Exam 6601 Conductor 6601 Hiring Process

[nirv78]

I believe it was you Milano you stated that the person who got a 90 Seven years ago is no better than a person who would get 105 now…. 
 

I’m not sure when the next conductor examiners but if there is one coming up in 2023 does that mean that all the applicants from the previous exam are automatically thrown out???

[Milano]

Just now, nirv78 said:

I believe it was you Milano you stated that the person who got a 90 Seven years ago is no better than a person who would get 105 now…. 
 

I’m not sure when the next conductor examiners but if there is one coming up in 2023 does that mean that all the applicants from the previous exam are automatically thrown out???

I did say that.. but presumably if the list expired and people took the new test they'd possibly do better now that they know what to expect so it gives the old list people a leg up on the new people... But then you have legacy credits and all that which could potentially hurt former candidates too..   but really - if some guy came and scored higher than me on a new test and I didn't make it? I guess that's how it goes. You enjoy the age old wisdom of "wait your turn" -- what about "everyone doesn't get a trophy"?

 

Yes, they announced Open competitive conductor applications will begin in June for a new list.

[nirv78]

There is nothing meant personal here. But I do feel I have a valid reason to be frustrated and I also feel that the process is unfair. I feel that I’ve made some valid suggestions to the process that would improve things for both the applicant and the MTA and it’s processing of applicants. As they say… it is what it is.

[AlgorithmOfTruth]

1 minute ago, nirv78 said:

Like I said the sleep apnea issue is completely speculative. In other words the doctor has no clue if you have it but they just want to make sure. If that’s the case the school class would be empty cause everyone would be speculative of having it

Yeah, they want to rule it out completely. If anything, that benefits you. If you don't happen to have it, that's good. If you do have it, you'll be given time to fix it so you could not only feel better, but be in good health. This all comes without you having to worry about not making it into schoolcar. Try to feel calm in the mind about it. I missed the deadline to take the DSNY Sanitation Worker test last year and doing physical work driving the garbage truck really appeals to me but you bet that if I start the pre-employment process for that job and they put me on any kind of medical hold I'd address it before training because it will present itself when I'm working which is what you absolutely don't want. If you want this job, go through the steps and you'll be fine. If it's just for the paycheck... The stress is going to have a sit down talk with you man...

[Milano]

1 minute ago, nirv78 said:

There is nothing meant personal here. But I do feel I have a valid reason to be frustrated and I also feel that the process is unfair. I feel that I’ve made some valid suggestions to the process that would improve things for both the applicant and the MTA and it’s processing of applicants. As they say… it is what it is.

Processing of applicants is small potatoes. Like @BigMike85 said.. Wait until you get the job... and live in Queens but get sent to the Bronx every single day... And your classmate lives in the Bronx but gets jobs in the same tour in Queens everyday.  This place is an experience like no other, for sure. 

[nirv78]

That’s another thing you make a good point about these legacy credits and all these extra credits that you get on an exam.. That’s pretty unfair some sort of institutional nepotism huh?? …. It’s like having two marathoners  starting at two different starting points…One at the Verrazano bridge in Staten Island and the other entering the Queensborough bridge

[AlgorithmOfTruth]

4 minutes ago, nirv78 said:

There is nothing meant personal here. But I do feel I have a valid reason to be frustrated and I also feel that the process is unfair. I feel that I’ve made some valid suggestions to the process that would improve things for both the applicant and the MTA and it’s processing of applicants. As they say… it is what it is.

It's true that this process is unfair but try not to adopt this mindset going into that job. The  doesn't care how anyone feels and if you're not careful, you will personally feel like they're going after you in this position. The folks here who work RTO will let you know 100%.

[Milano]

41 minutes ago, AlgorithmOfTruth said:

It's true that this process is unfair but try not to adopt this mindset going into that job. The  doesn't care how anyone feels and if you're not careful, you will personally feel like they're going after you in this position. The folks here who work RTO will let you know 100%.

The truth is, in RTO things aren't terrible. It only starts to get bad when you deal with anything that's some sort of "office". I would venture to say maybe 85 to 93% of dispatchers and TSS  you run into during the week aren't bad. Just do your job and carry a little bit of positive energy. Like a 12-step program, one day at a time. It will get better!

