LIRR Assistant Conductor Trainee

[Mlad18]

No you have to take the whole thing over again. Linda also mentions it multiple times even if you pass your good for one year only....There was a guy who i took the exam with in may he had passed the exam just never received a call email nothing. Had to do the whole process over again.

[Mlad18]

20 hours ago, Suffolkbull3 said:

Heyyyyyy FD, I did awesome man!! I got 100%!!!! i was sooo thinking of standing up and asking out loud which one is FD87 hhahahahaha... ok so enough about me, how did u make out man? im sure u passed as well??!?!! 

Did they mention anything about classes?

[Suffolkbull3]

7 minutes ago, Mlad18 said:

Did they mention anything about classes?

This is a great question and i will do my best to answer it mlad.. At the overview on june 11th they had us write down 2 dates for classes that will be starting. The first date was Aug 22nd and the second date was Sept 26th. At the test yesterday, after i found out i passed, i asked linda if it will be possible to be put in the aug class and she told me no because its full already. Then i said ok so then most likely ill be in the sept class and her reply was, What sept class? i dont know nothing about any sept class, this test right here is for classes that will start in jan and feb. 

 

It took me by major surprise hearing that from linda.... then when we were going over the hand and whistle packet, classes were brought up again and the instructor said that they are trying to have the sept class but it depends on funding. 

 

It was a major dissapointment. I dont understand how the instructor would know about a sept class but linda would not know anything of it...

 

Does anyone know how that works? or how they select dates for new classes??

[Wakada]

1 hour ago, Mlad18 said:

No you have to take the whole thing over again. Linda also mentions it multiple times even if you pass your good for one year only....There was a guy who i took the exam with in may he had passed the exam just never received a call email nothing. Had to do the whole process over again.

Then I still have another chance to redeem myself, that's all I needed to know. Thank you everyone and goodluck on your job, you made it this far, don't back out now!

[Member2016]

2 hours ago, Suffolkbull3 said:

This is a great question and i will do my best to answer it mlad.. At the overview on june 11th they had us write down 2 dates for classes that will be starting. The first date was Aug 22nd and the second date was Sept 26th. At the test yesterday, after i found out i passed, i asked linda if it will be possible to be put in the aug class and she told me no because its full already. Then i said ok so then most likely ill be in the sept class and her reply was, What sept class? i dont know nothing about any sept class, this test right here is for classes that will start in jan and feb. 

 

It took me by major surprise hearing that from linda.... then when we were going over the hand and whistle packet, classes were brought up again and the instructor said that they are trying to have the sept class but it depends on funding. 

 

It was a major dissapointment. I dont understand how the instructor would know about a sept class but linda would not know anything of it...

 

Does anyone know how that works? or how they select dates for new classes??

That's just a taste of the miscommunication you will encounter working here be prepared .....and they have been hiring alot of people lately so get in while you still can 

Edited July 17, 2018 by Member2016

[Noob]

2 hours ago, Mlad18 said:

No you have to take the whole thing over again. Linda also mentions it multiple times even if you pass your good for one year only....There was a guy who i took the exam with in may he had passed the exam just never received a call email nothing. Had to do the whole process over again.

@Mlad18 are you saying he never received a call/email after passing S & D exam or cognitive exam?

[Mlad18]

1 hour ago, Noob said:

@Mlad18 are you saying he never received a call/email after passing S & D exam or cognitive exam?

After passing the s&d 

[fd87]

54 minutes ago, Mlad18 said:

After passing the s&d 

That’s crazy. Linda told us to be expecting an email around October. I wonder what grade he got on his test and if that even makes a difference?? Mlad are u waiting also, if so when did u take and pass the S&D test?

[Suffolkbull3]

1 hour ago, Mlad18 said:

After passing the s&d 

Any idea what the reason would be that someone never gets an email of any sort after passing the sd test?

