(CSX) I'm in Trouble and i need some advice..Please

So, i got the interview yay!! But wait I'm am still on these dang military orders. I talked to my supervisor and he said he would let me go to the interview so I can fly down but then I will have to be back bright and early the next day for class. Well that's all fine and dandy but if i get the job What about the physical, strength, and drug test? And to top it off They are not located in the state i am curently in ( was thinking i would just test were the people here test).....and I still won’t be done here until January 18 maybe a little sooner maybe a little later can they just say thanks but no thanks we don’t want to have to wait for you to get off orders or is that illegal

http://www.esgr.org

Not sure because technically even if they give me an offer it’s a conditional offer from what i have read. I’m so confused should I just not go?

and If i do go should i just be straight up with them about the situation at the interview? (seems like a good way not to get the job) or wait an see if the extend me an offer?

Hi Carly,

I'm going to slip this into the Employment Forum, you will get better help there more quickly.

Lots of Luck!
Charlie

Are you in the Guard or regular service?

If you are in the Guard you may (very little ) have a chance. Regular service yet to be discharged, no chance. You have a commitment/obligation with the military that the RR will not wait for.

I'm not sure I understand why you would apply for a position and take away an opportunity for another applicant to be offered the interview when you are not in a position to really interview for it.

I would not waste your time and money on the interview, etc. I would contact CSX and let them know that your military obligations have kept you from interviewing on said day and that you will reapply in the future. Get discharged, get your life in order, find out where you want to live/work with the RR and then apply. You'll find alot of similarities between the RR and the military and the last thing you want to do is screw around with either one.

It would help if you had a discharge date set in stone. If it's Jan 18th give a week or so go to the interview and explain it. CSX is a military friendly railroad.

1. I am in the reserves

2. If i waited until my life was in as you say order I would have to wait until i get out of the reserves which would be years from now

3. I'm not sure I understand why you would apply for a position and take away an opportunity for another applicant to be offered the interview when you are not in a position to really interview for it.

Really? Because i am in the reserve and i got called up on orders and I need a job too rather not collect unemplyoment
I dont the railroad is going to stop Hiring b/c i couldn't make there interview so i think the other applicants will be okay

4. I really thought it would take longer to get an interview 2 days was not what i was expecting at all

5.I would not waste your time and money on the interview, etc. I would contact CSX and let them know that your military obligations have kept you from interviewing on said day and that you will reapply in the future. Get discharged, get your life in order, find out where you want to live/work with the RR and then apply
really?

Like i said i got called to active orders in another state that is how it is in the Military (even in the reserves) you do as you are told an go where you are told and smile about it. My family is still in my home state where we have a house and my husband works and were i am station. Trust me this is no fun for me i haven't seen my 21 month old in months and months! He cries and hands my husband the computer because he thinks that is were i live. Because the only time he sees me is on SKYPE

thanks for the advice

COEN77 do you really think i should thell them in the interview?

Carly,

Re-read my post, especially the part where I said: "If you are in the Guard you may (very little ) have a chance." You can also read that to be Reserves if you like.

You did not provide enough info. in your post. I had no idea that you applied to CSX prior to being called out (assumption on my part, as you did not state this is indeed correct). That said, you may have a chance.

CSX loves military people. Just go to the interview and tell them the whole story. Odds are that they will bend over backwards to hire you. Military experience gets people a lot of preferential treatment around here.

Carly

Honesty is the best policy. You're still over 2 months away from being released back to inactive reserve statis. By letting them know the circumstance they could delay everything till after the first of the year. I've read on here some people get processed quicker than others. Then some wait for months. The one issue would be the physical. CSX tends to try and knock that out of the way even if placing a person in a "hiring pool".

Smittytimes wrote:CSX loves military people. Just go to the interview and tell them the whole story. Odds are that they will bend over backwards to hire you. Military experience gets people a lot of preferential treatment around here.

VERY true. When I went to REDI in 08 to be re-safety certified after being off sick the place was full of vets. You're already hired, you just don't know it yet.

Carly,

Can we get an update as to how the interview went?

I don't know I understand the problem. I have been in the Army Reserve and the National Guard the entire time I have worked for the railroad. I am on my second deployment now, and I am an engineer for Rail America. Rail America has been very supportive of my military service. I keep the company informed of my drill schedule and notify my trainmaster of any changes; sometimes I tell them I need extra time (if I need to prepare for a TDY, etc.), and I have never been denied. But then I scratch the company's back if they ask me if I can work my days off.

Kevin, I agree. We have an AGR conductor with Amtrak and he gets his days/weeks/months/deployments off without a hitch here on Amtrak. The issue I brought up was the lack of uncertainty as far as the original poster gave as far as her deployment timeline. While the RR's have/are very military friendly, I don't think you are going to find an HR Rep. and local Manager give the thumbs up to a prospective candidate who says she may/may not be free to start training in January based upon her MSO, and oh, by the way, the CO says I need to be back at the base tonight to get back to work (out of state where the interview is being conducted and a plane ride away), so I may not be able to do a physical, etc. as required for the pre-hiring screening. She does not mention any Terminal Leave or Permissive TDY, and would therefore be obligated to the military for recall in the event she was called back to her unit while undergoing her training for the RR (initial Brakeman class), risking her RR job as a result. While she is protected, she has to complete the training program in order to perform her duties safely. How many times can she start/stop initial training?