[RTOMan]

On 1/6/2023 at 12:03 AM, Milano said:

The truth is, in RTO things aren't terrible. It only starts to get bad when you deal with anything that's some sort of "office". I would venture to say maybe 85 to 93% of dispatchers and TSS  you run into during the week aren't bad. Just do your job and carry a little bit of positive energy. Like a 12-step program, one day at a time. It will get better!

Well said brother..

Oh and one other thing...

If one is going to come down here with a defeatist attitude word of advice then..

Don't bother wasting the time...

All that will result in is a negative attitude which will result in incidents and you'll prob get dismissed..

Edited January 8, 2023 by RTOMan

[RTOMan]

On 1/5/2023 at 11:20 PM, AlgorithmOfTruth said:

It's true that this process is unfair but try not to adopt this mindset going into that job. The  doesn't care how anyone feels and if you're not careful, you will personally feel like they're going after you in this position. The folks here who work RTO will let you know 100%.

We will yet as some of us are seeing some of these new folks think "Im supposed to start close to my home"...

No you aren't they can try to accommodate one though yes.

This is a transportation industry if one wants to start close to home then get a job starting close to home...

[Milano]

8 minutes ago, RTOMan said:

We will yet as some of us are seeing some of these new folks think "Im supposed to start close to my home"...

No you aren't they can try to accommodate one though yes.

This is a transportation industry if one wants to start close to home then get a job starting close to home...

The problem here is the job is supposed to be based on seniority. If they can accommodate one, it should be #1. But they don't. It's random. The whole crew office thing is opaque.

[RTOMan]

21 minutes ago, Milano said:

The problem here is the job is supposed to be based on seniority. If they can accommodate one, it should be #1. But they don't. It's random. The whole crew office thing is opaque.

When i was XX for five  years it was the lower your XX number was the better you got treated..

I was living the life with weekends off..

Then i had to pick..

I wasn't able to SEE a weekend day off for 12 years..

Yet there is nothing in *Writing* saying they should go by that only try to accommodate as best as they can a trust me brother they do...

Those folks aren't the ones talking and the newbies see it and they start barking, because some folks gotta worry about what the other person is doing down here...

Instead of worrying about what they gotta do...

Those are facts...

Edited January 8, 2023 by RTOMan

[Milano]

26 minutes ago, RTOMan said:

When i was XX for five  years it was the lower your XX number was the better you got treated..

I was living the life with weekends off..

Then i had to pick..

I wasn't able to SEE a weekend day off for 12 years..

Yet there is nothing in *Writing* saying they should go by that only try to accommodate as best as they can a trust me brother they do...

Those folks aren't the ones talking and the newbies see it and they start barking, because some folks gotta worry about what the other person is doing down here...

Instead of worrying about what they gotta do...

Those are facts...

I started out of school with favorable locations most days... Favorable being anything not in Brooklyn.

Then the pick came and I'm in Stillwell every day. One day I get 145 and sent to Stillwell anyway. So my number got lower and my location couldn't possibly be more difficult to commute to.

I hear a lot of complaining about people in Coney Island don't want to work at Euclid and such... and they need an AM job and get pissed they can't have one.. I think that's ridiculous!  

I'm upstate and had I known we'd all be forced B division I might have waited.

I don't care AM PM MID... My only hopes are something not in Brooklyn and they can put me on any other job any time. Hopefully when the metro north is running but if it's not stillwell that don't matter either. I don't care about how many trips, I don't care how long my lunch is, I don't care if it gets late clears everyday, I don't care if there's weekends and GOs.. I just want to not spend 3.5 hours each way in my commute.

Luckily I won a bid at 207 so I'm gonna bark less for now. 😂

[RTOMan]

3 minutes ago, Milano said:

I started out of school with favorable locations most days... Favorable being anything not in Brooklyn.

Then the pick came and I'm in Stillwell every day. One day I get 145 and sent to Stillwell anyway. So my number got lower and my location couldn't possibly be more difficult to commute to.

I hear a lot of complaining about people in Coney Island don't want to work at Euclid and such... and they need an AM job and get pissed they can't have one.. I think that's ridiculous!  

I'm upstate and had I known we'd all be forced B division I might have waited.

I don't care AM PM MID... My only hopes are something not in Brooklyn and they can put me on any other job any time. Hopefully when the metro north is running but if it's not stillwell that don't matter either. I don't care about how many trips, I don't care how long my lunch is, I don't care if it gets late clears everyday, I don't care if there's weekends and GOs.. I just want to not spend 3.5 hours each way in my commute.

