Keep trying and good luck! From what I have heard and read, railroads such as BNSF and UP have done some minor laying off. Sounds like the economy is a bit weak...
Yeah, it is... Aside from retail, the only offerings here are either medical or I.T. My background is 20+ plus years of electronoics tech. From submarines, toll roads to oil fields, and DirecTV, lol. im not putting in for the typical conductor positions. but rather comms, signals, and this new one, in northern cali as a bridge operator. I have to say, I am no fan of the application via internetz. call me old school, but having been in management/supervisory roles for a very long time... I'd much rather, at the very least, have a personal glimpse of a prospective employee. rather than just looking at a resume. the recruitment world seems to change on a daily basis, as far as what recruiters are looking for in a resume... My current resume is 4 pages... the highlights of the highlights of the highlights... I know that I am far from alone in that. Most, in my age group of 40 to 50+ have accomplished enough to fill 10+ pages in a resume. This bridge controller job... requires lots of maritime and railroad comms and coordination between maritime vessels and bnsf. im very well versed in maritime comms and coordination... the railroad side and ops, I can learn quickly... My point is... the maritime stuff, no room on resume, but hopefully resume reflects willingness and ability to learn... but then you look at what recruiters look for, short resumes etc etc etc... as I said... I'm in no way a fan of this online crap... gimme a name and email of the appropriate manager, I can go from there. Rant over. And thank you.
Resumes are a tricky thing. I know my training was to write concisely, to the point of "bullet points," so mine stays fairly short. One trick I have been educated on is to look at the requirements and job description posted with a vacancy and try to (honestly) include "key words" from those in the resume. Of course, I moved from enlisted to civilian within federal service, so resumes are first screened by computer specifically as I said. Apart from that, persistence pays. A position I had been in was discontinued a while back, so I was left temporarily jobless. Started throwing applications all over hoping something would stick. Just before things would have gone bad, got a call from an office I'd interviewed at a long time back saying they had an opening and was I still interested? Keep trying, and maybe you too can get some serendipity.
Hi Eagle.. you being from the same town, know what I speak, as far as employment here. I moved down here after I met my late wife. worked for directv as a sup since '06... then took a site mgrs job with them over on the west slope in 07... Halliburton was hiring over in gj, so went back into my field.. you know what happened in 08-09... bossman farmed us up to rock springs wyo to keep us from layoffs but then they all but stopped. I left just before layoffs, came back here to directv as a sup again... buddy of mine convinced me to change jobs... turned out to be a bad move.... anyway... I've been looking for work between the springs, pueblo, and denver snce 2013...
I agree with what Eagle2 is saying. These personnel wonks are only looking at resumes for jobs they are currently trying to fill so they look only for "bullet points" or "keywords" that approximate the job(s)that fit that particular slot. There are probably tons of resumes for qualified people but if they don't match the pigeonhole the HR rep is working on, they just go into the "pending" file. Signal maintenance is tough to get into, but your CV sounds like you may have the qualifications. These guys are into high tech stuff now, fiber optics,narrow band UHF etc. If you are looking at I.T., that will be a tough nut also. Most of that stuff is in the BNSF HQ in Ft.Worth. That area is heavy in IT people so the carrier doesn't have to look far from home. The furloughs are in Operating Dep't. but that is an occupational hazard with Operating Dep't. If you can survive a furlough and/or chase your seniority around the system, BTW everyone has done it in one way,shape or form, you will probably survive to move to an inside job eventually. Loads of folks have done that. Story...better than half of my instructors at N.A.R.S. in Overland Park KS had M-Ed. degrees and they are/were ALL working conductors and engineers WITH SENIORITY! I have loved trains all my life, but once I started to "walk the walk" I discovered that it wasn't as romantic as I always thought. I still like trains but when I'm "on the clock" it's a job and I do the best I can and the way the carrier wants it done. You've undoubtedly heard there are 3 ways of doing things....The right way, the wrong way and the (ARMY,NAVY,MARINES etc)way. Well just substitute the name of the railroad in place of the military service and you understand what you are dealing with. I hope that you find a resolution to your job search. If it's a railroad, fine! If it's in another industry, even better. Best of luck, now get out there and "break a leg"!!
When I interviewed with UP the guy never looked up from his computer, asked me two questions, and dismissed me within 30 seconds. Worst interview I ever had, but somehow I got hired. I too hated the whole applying online thing, and I only had one company send me an email acknowledging that they recieved my resume. Not like the old days where you'd at least talk to somebody and give them a handshake and make at least a first impression. Along the same lines, there was a story on the news earlier today about a new phone app where you could meet your neighbors. Uh, maybe go outside and talk to them face-to-face?
Lol! no joke traindork... when I worked for directv, I went to help a tech on a service call... walked into a bedroom to check a set top box... 6 high school kids... sitting in a circle, completely silent, save for the odd laugh.... they were texting each other... nice convo... lol
I agree Boxcab... I think we share the same opinions on that... My son was one of... "those" in that generation... text only, xbox when away from his part time job delivering pizzas, sleep most of the day... his mother, (satans first born daughter.) Let him get away with it... then he moved in with me. he hit 20... I hauled him down to the military recruiters. I said pick one, you are going in, now. He chose the Marines. Myself.... Being a proud and retired Submariner... No... That didn't set well. But, it was his choice. I did warn him though. I told him that Marines tend to get up a bit early and run a lil bit each day... He made it... went to his bootcamp grad... flew out and saw him off on his first tour to Afghan... now hes on his second one there. He hasn't spoken to me in a few months... I'm assuming he's ok, as no gov vehicles have been here. I'm assuming he's a bit angry with me for forcing him into the military. And that's ok... I'm good with it..
Anywho... The more I think think about the bnsf bridge operator job... the more I'm loving the idea as that for a career... no, not getting my hopes up but... what could be bad about it? my two fav things! Boats/ships and trains! I'm all in! Lol Plus those lil norcal towns aren't bad... granted oakland sux as does sac... but... eh... it's ok... applied for work at the portland shipyards today as well, so... I forgot portland had shipyards, lol! never been there, always assumed it was landlocked lol
Although they'd been there a long time previous, I think Portland really hit it's stride as a port during WWII.
Lol... sad to say but... ive seen more of "outside" my country than in country... First trip to Florida was to pick up my RV... hence first pass through of southern states. I was based in rotten, Groton, CT, Pearl, and Bangor WA... Spent lots of time in other places away from home port.... sad that I was hours from Oregon.... never visited... socal, been there.. norcal... nope...
Portland is one of my favorite towns, I can GoogleStreets for the street where the people we used to visit lived.
Hi Charlie I've been there once when I was based out of Bangor, WA. My memory of it is very very vague at best. if memory serves, it rains in portland slightly less than the puget sound region.
I dont really recall a lot of rain, but I do remember the railfanning opportunities I had as a kid. I used to go down the hill way past the dairy. I remember some sort of single track where I saw an SP switcher moving passenger cars every now and then. Going a little farther, I got to the Portland Traction main line and there was a couple of steeple cab locos parked there that I climbed around on. I had the good fortune of being able to ride the Portland Traction both to Oregon City and Bellrose. Quite an interesting ride. Charlie
Good luck Shifty1 with your job search. Its tough out there but tough times don't last tough people do and you sound like one that can definitely weather the storm.
You will find the Columbia River and it's famous "Gorge" have an effect upon the Portland and vicinity weather. Known for such events as ice storms, when cold weather from eastern Washington flows west down the River.
Kind of odd the exchange of higher latitudes for lower elevations lol. I sit at about 6900 feet currently.
