Question on NS Employment

My sisters boyfriend has been working for Norfolk Southern for about a decade. He recomended I check out the site and get an idea of what a conductor would be doing. Im intrested in becoming a conductor but what could help me get the job? Do I need to go take training courses at a college before applying to start their training program? Any help would be great guys.

I wouldn’t waste my money on that. If they want to hire you they will send you to school and pay you also.

If you decide to hire on, and NS accepts you, they will pay your way to McDonough GA to THEIR training center, pay your a wage while there, and all the way through the On the Job Training (OJT).

NS is SAFETY first, more so then any other company I know of, and they mean it.

Welcome aboard!

I applied to 18 locations and so far got 2 not intrested.. its been like 4 days since I applied.. Im trying to find what exactly gets their attention. lol.
I have a clean record of everything including driving violations. sighs. What other companies would you guys recomend if you were not with NS?

jgallaway81 wrote:If you decide to hire on, and NS accepts you, they will pay your way to McDonough GA to THEIR training center, pay your a wage while there, and all the way through the On the Job Training (OJT).

NS is SAFETY first, more so then any other company I know of, and they mean it.

Welcome aboard!

not quite on yet

I don't think there is any ryhyme or reason. Sometimes you get the call and sometimes you don't. With NS I applied for conductor positions in 15-20 locations and I got invited to 3. The 3 I got invited to were the closest to where I live. The one I finally got hired for was closest to where I live. I don't know if they look at it like that or not. With the UP I got an offer for a conductor position out of Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN which is far from VA so maybe they don't do it the same way. Hwever I do reccomend that you try and apply close to home because you have to go to the hiring session, and if you are lucky enough to get a CONDITIONAL job offer then you have all kinds of appointments to get physicals and stuff. Sometimes they can't get those done close to where you live if you live out of state.

I wish you the best of luck.

musicmarine wrote:I don't think there is any ryhyme or reason. Sometimes you get the call and sometimes you don't. With NS I applied for conductor positions in 15-20 locations and I got invited to 3. The 3 I got invited to were the closest to where I live. The one I finally got hired for was closest to where I live. I don't know if they look at it like that or not. With the UP I got an offer for a conductor position out of Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN which is far from VA so maybe they don't do it the same way. Hwever I do reccomend that you try and apply close to home because you have to go to the hiring session, and if you are lucky enough to get a CONDITIONAL job offer then you have all kinds of appointments to get physicals and stuff. Sometimes they can't get those done close to where you live if you live out of state.

I wish you the best of luck.

thank you for your information, I applied at a good number of locations and ill just have to wait

UP doesn't seem to care where you're living in relation to the hiring location, but NS does (I was conditinally hired with both but chose the thoroughbred). Although I know some folks from NS have applied and were hired at a location far from their home, I think that's the exception rather than the rule. I applied in a few places with NS and didn't get the green light until a location 30 miles away from my address showed up online.

NS pays $100 dollars per day while in Phase 1 training, but your first check won't be until about 21-28 days after starting, so keep that in mind. In Phase 2-4, you'll make $500 per week, but the training away from home terminal helps as you're reimbursed mileage at 48.5 cents per mile. Sure makes a nice supplement to the $700-$750 you make per check (once per two weeks) after taxes are taken out.

We're way short on conductors in my home terminal so the money should start rolling in big time once I'm qualified and marked up. Yes, as was mentioned it's all safety out here and nothing less. If you have any safety related jobs prior to hiring, make sure you stress that on your resume and during the interview itself.

NS surely wants people who live close to what will most likely be their home terminal. But the biggest gift you can give yourself is to get to know one or two current employees in that area and have them tell you what other terminals you have operating rights in under your district. Because chances are slim, but still exist that they may cut the list and you as bottom man might get laid off. This way, you can position your living situation between two terminals. It may end up meaning a half hour drive to work rather than a five minute drive, but sure beats getting laid off and forced to another terminal and driving an hour to that one for a year or more. Remember, NS does not gaurantee the conductors board (at least not here in NKP B district) so it costs nothing for a supervisor to stock the list so he has the freedom to run any train any time and not have to wait on someone unrested. He doesnt care that you may sit by the phone for a week without work, but the older guys on the list may push for it to get reduced in size, meaning you have to either take a lay off or find a new terminal in your district.