Luckily I won a bid at 207 so I'm gonna bark less for now. 😂

That's what drives me nuts them bid sheets are GOLD..

Folks are out here telling people go for it..

Nah they rather complain instead of at LEAST trying.....

[Milano]

2 minutes ago, RTOMan said:

That's what drives me nuts them bid sheets are GOLD..

Folks are out here telling people go for it..

Nah they rather complain instead of at LEAST trying.....

Please don't ever confuse questioning with complaining, though. I post a lot of questions about how to crew office operates but it's not necessarily a complaint. To me, if I understand what they're doing, then I'm good. It's the fact that it's all some sort of shroud of secrecy how it all works which gets people aggravated.. You know, I might not agree with how they do things, but if they told us how they do things I could at least understand it and accept it. 

Anyway yes, I have a couple classmates who didn't bid but they're certainly going to bid on the next one That just came out. It's the only guarantee you get in XX. Even if it's temporary. Even in the extreme case if I had to pick a job starting or ending  stillwell? Which you know I hate because I just told you - at least I can plan my day's better. This process of not knowing where you're going to be 48 hours ahead of time is rough. Any bid is better than that.

[RTOMan]

2 minutes ago, Milano said:

Please don't ever confuse questioning with complaining, though. I post a lot of questions about how to crew office operates but it's not necessarily a complaint. To me, if I understand what they're doing, then I'm good. It's the fact that it's all some sort of shroud of secrecy how it all works which gets people aggravated.. You know, I might not agree with how they do things, but if they told us how they do things I could at least understand it and accept it. 

Anyway yes, I have a couple classmates who didn't bid but they're certainly going to bid on the next one That just came out. It's the only guarantee you get in XX. Even if it's temporary. Even in the extreme case if I had to pick a job starting or ending  stillwell? Which you know I hate because I just told you - at least I can plan my day's better. This process of not knowing where you're going to be 48 hours ahead of time is rough. Any bid is better than that.

Man you aren't complaining brother its cool...

I wish i knew how those bid sheets worked was when i first started...

That's something that was never explained to us because they rather had us be XX slaves instead of bidding for jobs...

[RTOMan]

Oh and word to the Wise....

WATCH your SICK TIME and occurrences(meaning every time one books off without A Doctors Note after your 6th time one goes on sick control meaning if you want to get paid for the 1st day need a doctors note ) people....

Even when you are off probation...

You'd be surprised how many folks with not even fives years are on Sick Control...

Once you get on that it is hard as heck to get off it...

Oh and the 30 percentage(Home visits) as well which basically we start on that until one gets enough sick days banked we get 12 every may the 1st...

[alexx]

I'm trying to follow with all this but you veteran folks using all these key terms us newbies have no clue about

What is this bidding sheet I keep hearing about? For sick time, do you just walk in to the associated "mta" doctor, need an appointment or what?

How exactly does everything work? Any other fantastic information to include us newbies would be great. I'm personally super lost     , Haha, Thank you

[Milano]

59 minutes ago, alexx said:

I'm trying to follow with all this but you veteran folks using all these key terms us newbies have no clue about

What is this bidding sheet I keep hearing about? For sick time, do you just walk in to the associated "mta" doctor, need an appointment or what?

How exactly does everything work? Any other fantastic information to include us newbies would be great. I'm personally super lost     , Haha, Thank you

I just wrote you a two-page response and it disappeared. 🤦‍♂️

So forgive the short version. Ugh. 🤷‍♂️

 

This place has its own language and its own world that it exists in. The best way to learn this stuff is to hang out on your breaks in the dispatcher offices. A lot of this will be covered in school car, also. 

 

When you're sick you call the crew office, who is responsible for assigning work. They have a sick desk that handles this. The MTA has doctors on the payroll, and you don't deal with these people unless you absolutely need to. They're not looking out for you, they're looking out for the interest of the MTA. 

Every 6 months conductors and train operators pick what job they want to work. As a brand new person, you're too low on the list to pick anything. All the jobs are gone before they get to your number. So that's where vacation relief, extra list and extra extra list come to play.

After the pick comes a bid session. They publish a sheet with a list of all the jobs that have been vacated. Jobs are vacated usually temporarily by people who are out to recover from surgery, from assault, due to promotions or demotions or termination or retirement.. this is your chance to get something better.. So you fill out a sheet in preferential order of which of those jobs you would like, and you see what you get. When I did it, I picked 41 different jobs and I think I got my 14th choice. You'll keep that job for 6 months about... or until that person returns to work. Could be tomorrow, could be never.

