Milano

13 minutes ago, goliver28 said:

For the safgard website to order those shows, it says to allow 24-72 hours after appointed to order the shoes. Does anyone know if weekends are included in those hours? I was appointed on Friday.

It takes longer than they say. I don't remember how long it was but don't worry about it being broken... It'll work eventually. I don't remember if it was 3 business days or two weeks... But it wasn't 72hrs.

Order the CAT Boots if you want something true to size.

On the subject, plan on possibly having to buy your own shoes if theirs don't show up in time to do the climb of the train .. And plan on buying your own uniform clothing as well because that can take 2- 6 months to show up 

2 hours ago, Jericho said:

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.

I know this might sound a little unbelievable but welcome to transit @goliver28.   Jericho is giving you accurate info. 

22 minutes ago, Jetgator3 said:

Do anyone know what bag we need for the April 10th class? 

There's no specific bag required, a regular backpack will do for the beginning.

I have the kaka 40L bag but it's too big. If I had to do it again I'd get a swiss gear bag. 

28 minutes ago, Elvis Gonzalez said:

Took my 1st pre employment on 03/24 where they took drug test...how long it takes for next steps 

You'll forget when you took it by the time they call you, usually..

If you don't hear back in 80 days or so give them a call to schedule the second one.

4 minutes ago, Pkk said:

Wow that’s rough . Respect to all of you that went through it

Some people love it. Brings a lot of overtime sometimes, and you get to see something different everyday.

Just now, Pkk said:

When you say I can start at the Bronx today and Coney Island tmrw, do I sign in at the Bronx first then travel to Coney Island? Or do I report directly to Coney Island the next day then sign in?

Every starting location has a sign in sheet.

1 minute ago, Mohamed said:

Thanks appreciate it

I'm excited for you, man. It wasn't long ago you and I arguing about your OPA results. Lol

Congratulations on the progress made!

4 minutes ago, Mohamed said:

During the 8 to 9 weeks training are the new hires off weekends? 

Yes. Everything is Monday to Friday

I don't know anybody who's done it but there's rumors that some conductors go to train operator school for four or five months just to get some weekends and then they drop back to conductor lol

Please note that you probably won't get holidays off. When I went to school even though we had the weekend and a normal Monday to Friday schedule, we still had to work Labor Day, etc

1 hour ago, Pkk said:

Thank you all very much the quick and honest replies. Which job is more stressful t/o or conductor? I know t/o are paid more than conductors. But sometimes money isn’t everything. My frds have frds or family who got t/o and conductor positions lately and all quit due the scheduling and other stuff you mentioned. Trying to get to know all the negative side of the job before I decide to jump into it. Once again very much appreciate it.

I think they're equally stressful. It's just different stressors.

Thinking about it, it might be a little more stressful to be a conductor because there's a whole ton of things train operator could do that the conductor can get banged in for. There's not a lot that I can think of that a conductor can do to cause a train operator to write a G2.

Our partnership on the train is a check and balance. There's 12 specific things, if the train operator does then we're supposed to pull the cord and report it. There's nothing that we do that would cause a train operator to pull a cord.. on one hand you don't want to get your friend in trouble, on the other hand if somebody's watching you're going to get yourself a trouble.

2 minutes ago, Pkk said:

Can you give me a few examples of where new hires get toss around? Is there employee parking?  If it’s street parking do you put the vest in the dash and just leave it in the streets? What’s the avg time before new hires can pick their work locations? Are there breaks in between the jobs to use the restroom? Thank you I appreciate it.

First of all you have your division. A or B. A division is the number trains, B division is the letter trains. Within that division you could go anywhere. You can start at Bedford Park boulevard in the Bronx today, and Coney Island stillwell avenue tomorrow. As extra extra, you're covering the people that are covering the people who book off. There's actually jobs specifically picked to cover people's days off, (RDO relief ) and people's vacations... (Vacation relief) Then you have extra list who covers unexpected absences. Then you have extra extra who covers the unexpected absences of the people who cover the unexpected absences, pretty much.

Some places have employee parking. Most don't. The vest in the window is frowned upon by the MTA officially and that's all I'll really say about it publicly. 

You'll have plenty of down time.  If you really need a bathroom break You can request one on the radio, stop your train and run for a bathroom. Just try to remember where the bathrooms are when you ask. Most station agents will give you their key to use their restroom, hopefully all you have to do is run right to one of them near your train rather than go upstairs and run a half a mile to a bathroom... Lol.  You will usually have 20 to 30 minutes minimum before your next train leaves. Sometime you only have 8 minutes, sometime you stay on the train and go right back out... But if you pick up the radio and call the dispatcher and say I need a "comfort" then you can have a moment to run to the restroom. Everyone's been where we are and some of them actually remember where they came from. 