[Mlad18]

No idea...and that’s why it’s all up in the air with what class we will be in. I’m from the may 21st group and we have yet to hear anything. What we were told was June might be filled and to expect August/sept class. Even if there was a sept class to say you would have been in there wasn’t a guarantee there was another group before you and let’s not forget it’s only 24 people to a class there are others who don’t make the 24 cut but are on top of the list for the next class. There was a group before us and I haven’t heard from anyone on the forum from that group saying there in a class

Edited July 17, 2018 by Mlad18

[Member2016]

32 minutes ago, Suffolkbull3 said:

Any idea what the reason would be that someone never gets an email of any sort after passing the sd test?

Classes get full or there is a long gap between classes and some people who passed get forgotten about 

[fd87]

1 hour ago, Member2016 said:

Classes get full or there is a long gap between classes and some people who passed get forgotten about 

Damn that’s crazy. Do you know what your score was on the test? How many people passed in your group on the 21st

Edited July 18, 2018 by fd87

[Member2016]

14 minutes ago, fd87 said:

Damn that’s crazy. Do you know what your score was on the test? How many people passed in your group on the 21st

I took the test and passed almost 2yr ago I'm studying right now to qualify.....and no when I asked Linda for my test result she said don't worry about it you passed that's all that matters 

[fd87]

2 minutes ago, Member2016 said:

I took the test and passed almost 2yr ago I'm studying right now to qualify.....and no when I asked Linda for my test result she said don't worry about it you passed that's all that matters 

Your studying to qualify for conductor right.?How long did you wait from passing your test to actual going to school?

[Member2016]

10 minutes ago, fd87 said:

Your studying to qualify for conductor right.?How long did you wait from passing your test to actual going to school?

Yea I am and about a month or so my background check with my school was holding me up...background check process took the longest.....I took my s&d test in July and class was at the end of September

[fd87]

27 minutes ago, Member2016 said:

Yea I am and about a month or so my background check with my school was holding me up...background check process took the longest.....I took my s&d test in July and class was at the end of September

Ok thank you for the information. Just gotta hang in tight and be patient. Good luck on qualifying for conductor 👍🏻

[Suffolkbull3]

I have to say im really quite surprised that many people who have passed the sd test still have yet to recieve any sort of email after passing their sd test.. With that being said, Does anyone know if the panel interview and/or the hand written assignment they give u after u complete ur test have any effect at all on your overall standing with the lirr? 

 

Do those two things count for anything?? Does anyone know? The only thing i know is that i watched linda going over my hand written assignement and she was actually writing down some sort of number for my answers to each question. So maybe the panel interview and hw assignment account for more than we think??? 

 

Anyone know for sure?

[Two2Go]

49 minutes ago, Suffolkbull3 said:

I have to say im really quite surprised that many people who have passed the sd test still have yet to recieve any sort of email after passing their sd test.. With that being said, Does anyone know if the panel interview and/or the hand written assignment they give u after u complete ur test have any effect at all on your overall standing with the lirr? 

 

Do those two things count for anything?? Does anyone know? The only thing i know is that i watched linda going over my hand written assignement and she was actually writing down some sort of number for my answers to each question. So maybe the panel interview and hw assignment account for more than we think??? 

 

Anyone know for sure?

I think it's a safe bet that the written assignment and the interview count for something; they wouldn't waste their time doing them if they were for nothing. I don't personally know of anyone that passed the S&D and then never got the job, but some people do get called before others. I was one of the 6 that passed with bp98. Of the six that passed, 5 of us were in class together, and the 6th guy was in the class after us. His background check ran into some issues that took a long time to sort out. I know of another guy that took the S&D test with a bunch of my other classmates but was hired for a class that started almost 6 months after us. He doesn't know why it took so long to hear back, it just did. Perhaps he didn't do as well on the interview as my classmates did, or perhaps it's just luck. 

Long story short, I can imagine a scenario where someone just passes the S&D but performs so poorly on the interview that they decide to put his application on the back burner, and he eventually just gets forgotten about because they have other, better applicants ready to go.

