CN Rail Conductor Employment: I Can't Get Hired

CN sucks turkey balls. CP are a**holes. I used to work for them in the 80's, quit, re applied numerous times with other former employees and they didn't give us another chance. Applied numerous times at CN with top CP references and everything and they didn't hire me. Instead, they hired inexperienced 20 somethings fresh out of high-school or college. And to boot they would also hire people from the army which is BS. Favoritism anyone? And with all of these super anal cavity checks they are doing and don't tell you what they're looking into, is BS. You would have a better chance getting on with the CIA or getting on with NASA than to get hired by either Canadian railroad. You have to be of 3 categories to get in: Category A: Nepitism - if you're dad was a railroader, you could give the finger the entire time during the interview, pick your nose and pee all over the recruiter - you'll still get in. Category B: Army - if you were with the army, you will absolutely get top priority if you aren't related to someone on the RR. Why? The RR looks for bumb kissers and they know that a military man will do that - that's what a recruiter told me off the record. She said, "We like hiring army people because they will wipe our bumbs without question.". Category C: College or Trade School - if you have a mechanical trade or show zest and spark with a bright college education, you will also be given top billing. The railroads should completely abolish HR. HR is nothing but BS. They don't know their elbows from their assholes. And after reading about all of the screenings they do to hire someone, that just proves all the more that they more than absolute BS, BS and nothing but BS. Stay away from them. Go play the slots at the casinos. You stand a better chance of winning big bucks than getting on with CN or CP. Hell, you stand an even better chance of winning the Lotto 649 jackpot for 42 million dollars rather than getting on the railroad! Lol! Just give them the finger - one from each hand... I know I have.. They're a**holes. Human Resources suck King Kong's "ding dongs".

Newbie123 you are absolutely correct. The railroad IS an exclusive country club. And as for that one guy's brother who didn't get hired because he was in the looney bin for a month is total discrimination on the part of Human Resources. The apploicant can sue. To hell with them. The railroads don't get two thumbs up from me. They get two fingers. And I'm all the more proud to give them both fingers. Someone needs to set up a website that explains all of the BS that goes on with hiring practices. Maybe the media needs to be aware of this. Maybe the railroads are breaking rules when it comes to hiring. I would say that they are. Think about it the next time you give the railroad the finger like I do.

gp80mac wrote:

newbie123 wrote: But if HR doesn't know that, they'll assume that I sluffed around for 10 years. See? Assuming. Well if that's what they assume, then that assumption is going to get them into alot of trouble because it's simply not true. Everybody has circumstances. I'll keep trying while I work elsewhere in other trades. Lets just hope that if I finally get back on, it's not 1 month before my 65th birthday.

It is YOUR obligation to explain that gap in your work history (and that gap is probably hurting you). If you are going to wait for the RR to ask - they won't. They'll just throw your application away. Some railroads are also hesitant about hiring people with previous RR experience. They think you may have picked up 'bad habits'. And did you tell them you always wanted to work for CN? That makes you sound like a railfan.

This is all BS. If the railroads are going to be this knit picky about what you say, how you act, where you worked, how you worked, when, where, why, how you have gaps in work history, your family history, your health background, when, where, how, why, when you got speeding tickets, whether you missed a payment on a bill or credit card, checking your credit rating and finally sticking a rubber glove up the applicant's rear end, the railroad gets both fingers from me on all of those. Just HIRE the S.O.B. And let him or her PROVE themselves - like it USED TO BE - before ALL of this political RR red tape BS. I hope a bunch of applicants take the railroads to court or at least make serious examples of them on the media. They need it. This BS has been going on for far too long. Newbie123 is correct. A bunch of us would have to crawl back into the womb, come out, grow and reapply after we hit 18. That's the only way. If not that, then as soon as someone invents a time machine, use that as a mechanism and apply in the 60's and 70's.

bardk321 wrote:

Drewsj wrote:Dear CN railway workers:

I have an interview this coming tuesday. and I was wondering."What is the switch test about, and how do i study for it and what do i study on"? Pleas if someone can help me please help????

Sincerely,

Drew

The switch test is an 18 question test you have to take after getting interviewed. You get 25 minutes to take it and must get at least 7 questions right to be considered, even if you did really well on your interview.

