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MTA - Subway Car Mechanic employment questions from Australia.


tb7887

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Hello All,

 

I am new to this forum and would like to get some advice/input from some of you who work for the MTA/rail industry..

 

A bit of background on myself - I completed my trade as an Automotive Car Mechanic with 4 years study. I then went on to work as a car mechanic for another 4 years. I moved across to the rail industry about 5.5 years ago working on both the London Underground(Alstom) and in Sydney Trains as a Maintenace Technician.

 

I currently live in Sydney, Australia and work on Sydney's Metro Train as a Supervisor/Maintenance Technician (the equivalent to the MTA Subway Car Mechanic) in a maintenance yard/depot

 

I am looking at moving to New York and seeking apply for a position at the MTA as a Subway Car Mechanic.

 

I have a couple of questions:

Do you need to pass the exam to start work or can you start as a temporary worker then sit the exam later? My issue is I am in Australia so would need to time it so I can be in NYC.

Are the practical and theory on the same day?

 

Also, if anyone has any more helpful information or can direct to any information regarding the application process, that would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks.

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First of all, welcome to the site!

 

Second, to answer your question, you do need to take and pass an exam first. The practical and theory are not on the same day.

 

As far as the application process, your first step would be to check out this page on a regular basis. Fortunately, in your favor, the Car Inspector Examination is open for filing this month with the initial (aka 'theory') exam being given on Sept. 30th & October 1st, respectively.

 

If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to ask!!

 

~Young~

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Thanks, Young. I really appreciate your quick response!

 

Are you a Car Inspector?

How often do these positions become available?

I'd have to sort out my visa which may take a few months. Have only just started to look into it.

 

Again, I appreciate your help.

 

tb7887

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I'd have to sort out my visa which may take a few months. Have only just started to look into it.

 

tb7887

 

Yes, I would do this first..

 

Keep in mind you need a US Social Security Number to even apply for the job.

 

If you were to come to the United States to take the exams, you might encounter difficulty presenting non-US-based identification to the examiners. Notwithstanding, from an immigration perspective, it may be difficult to obtain the actual proper visa solely to take an examination as entering and taking an examination would likely cause an issue at passport control if you were to say you were a tourist (doing this has serious consequences if caught).

 

If you are able to clear the necessary immigration procedures, the MTA does hire provisionary employees if they have an immediate need for a specific title. However, you'll have to take the civil service examination at some point to become permanent.

 

Good Luck! and BTW, I am a probationary-bus operator.

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Thanks for your input, 161NewYork, I appreciate it.

 

I will do some more research on visas etc and how to go about it. I'm sure this situation has been encounted before.

 

Thanks again to you both for your quick responces. Its good to get some feedback from your side.

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Thanks, Young. I really appreciate your quick response!

 

Are you a Car Inspector?

How often do these positions become available?

I'd have to sort out my visa which may take a few months. Have only just started to look into it.

 

Again, I appreciate your help.

 

tb7887

 

No problem. I am not an MTA employee, at least not yet. I just have a lot of knowledge of how the employment process goes.

Technically speaking, a civil service examination, like the Car Inspector Examination, is open every four [4] years. Now, depending on some factors, such as the need for employees, they may have more than one examinations for the same position within a four-year period.

 

The best thing to do is to check out this page on a regular basis, such as a few times a month, since things do change, in addition to browsing through some of the various threads from previous examinations. These threads contain a lot of information.

 

Any questions? Feel free to ask...we're all here to help each other.

 

~Young~

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4 years is a big gap between openings. It's a shame I am not ready now otherwise I would have applied. I'll keep an eye out for that website and wait for something to come up.

 

It could get tricky coming in on a tourist visa but sitting an exam. I'll have to investigate that one.

 

Thanks again!

 

Appreciate the feedback.

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