 

On an unrelated note, I was in Hillside earlier this week and saw a tentative copy of all the upcoming classes (not just for A/Cs, but also for Qualifying Conductors, Block Operators, etc). Everything is tentative obviously, but the August class, as of right now, has been assigned the same instructor that bp98 and I had, which is awesome for anyone that gets into that class. The September class was on the schedule but I don't recall seeing if an instructor was assigned. Nothing is set in stone, not even the Qualifying Conductor classes. They have 2 classes for Qualifying Conductors in September, but then the ones after that (Oct. and Nov.) might get cancelled. Remember, the training department does a whole lot more than just train new A/Cs. Just be patient and they'll hopefully get you into a class soon. They have done a LOT of hiring recently, so I don't know how many more people they really need to add at this point. We've been here just over 2 years now and have nearly 300 people under us on the roster, it's crazy.

[Suffolkbull3]

14 minutes ago, Two2Go said:

I think it's a safe bet that the written assignment and the interview count for something; they wouldn't waste their time doing them if they were for nothing. I don't personally know of anyone that passed the S&D and then never got the job, but some people do get called before others. I was one of the 6 that passed with bp98. Of the six that passed, 5 of us were in class together, and the 6th guy was in the class after us. His background check ran into some issues that took a long time to sort out. I know of another guy that took the S&D test with a bunch of my other classmates but was hired for a class that started almost 6 months after us. He doesn't know why it took so long to hear back, it just did. Perhaps he didn't do as well on the interview as my classmates did, or perhaps it's just luck. 

Long story short, I can imagine a scenario where someone just passes the S&D but performs so poorly on the interview that they decide to put his application on the back burner, and he eventually just gets forgotten about because they have other, better applicants ready to go.

 

On an unrelated note, I was in Hillside earlier this week and saw a tentative copy of all the upcoming classes (not just for A/Cs, but also for Qualifying Conductors, Block Operators, etc). Everything is tentative obviously, but the August class, as of right now, has been assigned the same instructor that bp98 and I had, which is awesome for anyone that gets into that class. The September class was on the schedule but I don't recall seeing if an instructor was assigned. Nothing is set in stone, not even the Qualifying Conductor classes. They have 2 classes for Qualifying Conductors in September, but then the ones after that (Oct. and Nov.) might get cancelled. Remember, the training department does a whole lot more than just train new A/Cs. Just be patient and they'll hopefully get you into a class soon. They have done a LOT of hiring recently, so I don't know how many more people they really need to add at this point. We've been here just over 2 years now and have nearly 300 people under us on the roster, it's crazy.

Thank you so much for sharing all that info. Its very much appreciated!

[Noob]

@Two2Go did you really see block operator class scheduled for August?! I have been waiting since March 28 to get into the book of rules class. out of 12 people, 8 people went into April class and 4 others were left behind including myself.

[Two2Go]

8 minutes ago, Noob said:

@Two2Go did you really see block operator class scheduled for August?! I have been waiting since March 28 to get into the book of rules class. out of 12 people, 8 people went into April class and 4 others were left behind including myself.

Honestly I was looking at it for the Qualifying Conductor class information, so I wasn't really paying that close of attention, but I believe it was September for the Block Operator class. Again, the whole thing was labeled tentative, so don't get too excited. 

[fd87]

32 minutes ago, Two2Go said:

I think it's a safe bet that the written assignment and the interview count for something; they wouldn't waste their time doing them if they were for nothing. I don't personally know of anyone that passed the S&D and then never got the job, but some people do get called before others. I was one of the 6 that passed with bp98. Of the six that passed, 5 of us were in class together, and the 6th guy was in the class after us. His background check ran into some issues that took a long time to sort out. I know of another guy that took the S&D test with a bunch of my other classmates but was hired for a class that started almost 6 months after us. He doesn't know why it took so long to hear back, it just did. Perhaps he didn't do as well on the interview as my classmates did, or perhaps it's just luck. 

Long story short, I can imagine a scenario where someone just passes the S&D but performs so poorly on the interview that they decide to put his application on the back burner, and he eventually just gets forgotten about because they have other, better applicants ready to go.

