BriTish

That's exactly the impression I got. It's a beauraucracy down there. What the HR dept does is what they do everyday. As soon as I got my problem taken care of, I could've went down there and taken care of my transit business instead of making a bunch of phone calls to nobody. I suggest getting there before noon because if you want to drug test, you need at least three hours to spare; and the HR people go home at 1600.

In my last post, i discussed how I was getting no positive feedback from caling HR by phone. Either no answer, or straight to voicemail, or straight to a full voicemail box. I have to be in that May 18th class. What should I do to get another appointment? I decided to blitz their phones. I started calling every two hours. If I got a human, I would tell them my name and situation. They would subsequently tell me that it's not their responsibility and they would transfer me to the right party. That transfer always led me to a voicemail box. There, I would once again leave my name and situation. Plan is to have them hear my name & voice so much that it becomes annoying to the point that they would have to deal with me to get rid of me. On Tuesday the 14th, I started my attack. Every two hours, call one of the numbers I have, get sent to voicemail, state my case, rinse & repeat. On Wed the 15th, I make a 0930 call to a Ms Robinson, who totally catches me off guard by picking up the call after three days of talking to a full voicemail box. I explain my situation, and she tells me to come in tomorrow at 0730 to start the process again. For some reason, I folow that by saying 'maybe I could come in today?' She then tells me that she would see me if I came in before noon. Needless to say, I got there at noon, and three hours later, I had gotten past the most important step in getting hired: the drug test. Yes folks, that drug test. I estimate that at least close to half of applicants will fail. Look at the list numbers. Let's say a class holds 45 track workers. We've had one class thus far and one on the way. Persons are sworn in before class. If the 1st class of 45 has list #156 sworn in, 156 - 45 = the # of people who didn't qualify from first 156 applicants. That's way less than a 50% success rate, most of wich can be attributed to our country's infatuation with marijuana. Since it leaves traces of itself in your system for longer periods of time than other drugs, it's the one they catch people on. Your criminal record is not nearly as important as that drug test. I'm speaking from the perpspective of a former employee that has worked alongside a handful of ex-cons. My theory: Barring any medical hold, or a violent criminal history, if you pass the drug test, you're hired. To be continued..

Every time I called DCAS prior to otherwise, I got a message telling me that I was 'not on outstanding certification.' Until the day I called and the message said I was 'on outstanding certification.' I kinda panicked, but the last sworn in was still list #156. I checked my mail an hour later and the transit letter had arrived. Do with that what you will...

I resolved my license issues and although I don't yet have physical proof, I decided to try and make another appointment anyway. Well I called the number I was given last Apr 9. I was sent to an answering machine all day until about 1630. Someone on the line told me that they were not dealing with track workers this week and to call Ms Robinson tomorrow for further consideration. Needless to say, my discouragement level has risen ten-fold upon hearing that.

I want to say so much, but I'm a special case and I'm afraid what I say may hinder my acceptance. I'm a former transit worker. I resigned from transit pending disciplinary action.I did this after I signed up for test #3600, but before taking test #3600. I can remember discussing my aspirations of becoming a track worker with my TWU union lawyer and him handing me a resignation letter to sign and hand-in. In other words, I quit before they fired me, with the intention of coming back to the company as a Track worker. So to begin, my list number is 31*. Got my 1st letter for Apr 9 at 7:30. Being a former Transit worker, I rembered that the pass numbers in my original training class were in an sequential order based on who got their epic pass first. The first person through the hiring process got their epic pass first. In my class, it turned out to be the order in which we walked in the building the 1st day of the hiring process. How did transit know what order we walked in the building? When you initially get to the 5th fl at 180 Livingston, you will be ID'ed and given a number. That number determines the order in which you will be processed. I knew this and arrived at 07:00am instead of 07:30 in order to get the best position possible. I was like the second or third person there. At some point, they ask people to form a couple of lines. The one I was suppposed to be on was kinda long, so I waited for the line to diminish to about three or four people, then I got on it. (some people might recognize me already lol) I knew that no matter who's on that line, I'm gonna be dealt with first since I got my ticket first. Once they handed me the 21 page booklet, about ten mins passed before they started calling people by name from that long ass line. They call me third, which is how I know which order I came in the building. A manager approaches me a stand up desk and asks for all the required IDs (birth certs,visas,etc) Then he asks if I have any outstanding tickets besides parking tickets. My answer is yes, as my license is currently suspended from not paying a 'no inspection sticker' ticket back in 2005. The man pull out some paper and a highlighter, marked some things on it and handed it to me. Told me to call the number at the top once my issue was resolved and that he could not now guarantee that I would make the next class. He asked me to bring back physical proof that my issue was resolved. At this point, I've virtually paid all my tickets, but can't get physical proof until tues Apr 14th. At that point I'll call that number they gave me. They will probably schedule me to come in the very next day and I'll go through the process again, but I'll have lost the seniority position in my class that I would have had. That's if all works well from here. Like I said, I'm a former Transit employee who quit in lieu of being fired for a major infraction as far as Transit is concerned. I still have to jump that hurdle. To be continued...

"Outstanding Certification": is to be under review for the eligibility of actually being hired. "Not on an Outstanding Certification": is to actually be in a state of being "eligible" for hire when your list number is reached.

My list # is 314 and I just got my first letter to show up Apr 9th. I'm hoping drug test and medical happen on the same day. They are moving through the list quickly, since it seems they started taking people from the list in December 2014. I expect most people didn't get past the drug test, and the rest chose to keep their current situation. In any case, they are calling me sooner than I expected, but right on time nonetheless.