While she is protected under USERRA, the RR or any other employer is under no obligation to hire an individual based solely upon his/her status as a member of the military. HR can be very ambiguous in its reasons for not hiring someone all the while side stepping any reasonable expectation to hire a candidate based upon protected status.

It's not like an alarm goes off, and you hop on a plane off to the combat zone. Guard and Reserve units know about a year out when they will be mobilized. Training schedules are produced for the entire year. Of course there are some changes; one weekend gets swapped for another for any variety of reasons. Annual Training dates get adjusted if the mission changes or if training resources are an issue; even then I don't think I've seen any drastic changes within a 60 day window. Better if I just explain my experience, so you'll get the picture. Keep in mind there are a few exceptions.

I volunteered to deploy almost a year before I got the call; I was not in the unit deploying; thereby volunteering to be "cross-leveled" if the deploying unit needed, or wanted me. Worst case: I'm currently serving with a few soldiers that only had as little as four (4) days notification before they had to report to the armory. Still, we didn't hop on buses and leave right away. First there was four day long weekend "cross-level integration drill," and if you didn't have to drive clear across the state, you could go home at night (if not, you stayed in a hotel at Govt expense). Then there was a three-week pre-mobilization annual training; followed by a ten (10) day break (un-paid). Then we got back on the buses and had another 45 days of stateside mobilization training followed by a four day pass. I guess it comes down to situational awareness. If you're paying attention and asking questions, you would know who is deploying and when; and if you're NOT in a unit set to deploy, ask your chain of command, "What are my chances of being transferred to another unit scheduled to deploy?" If "In trouble-needs advice" is a full time reservist, that changes things completely; and she would certainly have to know exactly what's going on within her unit.

In my case I was notified about the 30th of June that I was going to be cross leveled (actually, they asked me if I still wanted to go; implying that I could have said, "No." Then I had to take a physical and go through some other procedures. About the 26th of July I got the call to report on 4 August to my new unit for the integration drill. And here I am. When I redeploy , I'll have leave time saved-up, and when that ends; I return back to work on the railroad. But I told the carrier way back in the Spring that there was a chance that I might deploy.

Carly,

Can we get an update about your interview and if you were hired?

kevin.brackney wrote:It's not like an alarm goes off, and you hop on a plane off to the combat zone. Guard and Reserve units know about a year out when they will be mobilized. Training schedules are produced for the entire year. Of course there are some changes; one weekend gets swapped for another for any variety of reasons. Annual Training dates get adjusted if the mission changes or if training resources are an issue; even then I don't think I've seen any drastic changes within a 60 day window. Better if I just explain my experience, so you'll get the picture. Keep in mind there are a few exceptions.

I volunteered to deploy almost a year before I got the call; I was not in the unit deploying; thereby volunteering to be "cross-leveled" if the deploying unit needed, or wanted me. Worst case: I'm currently serving with a few soldiers that only had as little as four (4) days notification before they had to report to the armory. Still, we didn't hop on buses and leave right away. First there was four day long weekend "cross-level integration drill," and if you didn't have to drive clear across the state, you could go home at night (if not, you stayed in a hotel at Govt expense). Then there was a three-week pre-mobilization annual training; followed by a ten (10) day break (un-paid). Then we got back on the buses and had another 45 days of stateside mobilization training followed by a four day pass. I guess it comes down to situational awareness. If you're paying attention and asking questions, you would know who is deploying and when; and if you're NOT in a unit set to deploy, ask your chain of command, "What are my chances of being transferred to another unit scheduled to deploy?" If "In trouble-needs advice" is a full time reservist, that changes things completely; and she would certainly have to know exactly what's going on within her unit.

In my case I was notified about the 30th of June that I was going to be cross leveled (actually, they asked me if I still wanted to go; implying that I could have said, "No." Then I had to take a physical and go through some other procedures. About the 26th of July I got the call to report on 4 August to my new unit for the integration drill. And here I am. When I redeploy , I'll have leave time saved-up, and when that ends; I return back to work on the railroad. But I told the carrier way back in the Spring that there was a chance that I might deploy.

Spoken like someone who doesn’t have their wings  unlike other AFSC’s or MOS. We fly airplanes! So yes we have to hop on an airplane on more like a 24hr notice and we can be gone for days or weeks at a time. yes they try to make a schedule but it’s the military if something happens and let say oh they need extra helicopters in Afghanistan guess what they don’t give a flipping crap about the schedule you put the helicopters on your plane and you take them to the guys that need them or the supplies or weapons or the tanks or bodies home. When the president decides he wants to go to Ireland or Germany or Israel he doesn’t just show up yes he takes Air Force one but how do you think his stuff gets there? His limousines and SUV and the secret service and the dogs etc., etc. and guess what he doesn’t have to make a schedule he can go when he feels like it. So maybe you should pay attention: are jobs are nothing alike! become a flyer then maybe you will understand.

The interview went well. I got the job just now getting back from school took the physical and passed
just waiting on a school date. I was hoping to start on the 27 Feb but doesn’t look like that’s going to
happened they spent all that time waiting on me I guess it’s my time to wait on them LOL.. 