 

On an unrelated note, I was in Hillside earlier this week and saw a tentative copy of all the upcoming classes (not just for A/Cs, but also for Qualifying Conductors, Block Operators, etc). Everything is tentative obviously, but the August class, as of right now, has been assigned the same instructor that bp98 and I had, which is awesome for anyone that gets into that class. The September class was on the schedule but I don't recall seeing if an instructor was assigned. Nothing is set in stone, not even the Qualifying Conductor classes. They have 2 classes for Qualifying Conductors in September, but then the ones after that (Oct. and Nov.) might get cancelled. Remember, the training department does a whole lot more than just train new A/Cs. Just be patient and they'll hopefully get you into a class soon. They have done a LOT of hiring recently, so I don't know how many more people they really need to add at this point. We've been here just over 2 years now and have nearly 300 people under us on the roster, it's crazy.

Thanks for this information. It helps out a lot .

[bp98]

6 hours ago, Two2Go said:

I think it's a safe bet that the written assignment and the interview count for something; they wouldn't waste their time doing them if they were for nothing. I don't personally know of anyone that passed the S&D and then never got the job, but some people do get called before others. I was one of the 6 that passed with bp98. Of the six that passed, 5 of us were in class together, and the 6th guy was in the class after us. His background check ran into some issues that took a long time to sort out. I know of another guy that took the S&D test with a bunch of my other classmates but was hired for a class that started almost 6 months after us. He doesn't know why it took so long to hear back, it just did. Perhaps he didn't do as well on the interview as my classmates did, or perhaps it's just luck. 

Long story short, I can imagine a scenario where someone just passes the S&D but performs so poorly on the interview that they decide to put his application on the back burner, and he eventually just gets forgotten about because they have other, better applicants ready to go.

 

On an unrelated note, I was in Hillside earlier this week and saw a tentative copy of all the upcoming classes (not just for A/Cs, but also for Qualifying Conductors, Block Operators, etc). Everything is tentative obviously, but the August class, as of right now, has been assigned the same instructor that bp98 and I had, which is awesome for anyone that gets into that class. The September class was on the schedule but I don't recall seeing if an instructor was assigned. Nothing is set in stone, not even the Qualifying Conductor classes. They have 2 classes for Qualifying Conductors in September, but then the ones after that (Oct. and Nov.) might get cancelled. Remember, the training department does a whole lot more than just train new A/Cs. Just be patient and they'll hopefully get you into a class soon. They have done a LOT of hiring recently, so I don't know how many more people they really need to add at this point. We've been here just over 2 years now and have nearly 300 people under us on the roster, it's crazy.

Feels like just yesterday we were brand new A/C's.  Crazy how time flies.

[Member2016]

33 minutes ago, bp98 said:

Feels like just yesterday we were brand new A/C's.  Crazy how time flies.

What class are you 16-4 or something ?

[TomLirrAC]

On 7/16/2018 at 1:11 AM, Two2Go said:

Yes, you absolutely need to have your signals and definitions, as well as your buzzers, train horns, interlocking whistles and hand signs memorized perfectly. They're going to throw a lot more information at you once class starts, and they will not be happy if you can't even get something as simple as signals and definitions right. Get them down perfectly now, you're going to be happy you did in a couple years when it comes time to qualify. 

 

The first two days of class are just a generic new employee orientation. There might even be new hires from different departments in the room with you. On the third day (Friday), the actual class will start. You'll be given stuff to memorize verbatim over the weekend. On that Monday, you'll be quizzed on everything you've been given so far. It's not a test that can cause you to lose or job or anything like that, but it's a quiz for the instructor to see where you're at. The instructor will go totally nuts if people do badly on that quiz (and all the other quizzes that he or she will give out as class goes on). Remember, you only have about 5 weeks of class for the book of rules...it's a lot of information for such a short timeframe.

@Two2Go I really appreciate that information man. What happens if you fail any of the exams?