New Jersey Transit Trainee Locomotive Engineer

Hi everyone, I am new here, I just found the site and I am hoping someone can help me with information. I have an upcoming pre-employment test day for the role of trainee Locomotive Engineer with NJT. Can anyone tell me what the actual tests consist of ? First I will tell you a bit about myself.

I just moved to New Jersey from the UK to be with my wife who is from the US. In the UK I worked on the railway for almost 16 years, 13 of those as a driver for Northern Rail and First Transpennine Express. I currently still hold my train drivers license and PTS certificate until July 2017 ( though I know these won't mean much here ) so as you can see I have experience driving trains.

The reason for posting is my question above, regarding the tests etc, in the U.K. I had to pass psychometric testing which included mechanical reasoning, listening to and retaining information, group Borden test, reaction test, suitability interview etc, the whole process was over 2 days. Is it very similar to the one i passed many years ago ? Any help would be greatly appreciated

Jay

Also consider looking into Amtrak. They hire Engineers quite a bit.

Acela150 wrote:Also consider looking into Amtrak. They hire Engineers quite a bit.

Thank you, I did look at Amtrak, but there are no positions currently near where I live ( Montclair ), but I am happy to say, I attended the assessment today and passed, it involved Mechanical Comprehension, Retaining Information, Reading sentences and answering questions, Number sequences. Testing was similar to the UK, just no reaction testing and group borden.

They have been reposting the add for engineer for over a year. Applied every time it was posted and never got a thing for it.

Steve F45 wrote:They have been reposting the add for engineer for over a year. Applied every time it was posted and never got a thing for it.

I am sorry to hear that, I can only presume I was invited so soon because of my experience driving in the UK. My advice would be not to give up and keep trying

Now you just need to get the proper vernacular down. We don't drive trains. We run them.
Just busting your chops. Good luck.

anyone hear anything about testing? Just curious since the position was taken down within the last 2 weeks.

Hi guys, does anyone know how long NJT take to start their courses ? I passed everything at the end of October, I was offered the job subject to background checks, and even had my medical a week after being offered the job. Three weeks ago I had a phone call off background checks at NJT just to confirm start and finish dates with one of my old employers, and the lady said everything had been approved and was emailing HR to confirm this. Since then I haven't heard anything, I sent an email to the recruiter, just to ask if there was any updates, but I didn't receive a reply.

Steve F45 wrote:anyone hear anything about testing? Just curious since the position was taken down within the last 2 weeks.

Just heard back about a week ago. Going to take the aptitude prep test on 02/06.

Sidebar: anyone have any study material or advice for the aptitude Test for NJT Locomotive Engineer?

chrishendrix wrote:

Steve F45 wrote:anyone hear anything about testing? Just curious since the position was taken down within the last 2 weeks.

Just heard back about a week ago. Going to take the aptitude prep test on 02/06.

Sidebar: anyone have any study material or advice for the aptitude Test for NJT Locomotive Engineer?

Study material no.. Advice. Don't rush through it.

How much do njt engineers make?

I believe on the job description itself it said 27 an hour during LETP and then 39 an hour after graduation. That doesn't take into account for OT but those hourly rates should give you a good idea or at least a starting point.

So I have a question: I applied late last year. Then my status changed to pending testing. I had no idea about it until after I got a message from the HR recruiter about waiting until this pandemic is over before they continue with hiring. Just a few days ago, I checked again, and I see that my status changed to "invited to interview". Am I suppose to get an email or letter from them about this? What is the process? Because I don't want to miss this at all.

Bklyn01 wrote:So I have a question: I applied late last year. Then my status changed to pending testing. I had no idea about it until after I got a message from the HR recruiter about waiting until this pandemic is over before they continue with hiring. Just a few days ago, I checked again, and I see that my status changed to "invited to interview". Am I suppose to get an email or letter from them about this? What is the process? Because I don't want to miss this at all.

Heard anything back? I’ve done my interview and testing 2 weeks ago and haven’t heard back yet. Guess I have to be patient. Hoping to be put into the November class

@Qtransit, I too took the test about a week ago on September 25th. Have you heard back from them yet? I’m trying to be put in November class as well.