4 hours ago, Pkk said:

What’s the starting pay for conductor? Do the new hires get thrown around all of nyc for the first few years? Work night and weekends? Is overtime mandatory? What’s the typical amount of hours a new hire conductor? Thank you

Some of these been answered... But I wanted to point out...

As far as the schedule is concerned, overtime isn't more than an extra hour usually  The nature of working on a 100 year old system with 2000 members of the public in tow - that's what brings overtime.  Things go wrong; equipment breaks and people get sick or stupid. That's the majority of overtime. MTA will do their best to keep you at 40 hours but nobody can escape getting stuck behind a broken rail for 45 minutes and then hitting traffic the rest of the route.

In the beginning there's a lot of board time. This means because they have to schedule you 40 hours, you're coming in whether or not they have work for you. You might sit 3 hours until they assign you a job.. so you'll have 11 hours right there, minimum.

Overtime comes after 8 hours in a single day, not necessarily after 40 in the week, so even if you have 11 hours Monday and book off sick the rest of the week, you'll still have that time and a half.

Every six months comes the bids and picks. I came out in Sept and won a bid in January. I had a steady schedule that whole month. I lost mine because the person came back, but I have classmates still on their bid. A bid is where you get to pick an open job where someone's out for an extended period - usually due to assault, 12-9 (someone hit by a train) or an illness - or they bid on something else after the pick). 

They won't jerk you around too much on your regular days off.. meaning if they gave you Monday Tuesday you're going to stay on Monday Tuesday until they have a good reason to change it. They usually won't change your tour of duty, am pm or midnight either. It happens but I would say it's somewhat rare. Another thing that's nice here, they have to give you two consecutive days. They can't give you say, Sunday Thursday off.

42 minutes ago, Pkk said:

Pay is higher than conductor top pay decent medical but no pension 

Well we've got zero deductible zero coinsurance  zero copay. Actually, there's a $100 copay for ER visit. That's about it. I feel a lot better with the pension, even though it's tier 6.. because our government seems to change their mind every 6 years what they want to do with our social security money.

That's definitely a rough cut on your pay, but you will get a lot of overtime here If you need to catch up. 

Does your current job have good paths for promotion? 

You want to play a little game to see how it would be? Take the cut in pay out of your current paychecks. Put it aside and don't use it. Stick it in savings. See how it is to live on about $900 take home a week.

1 hour ago, Pkk said:

I’m on the same boat as you. I have my opa on 4/20. It’s been so long since I took this exam now I have think if I should quit my current job to give this a shot. This will be def be rough from 3-5 years but pension will nice. 8 years ago I would’ve taken it but now I have to think 

What's your pension plan and medical benefits like on the current job? 

That usually answers the question for most people the easiest. 

On 3/23/2023 at 8:02 PM, Elvis Gonzalez said:

So you get material that to study etc like books hand outs?...I ask because I have a very good job in the banking field that I'm willing to leave for this role...I got pre employment tomorrow...and I'm freaking out....do you recommend getting there very early!!

It's school. You're getting books, homework, instructors, tests and quizzes. Some of it's actually in a school building.

31 minutes ago, tsanchez2828 said:

I'm in Bogota NJ so not far from the city,and yea I don't know what to do if I get this position,I value time with my wife and kids and I know with the MTA it's basically gonna take a majority of my time away from them,money is is important but missed time with your family and the happiness you get from that is more important to me.if I was still in the Bronx it would of made it more easier on me.

First of all, it's up to every person to weigh the risk and rewards..  Living in NJ you will definitely be doing a lot of driving to start out. You're hardly ever going to finish on time here. I live in Orange County NY and I will not take a metro North to work if the job is scheduled to end within 90 minutes of the last train out of the city.

I'm driving 1.5-2 hours a day each way and I'm making less money here. It's not necessarily always about money either - but retirement. I'm here for the long term benefits, healthcare and promotional opportunities.

You'll have to decide strategically if this will be better for the family long term. I think it will be great for mine but I understand the first few years is going to suck.

3 minutes ago, noekozz said:

How crazy was it for you schedule wise for the first year or two?  And how are you feeling so far?  Stressful?  Enjoy it?  Did you get to pick a location based on where you live in the beginning or do you have to go to the yard they send you to?    Thanks.

Plan on your life being upside down for at least a year and a half. 

They will schedule you at random locations all week long and you will start early in the week and as the week comes closer to your day off they're going to put you on the jobs that finish you at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning on your day off.

