Railroad Forums 

  • UP - Transportation Management intervew. I am 43. Too old?

  • General discussion about working in the railroad industry. Industry employers are welcome to post openings here.
General discussion about working in the railroad industry. Industry employers are welcome to post openings here.

Moderator: thebigc

 #1262228  by tatohead
 
Hello,

I have applied to the UP several times over my career, since it seemed right up my ally (Logisitcs, Supply Chain mgnt background). I am not really a "foamer" (if I understand that term correctly), just lots of interest in Transportation.

Got an invitation to an interview later this month. After finding this site and reading through LOTS of posts, I really see nothing but negative reports.

I am 43. I am in excellent physical shape, no background problems, no substance background, etc. I guess I want to know 2 things:

1. Am I really too old to get hired?

2. Do I really WANT to get hired? The reports here seem to indicate endless hours and endless abuse.

I'd love to hear genuine opinions. Thanks, folks :P
 #1263682  by JCitron
 
Welcome to the Railroad.net forums!

I can't speak specifically regarding this job, however, age discrimination is a no-no according to the equal opportunity laws and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). As long as you meet the requirements and can do the job, then there is no reason not to hire you.

At your age of 43, you have plenty of working years ahead so I wouldn't worry about it.

John
 #1263686  by slchub
 
Sounds like you have your degree already.

No issues with your age and the UP would not show interest if your background/experience did not fit with the profile. UP is a good company to work for on the Mgt. side of things. In the transportation arena you'll deff. work lots of hours, weekends, holidays and be tied to a phone. If your idea of fun is dropping everything onto the lap of your wife an a seconds notice as well as phones calls at 2:00 am then go for. No need to be a foamer for this career. The fact that you don't have the mentality of a foamer will allow you to concentrate on the task at hand instead of wondering where that Rio Grande motor is on the system.

Good luck
 #1263691  by scottychaos
 
Here is the interesting thing about "negative reports" on the internet..this applies to anything.
Only people with something to complain about bother to make posts on the internet complaining about it.
People with good things to say seldom post about it.
You buy a new car, no problems! running fine, nothing bad to say..you arent going to go on-line to find a discussion forum to say how nothing bad is happening.
But the same car, another buyer has issues..not happy..quick! to the internet to complain! ;)
then people doing research see only the bad things..and they think "its all bad" because that is all they are finding to read about..
meanwhile the 90% who have no complaints simply never went online to say they have no complaints..
So using the internet, you might think its 90% bad and 10% good..when reality could be the exact opposite.

Another interesting internet phenomenon I have across the past few years..
I am also changing careers! going back to school at age 45 to become a Network Administrator.
looking up job prospects on the internet the past few years: doom and goom..its horrible, dont bother, its saturated, stay away, do anything else, etc etc etc..
nothing but negativity..meanwhile, actual job postings exist in large numbers..I know people doing it and they like it just fine.
So why all the on-line negativity that seems out of proportion to reality? I think its a combination of the first thing I mentioned:
1. Only the complainers and negative people get on the internet to talk about it.
but I suspect there is also something else going on:

2. I suspect, but cant prove it, that there are people who are purposely posting FAKE negative reviews, about all kinds of possible
career paths, in an effort to keep people away from the field! The people who are already in the field want *less* competition
for jobs..they dont want more people coming in! So its easy to pepper the internet with "doom and gloom" posts about how horrible
a particular occupation is..then google makes those posts easy for anyone to find! all it takes is about 5 fake complaints, and thousands of potential people
could consider something else...sure, many of the negative stories are probably true! ;) obviously not every negative person is lying..
(and probably the majority are not lying)
but I have seen enough of this, in job fields I know for a fact need lots of people, that I suspect some of this is going on.
Its probably a small percentage, but I think its real..

my advice for people considering a new career..find real people to talk to about it.
dont rely on random posts from people you dont know on internet forums..
IMO, the internet is getting more unreliable all the time, when it comes to this kind of thing..

Scot
 #1263797  by trvr815
 
Good replies here. I will give you a stat and that's the attrition rate for new transportation managers. Within the 1st 5 years is 70%. There are many factors to why this is but the job is going to be a challenge on many levels.
I'm currently at UP. I have my bachelors in management and working on my MS in supply chain and logistics. I would assume to take a job in corporate at some point.

Good luck.
 #1264680  by Thunder
 
Train master jobs are the toughest IMHO. You have no union protection and you are the bottom of that hill that excrement rolls down. But the good news is, if you do everything right and can hack the BS you can move up.I have a friend who was a TM at CN who is now a Super at CP. Still a lot of BS and getting yelled at from higher ups, but he can roll some of that downhill to the guys beneath him. Good luck!! When I was in freight we got a guy in his 50's as a conductor and in passenger now we hired a 60 year old guy. Age is just a number, ability is what counts.