 

 

 

Edited January 9, 2023 by Milano

[alexx]

1 hour ago, Milano said:

I just wrote you a two-page response and it disappeared. 🤦‍♂️

So forgive the short version. Ugh. 🤷‍♂️

 

This place has its own language and its own world that it exists in. The best way to learn this stuff is to hang out on your breaks in the dispatcher offices. A lot of this will be covered in school car, also. 

 

When you're sick you call the crew office, who is responsible for assigning work. They have a sick desk that handles this. The MTA has doctors on the payroll, and you don't deal with these people unless you absolutely need to. They're not looking out for you, they're looking out for the interest of the MTA. 

Every 6 months conductors and train operators pick what job they want to work. As a brand new person, you're too low on the list to pick anything. All the jobs are gone before they get to your number. So that's where vacation relief, extra list and extra extra list come to play.

After the pick comes a bid session. They publish a sheet with a list of all the jobs that have been vacated. Jobs are vacated usually temporarily by people who are out to recover from surgery, from assault, due to promotions or demotions or termination or retirement.. this is your chance to get something better.. So you fill out a sheet in preferential order of which of those jobs you would like, and you see what you get. When I did it, I picked 41 different jobs and I think I got my 14th choice. You'll keep that job for 6 months about... or until that person returns to work. Could be tomorrow, could be never.

 

 

 

Oh, I was curious as to if these are mentioned or not in school car because it was bought up that these info was unknown to newbies.

Nice info, noted! Thank you!

[AP-MTA]

I wonder if I should even bother with this anymore, took the OPA back in September after postponing my Jan exam date, seeing what initial pay and eventual top pay is I wonder if just working in a midtown hotel for about the same pay if not higher initially is a better idea then deal with what I anticipate to be a mess of a schedule and a bunch of nonsense being stuck in a train every day lol... Meh. List # 54XX 

Edited January 10, 2023 by AP-MTA

[Milano]

5 minutes ago, AP-MTA said:

I wonder if I should even bother with this anymore, took the OPA back in September after postponing my Jan exam date, seeing what initial pay and eventual top pay is I wonder if just working in a midtown hotel for about the same pay if not higher initially is a better idea then deal with what I anticipate to be a mess of a schedule and a bunch of nonsense being stuck in a train every day lol... Meh. 

What promotional opportunities do the hotels have for you? Do they offer completely free medical with no deductibles and no copays?

 

Also, if you're only looking at Transit standard rate of pay, you're only seeing half the picture. There's a lot of things that bring a day up to 16 hours, 20 hours, 23 hours pay.

Edited January 10, 2023 by Milano

[AP-MTA]

2 minutes ago, Milano said:

What promotional opportunities do the hotels have for you? Do they offer completely free medical with no deductibles and no copays?

I'm pretty sure the Hilton can match or nearly match anything the MTA has to offer. And I'm looking at a starting per hour rare of $28.75-$37.85

I'm just thinking about the insane repetitive nature of being a conductor... And this not so guaranteed "process" 

[Milano]

3 minutes ago, AP-MTA said:

I'm pretty sure the Hilton can match or nearly match anything the MTA has to offer. And I'm looking at a starting per hour rare of $28.75-$37.85

I'm just thinking about the insane repetitive nature of being a conductor... And this not so guaranteed "process" 

But is Hilton going to pay you 10 hours for working only an hour and a half? 

I made $28 an hour before I came to transit for $24.33.  My checks are bigger now. Even with that cut. Even with Union dues that I never paid before. 

It's your life and it'd be your sacrifice. I can't make your mind up for you but I would recommend it. If you can get through the initial crap you have to deal with. I travel 2 and 1/2 to 3 hours most days to get to this job because I see the value in it.

Edited January 10, 2023 by Milano

[AP-MTA]

2 minutes ago, Milano said:

But is Hilton going to pay you 10 hours for working only an hour and a half? 

I made $28 an hour before I came to transit for $24.33.  My checks are bigger now. Even with that cut. Even with Union dues that I never paid before. 

Do you think this is a better opportunity regardless then?

It's like I have a feeling that I jump on the hotel op, that my next steps in this would probably come up and I'd have to drop the hotel deal. What a dilemma.. 

 

 

Edited January 10, 2023 by AP-MTA