Still a good feeling for me, not really stressful other than the sleep schedule and figuring out the commute. The job itself is always great. The people that we work with are mostly great. The schedule and the commute is the infinitely variable thing that just needs to be reconciled with.

41 minutes ago, Lov3 qu33n said:

They reached out a while back the told me last number appointed was 7#99. Not sure what number they’re at now but getting called to do something is hopefully a step in the right direction and thank youuuu. When the lady this morning said “first pre employment” I chuckled. Like wow they’re multiple    🤭😂

It's good for 90 days.. so what happens is... If you don't get into a class in 3 months you need to go for another.  Basically just so they can drug test you again and check any updated job history.

If you're still there try to find someone who you can exchange phone numbers with... If I didn't do that I wouldn't be working here today... because this person actually called me to say they got their offer for employment - and with a list number higher, they didn't give me mine!! That was a great heads up to have. They ended up in my class. Funny how things work out. 🤷‍♂️

17 hours ago, Lov3 qu33n said:

Foot ain’t even in the door yet and it’s a hassle. Lol. I just dropped my application in the mail to get my original GED replacement. I’ll update tomorrow. Fingers crossed. 

It's all a hassle until you get on a train by yourself. The whole beginning of this thing is a hassle. I don't know if that's by design or through incompetency, but that's how it is. It'll be worth it.

42 minutes ago, Comrade96 said:

business casual is acceptable

"it's generally accepted that business casual is a relaxed version of formal business wear. For men, that means doing away with ties and swapping suits for slacks, button-downs, and blazers. While for women, knee-length skirts, dresses, smart slacks, and blouses are great choices"

Some people don't know what business casual is, so here's a general idea from the Google

13 minutes ago, Comrade96 said:

so because transits week starts from sunday..... april 2nd would be your "first day", The first real day would be orientation the following day

This is true. My class began August 1 last year but we're the 7/31 class because 8/1 was Monday

2 minutes ago, Lov3 qu33n said:

Just wanted to update. I called and was told they do need the original GED document. Olha told me to come to pre-employment that’s scheduled. She said they will need it for finally processing once they get to my list number. I’ve already filled out the document for a new one and will mail that in today. Thanks again everyone ☺️🙌🏽

All they really need to do is look at your forum posts. Your sentences are done properly, good formatting proper punctuation... That's all I would need to see to know that you've got probably more education than a lot of the people down here. 😂

Lol I jest - there's actually a lot of really smart people down here. But some of them come from the deep end of the dumb spectrum and it's just astounding lol. Most people have a brain. 🙏

54 minutes ago, Mohamed said:

Question, I am going over the work history part of the application and I see they are asking for the supervisor phone number. I don't remember those number because those job were 8 years ago, is it ok to leave that blank? 

Google the company number or make one up. They're not calling anyone. Don't leave things blank because they might make you do it all over again

7 minutes ago, Lov3 qu33n said:

Lol. I feel like they make an everything complicated. 😮‍💨. I have no idea where that GED is at and if I apply for it wait time is 8-10 weeks. Bummer. I’m bout to just not go. Smh 

Not available online, perhaps a transcript from the school/program that gave you the GED?

Not to be a jerk but you should know where your important documents are. Get a safe. Keep birth certificate, SS card, ged, marriage certificate, will, vehicle titles in there.

Don't stress if it's really that much a hassle tho - go in with what you got, find that guy Kevin running around and see if he can help you before you get up to the window.

Alternatively, call olha and seek guidance from her.

And you're right, they do make things needlessly complicated. Welcome to gov't work.

When I found out I spent 6 hours there for a drug test that they're only going to send out to lab corp.... I was kind of pissed that I couldn't just go to LabCorp and get it done in an hour.

47 minutes ago, Lov3 qu33n said:

I have a question. The email said they needed my GED however I seem to have misplaced it. Can I bring a photocopy of the GED along with my college transcript? 

They don't want your college transcript. Just bring an original GED. If you had a college degree you could bring that instead of a high school diploma or GED.  I brought my college degree and they didn't want to see my high school diploma. I know exactly what guy they're talking about and somehow I got on his good side. Maybe I'm an a****** too lol 🫣

2 minutes ago, ThaVision107 said:

This is absolutely correct. But the truth is Life eventually catches up to us all at some point. That’s why it’s key to always plan ahead. This is a great job and for some a great career. For others it’s a stepping stone. I don’t know what it for me yet, but I will work my cards to my advantage either way. 

Well good luck. And if you become friends with me out there on the road, don't break my heart and get fired for smoking weed. 🫣