Essentially, it shows a diagram of two tracks, a locomotive, some rail cars and a caboose. It might look like this:

LOCOMOTIVE - A - B - C - D - E - CABOOSE

The test will ask you to rearrange the train. For example, rearrange it so the train looks like:

LOCOMOTIVE - A - C - D - E - B - CABOOSE

The test will ask how the minimal amount of times you must uncouple a car, switch tracks, move the locomotive forward or move the locomotive backward.

In all, it's all common sense and problem solving. I didn't study for it and didn't even know what it would entail. I used up all 25 minutes and still had 2 questions left I had to guess on. However, I did pass and was offered a position with CN as a brakeman.

Also, just to help you out Drew, I remember all of the interview questions and their exact order, if you just want to get a feel for the interview. I can't guarantee they'll be the same questions:

01.) Why are you interested in working for CN?

02.) What do you think is the most important characteristic to have on the railroad?

03.) Have you ever worked in extreme weather conditions?

04.) How would you define “safety?”

05.) Say you observe a situation in which a co-worker is behaving in an unsafe manner. What do you do?

06.) How important is punctuality to you?

07.) Say a fellow brakeman you work with a lot is showing up late for work. What do you do?

08.) What is your experience with working irregular hours or on call?

09.) What kind of people do you find most difficult to work with?

10.) There are many other applicants out there for the same position. Why should we hire you?

Yeah well, That's interesting because I took the test on FOUR seperate occasions, I passed the first three times, knew the test backwards forwards, knew I got more than seven right when I took the test for the fourth time on a fourth hiring attempt and the BOZO RECRUITER SAID I FAILED. I failed huh? I know the system and all of its policies and I failed huh? Like hell I did. I asked the recruiter to show me my marks to show me WHERE I failed and the recruiter said NO. I smell a lie from the recruiter. So they are full of bear tirds. This same situation happened with other experienced personnel who applied as well. I tried other positions and they stopped testing me and calling me - expressing a personal bias towards me. A**holes. Their loss. Their stupidity. "CN is crying for people!", they say. Could have fooled me. False advertising anyone? Yeah, sure. I bet they are. Maybe they should state on their billboards "CN wants you! Only INEXPERIENCED NEED APPLY!" I have loads of buddies trying to get me on but it always stops at those H.R idiots. Many railroaders hate H.R. They are FULL OF IT and their eyes are as BROWN as their CN box cars.

ENR3870 wrote:

newbie123 wrote:I just completed an interview at CN for Conductor. I blew away the career battery tests and blew away the switch tests. I'm 38 years old. I was never a Conductor but always wanted to work for CN. I didn't get the job, just like the last time and the time before that and the time before that.

In 2005 CN was so short they were taking everyone who applied. Now that traffic has slowed down and the hiring they've done, CN can be a little more picky with who they hire. I know if I applied to CN now instead of 3 years ago with the experience I had at that time I wouldn't get the job.

BTW, if you think CN is hard to hire on with, you should see CP. I applied for a job with CP earlier this year, and was still rejected being a rules qualified conductor.

I know the feeling. I used to work for CP from 1984 to 1994 when I quit. Tried get back on when they had a hiring frenzy and wasn't rehired. I worked in the rail car and signals divisions - from one department to the other. Back then they hired you and tried you out - giving you a chance to prove yourself - not like the political RR BS that exists nowadays. I tried getting on as a Conductor, knew the layouts and rules of a Conductor and was ignored. That's a total crock.

I like the post of CN is one of the highest paying lines. Not really. When it comes down to brass tacks that big 40 bucks an hour 10hour day isnt much. If I run 10 hours a day under the current J contract I make more than a WC engineer, just about the same as an IC and under a GT guy. But not by much! Their attitude sucks and they treat people like cannon fodder.Try out for another railroad.

So instead of just saying you didn't work for 10 years, why didn't you say you provided in-home daycare. You developed a rigorous system to keep the children in your care safe, including maintaining important certifications(you said you were an emt?) to that effect. You scheduled activities that enriched the children growth, and planned a healthy and safe meal plan etc etc.

You never lied, you hit key words like safety, certification, scheduled and plan that HR people get all bright-eyed over.If they ask for verification, show them your tax forms and say simply "It didn't pay very well" and leave it at that. You have to try to think about what they want to hear, and how you can truthfully make yourself fit that. Don't lie, but don't be afraid to treat parenting like a job.