Jericho

If you read the earlier posts, I would highly recommend that you just reschedule the OPA and not cancel your trip. The OPA does not guarantee that you'll even make it to the drug test. There will be another open competitive exam for conductor on June 1st.

I received the letter yesterday as well. Honestly at this point, if your list number is around mine which is 10XXX, there is a very small chance you will be reached. The cynic in me think they're just still doing this just to grab the $25 you have to pay them to do the OPA. The going hiring rate seems to be about 50 people for every 500 applicants. Last hired is standing in the 7XXX range. And there's probably about a 120 conductors left to be hired with the April 10th class now inducted. I'd be very surprised if they even reach past 10000.

@goliver28 This is the thread he was speaking about.

As Milano mentioned, there are classes people within Transit can take to be eligible for the promotional exam. Conductors, tower operators, and bus operators are eligible to be promoted to train operator. Keep in mind as a conductor, you can also be promoted to tower operator and assistant train dispatcher

Your list number within your induction class determines the order of how you and your classmates pick divisions. However, there have been classes where everyone is thrown into the same division. There's a high chance you will be put on the extra board which is when you wait for an assignment. There are jobs that have overtime built in. Generally, the only time you would get forced overtime is if you are stuck on the road on your last interval or you are on WAA (work as assigned) at the end and you are told to make another trip that will end past your clearing time. You cannot be forced to work after your clearing time unless your train was rerouted to a foreign terminal or it's a declared emergency.

Yes, you are waiting for a pending court date to contest the ticket. However, you can't. You have to pay it off before you reach the day of the medical. Make sure to take the payment confirmation with you the next time you show up.

Yes, it needs to be paid off.

Expect to be bored.

Your tier will stay with you, but you will still have to work for 25 years to get the full pension. When your class starts.

I would go anyway. Depending on your list number, you may not make it to the April class

1. It matters within your class. Your seniority is determined once you are actually hired. Example: Someone with a list number of 254 can be hired in the May class, but will still be behind you in seniority and you will still pick a job sooner than they do. 2. AM, MID, and PM is usually the order that people prefer their tours.

You can change divisions when you are able to pick a job in the other division. After two years, you can go to the C division which is work trains where you can report to Westchester Yard or other various locations in the subway.

Yes, the A division is the number line and you will mostly report to the terminals and the yards in the Bronx. B division is the letter lines. Take a look at the subway map to get an idea on where you're going.

1. Your list/seniority number determines your place in line to pick division, and in the future jobs. Keep in mind, you may be XX for several years as many have been hired ahead of you at this point. 2. Pick the division that better suits your commute. You will find you will value the free time you have available over anything else. 3. Night differential is a buck and change. 4. Difficult in what way? If anything many that do come out prefer the midnight as it's less stressful during the day.

You may work a job on the D line at Bedford Park today making two round trips and then tomorrow, you can work on the Q line at Coney Island doing three round trips. Each day can be different with different reporting times and location.

Back during the pandemic, when there were open jobs everywhere, sure. With so many people hired at this point, it's highly doubtful as you'll certainly be competing with people who live in Staten Island and others from Jersey and they're not going to give a noob like you preference over someone who's been around longer. The best option you can try to do is when the next pick comes around, bid on as many vacancy jobs that are close to you as you can and hope you win one. Usually at the start it's 7AM for orientation and going over things like the rules and regulations, but it seems lately they like to start class at 6AM. However for conductors, usually you will switch over to 3PM-11PM as the morning is the time spent for train operator classes.

One thing I don't think they mentioned and you should consider is, you do not have a set schedule, location, or tour while you're XX. You may have Monday/Tuesday off on the PM tour, report to a job at Jamaica Center at 1PM on Wednesday, 230PM on Thursday at Coney Island, 4PM on Friday at Bedford Park, 515PM on Saturday at Euclid Ave, and then on Sunday, report to a job that starts at 7PM at Jamaica Yard. It's not your normal 8AM to 4PM, 4PM to 12PM, etc job that you may usually find elsewhere.

Yes, you will be required to do tests throughout your career. Every two years, you have to do the full medical exam all over again which includes a drug test. You can be sent for a random as required by the FTA. You will be tested when you're involved in an incident. As a train operator, you are subject to FTA rules and regulations. I had a classmate who was drug tested twice while in schoolcar so you never know.

Not to mention there are literally supervision and managers who do read these threads.

As Milano mentioned, it's in house. It's not just random tests either. If you become involved in an incident you will be subject to testing as well. You have to keep in mind, the position of conductor is considered a safety sensitive position and subject to FTA drug testing rules and guidelines. Also, if supervision suspects you are under the influence of drugs and alcohol, they will send you in for testing.

Yea don't go. If you test positive, you will not be in future considerations.

No, you don't have to go. Let them know you can't make it.

You speak as if the HR department actually cares. They're given a budget to spend on, they'll use it. Also, the list may not be out yet, but people can be hired/promoted provisionally until it is actually released.

It's in the notice of examination.

Please don't quote it either...