Amtrak A/C Positions

Hello everyone,

I know someone who is interested in pursuing a career as a conductor with Amtrak. I figured this board would be a good place for some information. We understand the Assistant Conductor is the entry level position. He is currently 27 years old, has a bachelor's degree in civil engineering, and has spent 4 years as a commissioned officer in the United States Air Force as a maintenance officer. As far as work experience besides the military, just a few summer part-time jobs here and there.
I understand that Amtrak tries to hire veterans, so would being a veteran boost his chances? About how competitive are the job opening for A/C? And could someone explain the hiring process? How qualified do you think he is for this position?

Thanks!

HammerJack

Check your PM's.

HammerJack wrote:
About how competitive are the job opening for A/C? And could someone explain the hiring process? How qualified do you think he is for this position?

I know this is a bit late but hopefully my answers can help you out.

The process is simple:

* Apply
* If they like you you'll get an email from an HR rep with a link to take their culture fit assessment online.
* If you pass that then you need to go for the testing session.
* If you pass that then you go for the strength test.
* If you pass that then you get an interview.
* If you pass that then you're off to Wilmington, DE for 8-10 weeks of training.

I've been a sucker and have applied for maybe six or seven A/C jobs over the last seven or so years. Out of that I've gotten to the interview stage three times. The last time I did this (within the last year) the person from HR mentioned that several thousand people applied for the job and I was apart of two small groups that were going to test for the job.

The CFA and the testing session are both super super easy and Amtrak has been using the same testing materials for several years now. What could stand in your way more than anything is that Amtrak obviously (from what I've heard) gives a lot of weight to current employees looking to get into this or any craft and you will seemingly always find multiple current employees at the testing sessions. I've seen everyone from station cleaners to call center reps to coach cleaners. In my mind if you're in a testing session of fifteen and half the group are current employees you're more or less cooked. Also note that a fair amount of time will pass between each step and you need to be very flexible. Example being that when you get a call with the testing date (usually start at 8 or 9am on a Tuesday or Wednesday) if you can't make it you're done. When you get the call from the 3rd party company that handles the strength test you need to be wherever this takes place (80 minute drive each way for me) at the time they assign to you or you're done. You might have a little flexibility with the interview regarding the time but not the date.

The person you're referencing is to me probably over qualified for the job. Best of luck and hopefully you get there but if you do it won't be easy and the process is a real PIA.

I applied for an A/C position out of Baltimore. My question is this, how long from the time you apply do you receive a response? If you are not considered for a position do they let you know, or will you just not hear anything. Also if you apply for multiple A/C positions will that hurt your chances? I was also thinking of applying for the position out of DC, but wondered if that would hurt my chances. Thanks.

So I noticed the A/C position I applied for in Baltimore has been reposted on the Amtrak Careers website. What does this mean? Should I reapply for the position?

DanK,

If Amtrak is interested in bringing you in for an interview etc. They will now send you an assessment. It includes a personality test, as well as tests relevant to the job. Also, Amtrak posted an AC job out of DC today.

My suggestion, is to apply to anything they post. Get your foot in the door and use your seniority to move around. To give you an idea on how hard it is to get in to Amtrak, I just hired for an R&I Clerk job and start on January 15th. I'd been applying to work for Amtrak for years and it took hundreds, if not thousands of applications. As for the job being reposted for Baltimore, it means that they are pooling candidates. Basically getting more people. If you go to Apply to the same job it'll tell you that you've already applied.

Also if you want any more information shoot me a PM and I can try to help out.

Thank you.

"My question is this, how long from the time you apply do you receive a response?"

Usually if they're interested you'll hear back from them fairly fast. In my personal experience I never had them contact me a long time after a job was posted.

"If you are not considered for a position do they let you know, or will you just not hear anything."

You'll hear nothing. You can get to the interview stage for a position and they sometimes will still not contact you if you didn't get the job.

"Also if you apply for multiple A/C positions will that hurt your chances?"

No

Lefty33 wrote:"My question is this, how long from the time you apply do you receive a response?"

Usually if they're interested you'll hear back from them fairly fast. In my personal experience I never had them contact me a long time after a job was posted.

This is incorrect. Many job reqs are posted well in advance in order to build a pipeline for a new hire class which may be several months out.

Congrats to those starting soon. FYI, I completed my second assessment of about 18 months of job seeking at Amtrak. The first one was shortly after my first application. Over 12 months of applying (and receiving rejections) later in December 20017, I got another one for two A/C and one Locomotive Engineer. This assessment sounds like what you all received. It was very heavy in mathematics. As of today I received no call or follow up and my job management status is still at "Thank you for participating in a critical step of our recruitment process. If you are successful you will be notified of next steps in the process."

I'm not too optimistic about it, but I keep trying. Regardless, I do believe persistence pays off. I see many of you have been applying for many, many years.

I recently received a conditional offer from the Chicago Transit Authority. Pay is much less to start, but it has good union, benefits and a nice route to motorman. Free travel on the system is also a plus. Assuming I pass the background test, I'll be glad to make my career there.

So I applied for the A/C position out of Washington. The next business day I received the assessment which I completed and returned. The following day I received a notification that I would be scheduled for the physical test. How hard is the physical test? Not worried, just curious. I watched the videos and it looked easy. Anyone who has taken the test know?