I attended the hiring session for Train Crew at St. James, MN. today. When I first got the email inviting me to the event, I saw that there were 25 seats. Today, there were 12 people in attendance. She said there are 5 openings and these openings would be filled from attendees from other hiring sessions as well. I'm guessing ages ranged from 24-44. There were all males. Most had on work boots, jeans, and a Carhart type hoody. 2 had dress casual--Dockers with polo shirt tucked in. All appeared to be Caucasian with the exception of a lone African-American (The only apparent minority in attendance). At least 2 of the 12 had a college degree; these same two were also veterans of the military. One man's father works for UP in Kansas City.
It started with the HR rep showing a video discussing the hardships of railroad life. Nothing new here if you do your research: on call 24/7 365, work all weekends and holidays, all weather conditions, seniority is everything.... She did mention how good and strong the retirement is; she said if everyone stopped paying into the railroad retirement today, it could still fulfill its obligations for the next 150 years. Health insurance? For $200 a month, after a $25 copay all of your medical bills are covered; doesn't matter if the hospital bill is $50 or $500,000. I think she said you pay something like $10 for you medications--a little more for non-generics.
Transfers out of your seniority district? At the beginning of the session, there was a PowerPoint asking, "How often does Haley's Comet pass by earth?" I guessed every 100 years. After everyone had time to guess, the next PowerPoint gave the answer: approximately every 75 years. At this time, the HR rep said, "This is how often the UP lets train crewman transfer outside of their seniority district." Moral of the story: Where you hire-on is most likely where you will retire. Don't hire on in Denver thinking you'll be able to transfer to sunny California, Florida, or anywhere else for that matter. Apparently, it just ain't so. St. Paul is close to St. James an I could grow old there. I do like the big city way of life.
Another thing I learned today is that the more senior guys like money also. I assumed senior guys would avoid the road and prefer to work the yard so they would not be away from home for extended periods. According to the terminal manager, the senior guys will take the road jobs leaving newbies to work in the yard where the pay is less. He also said a lot of other stuff but I don't speak railroad and it was all foreign to me.
Next came paperwork. We signed forms saying we acknowledge that if anything we say in the interview or wrote on the application is discovered to be false, we will be fired. There was also a form allowing them to check previous DOT piss test results for those with commercial driving experience. Finally, we got out the print-out of the application they tell you to bring and added anything we may have forgotten to mention. The UP has there own police force. I imagine they don't have much crime to fight--comparatively speaking--and will dedicate a lot of time to checking out prospective employees. DO NOT LIE AND THINK YOU'LL GET AWAY WITH IT. It would suck to get hired only to be fired 2 months in for failing to disclose you were arrested for dui 5 years ago. This is from someone who considered leaving a job off their application.
Next came the interviews. They were about 15 minutes apiece. My last name is towards the end of the alphabet so I was among the first 5 to be interviewed. I assume they sometimes go in alphabetical order in which case z does wait a while. I over prepared for the interview. Why do you want to work for the UP; Have you ever been on a safety committee; Have you ever been terminated; Do you understand how crappy the working conditions can be; Do you understand how erratic the schedule will be; Why should we choose you.
Then I went home.
Now a question. True to the HR reps' word, my status updated to "You are an alternate." She said to expect this because there was to be a meeting at HQ to decide which classes were to be funded. The message at the UP site also says they could just be waiting on funding. Do you think anyone got an email today saying " Thanks for interviewing but we are not going to hire you?" Or did everyone get the "You are an alternate" and rejection letters will not go out until after funding is finalized.
It started with the HR rep showing a video discussing the hardships of railroad life. Nothing new here if you do your research: on call 24/7 365, work all weekends and holidays, all weather conditions, seniority is everything.... She did mention how good and strong the retirement is; she said if everyone stopped paying into the railroad retirement today, it could still fulfill its obligations for the next 150 years. Health insurance? For $200 a month, after a $25 copay all of your medical bills are covered; doesn't matter if the hospital bill is $50 or $500,000. I think she said you pay something like $10 for you medications--a little more for non-generics.
Transfers out of your seniority district? At the beginning of the session, there was a PowerPoint asking, "How often does Haley's Comet pass by earth?" I guessed every 100 years. After everyone had time to guess, the next PowerPoint gave the answer: approximately every 75 years. At this time, the HR rep said, "This is how often the UP lets train crewman transfer outside of their seniority district." Moral of the story: Where you hire-on is most likely where you will retire. Don't hire on in Denver thinking you'll be able to transfer to sunny California, Florida, or anywhere else for that matter. Apparently, it just ain't so. St. Paul is close to St. James an I could grow old there. I do like the big city way of life.
Another thing I learned today is that the more senior guys like money also. I assumed senior guys would avoid the road and prefer to work the yard so they would not be away from home for extended periods. According to the terminal manager, the senior guys will take the road jobs leaving newbies to work in the yard where the pay is less. He also said a lot of other stuff but I don't speak railroad and it was all foreign to me.
Next came paperwork. We signed forms saying we acknowledge that if anything we say in the interview or wrote on the application is discovered to be false, we will be fired. There was also a form allowing them to check previous DOT piss test results for those with commercial driving experience. Finally, we got out the print-out of the application they tell you to bring and added anything we may have forgotten to mention. The UP has there own police force. I imagine they don't have much crime to fight--comparatively speaking--and will dedicate a lot of time to checking out prospective employees. DO NOT LIE AND THINK YOU'LL GET AWAY WITH IT. It would suck to get hired only to be fired 2 months in for failing to disclose you were arrested for dui 5 years ago. This is from someone who considered leaving a job off their application.
Next came the interviews. They were about 15 minutes apiece. My last name is towards the end of the alphabet so I was among the first 5 to be interviewed. I assume they sometimes go in alphabetical order in which case z does wait a while. I over prepared for the interview. Why do you want to work for the UP; Have you ever been on a safety committee; Have you ever been terminated; Do you understand how crappy the working conditions can be; Do you understand how erratic the schedule will be; Why should we choose you.
Then I went home.
Now a question. True to the HR reps' word, my status updated to "You are an alternate." She said to expect this because there was to be a meeting at HQ to decide which classes were to be funded. The message at the UP site also says they could just be waiting on funding. Do you think anyone got an email today saying " Thanks for interviewing but we are not going to hire you?" Or did everyone get the "You are an alternate" and rejection letters will not go out until after funding is finalized.
