Hiring process is insane

I feel like I should give up hope on my goals for CSX Employment. Hello everyone, within the past year, I made the decision that I was going to hard-charge for railroad employment, namely CSX. My father is a retired railroader and there is nothing else that I want to do. However, it seems that I've been consistently hitting a brick wall and I'm far past frustrated with this company. I have a four year management degree from a well known university, a voc-school associates degree, six years of military experience, safety experience, crash/fire experience, construction experience, investigations, just name it. Since the beginning of last year, I have applied for well over forty jobs with this company. Some of those applications are still pending in a year's time. I do want to mention that I haven't ONLY been applying for the administration side of CSX but I've even tried multiple attempts at freight conductor because I understand that sometimes one must get his foot in the door. Now, here's what's frustrating to me:

Denial, denial, denial, application pending review, application received/pending, brick wall. I mean literally, I have tried absolutely everything from freight conductor to contract compliance coordinator (experience in debt collection) including multiple applications to even attend more school with the company (Train Master, Contracts, etc). With my experience and degree I cannot advance anywhere with CSX when a friend of mine with no more than three years in the food service industry (Yes, McDonalds) almost INSTANTLY gets selected to attend freight conductor's school. Is this some sort of a joke? Am I overqualified to accept the absolute lowest positions CSX has to offer? I can't get in for communications maintainer, signals, or even track worker. The company claims to be military friendly well my experience there certainly hasn't advanced anything.

My question is, WHAT IS GOING ON? Why can't I get in? Where are things potentially going wrong? Should I continue to apply for jobs or slow down a bit? Can you see why this is frustrating when I've been trying a year and know people who have just graduated high school that almost instantly get in? I'm WILLING to start at the bottom and work my way up people! I'm out of ideas and am on the verge of giving up hope as stated earlier. Perhaps another railroad will be more interested in a enthusiastic employee with railroad retirement as a goal. Who knows.

The problem might be you. Putting in multiple applications for various positions becomes overly aggressive. I can tell you one thing there's no "absolute lowest positions" on the railroad every job is important. I think you need to make up your mind. Do you want management? Transportation? ect.....choose one not all.

put in one application of your choice, then follow up with phone calls until you get in. simple as that. worked for me in the past

"'I'm WILLING to start at the bottom and work my way up people! I'm out of ideas and am on the verge of giving up hope as stated earlier. Perhaps another railroad will be more interested in a enthusiastic employee with railroad retirement as a goal. Who knows."

So apply to another railroad.

You are over qualified. If what you say is true then you've got more going for you than my division supt. RR managers don't want smart aggressive people - they
want a mule who is just smart enough to get the work done, work without lunch break and give up easily on penalty claims.

There's a reason fresh grads and people with zero experience get hired right away--- they're teachable.

From what I gather, there can be much resistance to hire seasoned workers who have a lot of experience in this and that because they may have a 'know-it-all' complex and prove difficult to train and re-teach. There *could* be an assumption that you've developed habits from other job experiences that could negatively effect your ability to conform to new regulations and protocol. When safety is everything, having a 'yes man' is of greater worth than someone who will challenge the way things are done because they think they know better.

You mentioned you have a management degree-- well if you're applying for management positions, those jobs may only be up because they are required to post them, though they probably already have an internal candidate. Companies will always hire internally before ever looking outside- they're just required to post the position externally anyway- same goes for any position, really.

Being referred by someone already in the company also goes a long long way, so if you know someone who works there, make sure you list them as a referral.

I talked with a freight conductor here in SC about the job and he mentioned that CSX is only hiring military veterans at the moment.

I don't know how reliable that information is but it's food for thought.

choochoochunk wrote:There's a reason fresh grads and people with zero experience get hired right away--- they're teachable.
When safety is everything, having a 'yes man' is of greater worth than someone who will challenge the way things are done because they think they know better.

You mentioned you have a management degree-- well if you're applying for management positions, those jobs may only be up because they are required to post them, though they probably already have an internal candidate. Companies will always hire internally before ever looking outside- they're just required to post the position externally anyway- same goes for any position, really.

That's most likely true with the majority of railroads except CSX on hiring seasoned veterans for management. CSX likes their middle management ignorant the "yes man" factor. I had a friend who applied after 3 years as a conductor she was denied for knowing to much the woman at HR felt bad but had no choice. They don't want their trainmasters to question their authority. The only middle management position that still requires experience is the road foreman of engines. Which I've heard over time that position will be eliminated and consolidated into trainmaster duties.

If your aim is a non agreement position then apply to NS or CN or UP because they are going to ship you away anyway. Sounds like you might be blackballed at CSXT for being a little too aggressive. The don't want to hire railroad hobbiests or fans.

that info on hiring ex military people only right now is completely false, as i'm in week two of my redi training and have no prior military experience. most of my class doesn't. thought most everyone of us has some type of previous work experience in heavy equipment, manufacturing, trucking, or other factory or "non-office" jobs. CSX wants people who have worked odd ball shifts in the past, because you will be doing that here. i hope that helps.

Go down to your local Railroad Retirement Board and look at the job postings there. Since you're a vet you can put in for a job right then and there.

Agree with all the other posters. You seemed VERY unfocused to CSX by applying to so many positions. One person usually cannot be perfectly suited for 40 different jobs within the same company. 1 or 2 is plenty. I'm 1 for 1 with CSX. I applied for freight conductor, took the online tests, and got a congratulations letter offer to a hiring session, but I didn't attend because I already have a good job that pays better. It seemed like they were actively looking to hire me, they called me once to set up an appointment as well as sent an email, and called me to find out why I didn't attend session. I explained the pay was too low for me as a conductor trainee and too low because you only get percentage of top rate for 6 years, but thank you for the offer. My job qualifications line up exactly with the position as im a mailman now, work outdoors, all weather conditions including blizzards (most construction does not), varying shifts, mandatory OT, safety courses, etc. I also have a bachelor degree and put it in with my conductor application and that didn't disqualify me at all from being overqualified. I would try again at another railroad and only apply to 1 maybe 2 positions and make sure your a good fit. Also all that about military doesnt seem to jive, they want people they can push around and that can take the harsh, tough management style, very similar to the post office.