobs available. dealing with word of mouth referrals isn't good enough anymore.


(Not a lot different than where the Army etc places its recruiters. And encourages them to help out as wrestling, football etc coaches to meet lots of kids. Get out in front of your target audience with a good message.)

So should you be discriminated against if you were laid off through no fault of you own? Do they have that many candidates that will pass the drug test and not have an infractions with law that they can be that picky?

wabash2800 Wrote:
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> So should you be discriminated against if you were
> laid off through no fault of you own? Do they have
> that many candidates that will pass the drug test
> and not have an infractions with law that they can
> be that picky?


Being laid off is slightly (read: largely) different than being fired.

wabash2800 Wrote:
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> Do they have that many candidates that will pass the drug test
> and not have an infractions with law that they can
> be that picky?


At the sessions I've been at short answer: Yes

My cousin got hired at the last one they did in Sandusky and heads to Georgia in mid September to begin his training.

Posted from Android

I've met a few railfans down here in Locust Grove who came to the platform to watch trains and were in town for the training classes at the McDonough, GA facility. They have stated they don't try to show off their railfan side, though two had custom train-related (read locomotive types) license plates on their cars that made it fairly obvious.

glendale Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> wabash2800 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > So should you be discriminated against if you
> were
> > laid off through no fault of you own? Do they
> have
> > that many candidates that will pass the drug
> test
> > and not have an infractions with law that they
> can
> > be that picky?
>
>
> Being laid off is slightly (read: largely)
> different than being fired.

being laid off is usually treated differently in many employer hiring processes than being fired. but it's important to be specific about the reasons (job went to China, company went bankrupt, etc). Being one of three people laid off in a hundred person company MIGHT not be viewed positively. As a hiring officer, I'd want to know more about the person and the job, etc.

In a situation like NS, I suspect a willingness to learn, to follow orders precisely, to be willing to wait for a directive, etc probably count high on the scale. Challenging authority, lack of punctuality in showing up for a job, violating laws, know-it-all etc probably wouldn't be viewed as plus factors. Just a guess, though.

You are the safest person on earth. You are responsible for your own safety as well as everyone else. You do not take chances. You are a team player. You enjoy working with others. For starters....if you make it through the testing. Do NOT be one second late.

RS11 Wrote:
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> You are the safest person on earth. You are
> responsible for your own safety as well as
> everyone else. You do not take chances. You are
> a team player. You enjoy working with others.
> For starters....if you make it through the
> testing. Do NOT be one second late.

Good points,

Do you know if NS checks an applicant's motor vehicle records and credit reports as part of the hiring process? I know some firms check them, while others do not check them. Having a few DWI convictions probably wouldn't be a plus for a conductor or engineer trainee, either.

Yeah they check your driving record, if you get caught even lying about a speeding ticket they will ask you to leave right them and there, honesty is the best policy when trying to get a job with them, they may be hiring but its no skin off their back to not hire anybody at a session cause they will just hold another session at a later date, they can be as picky as they want, and trust me they will be, my hiring session had 100 people in it and only 7 got hired. out of those 7, only me and one other are still here, and that was just over 3 years ago, 2 were fired and 3 quit, 2 of them quit within a year and a half of being hired, one was within 8 months

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/02/14 19:58 by SlipperyWhenWet.

Yeah, they wouldn't want me. I used to work in a business (broadcast media) where having a work history of being fired was a PLUS. (It meant that you knew it wasn't a permanent job, but a "gig") been fired, been there, done that! At least seven times! Even my wife said, (after the third time, or so, "you're getting good at this!") once I even was fired by phone while on vacation! ("Hi honey, just got fired, enjoy the rest of your vacation!")

They don't want independent thinkers, no sir. Those creative types are dangerous! (Lol)

I went to a NS hiring event once, early 1980s, and after the event started the men in the black suits up front told the horror stories of the tough life of railroading, all hours of the day and night, missing family events, birthdays, working on short notice, oh and if you can't pass a P test leave now".

About half the room got up and left. And that was in the early 1980s. Can't imagine the process these days... (Can we have a DNA sample please?)

Back in my high school days, my first "gig" was working in a meat dept. Qualities that would get you hired as a meat cutter were things like missing fingers, scars,etc...