I got a big kid job!! Well sort of...

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SlushboxTeggy

SlushboxTeggy

It's only stupid if it doesn't work
VIP
Pending a drug test and a physical I will start training to be a LRV Operator after Labor Day. Driving the Hudson Bergen Light Rail Train in Jersey City. $9/hr for the 6 weeks of training(sucks) then $15/hr plus good benefits as a Junior Operator. That lasts for about 6 months, I believe, then I'm upwards of $20/hr. Guaranteed 40 hours/week plus, I'm told, plenty of overtime if I want it.

Obviously with a Degree I'm shooting low with this job, but I look at this as more of a stopping point with good pay and benefits while I continue my search for something better. Possibly even moving up within this company as it is an international transportation company that NJ has contracted for the job, rather than just run by the state.

As it sits I still have applications in with the Air Marshals, NY and NJ Police and Corrections, and I'm waiting for the ATF and Post Office to start accepting applications for Field Agents and Postal Inspectors. I'm also looking in the white collar sector but IDK if I can sit in an office all day. I'm still interested in working with auto insurance claims but have little intel on who to talk to.

But yea, I have my first full-time, steady paying job with benefits. Just thought I would share.
 
Have you throught about ATC? Check out the FAA website.


Cool beans man. Congrats. When you get your first good job, it feels so good. Just remember to sock away about 65%.
 
awptickes said:
Have you throught about ATC? Check out the FAA website.


Cool beans man. Congrats. When you get your first good job, it feels so good. Just remember to sock away about 65%.
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Off the bat about 65% will go to pay of the little debt I have in student loans and my credit card. But after that, I've never had a problem saving extra cash.
 
Looks like we're in the exact same situation, man. Except I probably won't be making as much as fast =(. I start at Vought Aircraft Sept 8. After approx. a month of training, I'll be working a ton of overtime and stocking away as much as I can after paying off debt. One big difference is that I'll be going back to school after I get settled instead of coming out of it. This is far from my first full time job, but I'm happy for you and know the feeling. Good luck.
 
nice man, hope it works out for ya

i001-train-conductor-caboose.jpg
 
As a person working auto claims, you will not make very much money. If its something you love to do, then that may offset the pay imbalance.

A warning about the Air Marshall idea. My friend, who is 27, just finally became an Air Marshall. His hours are very random and may be 20hrs one week and 70hrs another week. The pay is pretty decent at $65,000. Here's the warning, however, he waited on the list for two years before he was hired. This was not because there were not any job openings, but rather that the interview process and hiring process took two years. They interviewed his friends and family before they interviewed him initially.
 
Sounds like you've got your foot in the door of a very lucrative job. Don't the major conductors make $100k+/year?

Get a few years driving the small stuff and move on to Santa Fe or something.
 
Congratulations! You'll make almost as much as me, but as a different kind of engineer. ;)

Make sure to talk to some of the people who work for the train company though- you don't want to take all their promotional promises at face value. Do some research.
 
Like I said, this seems like a good job for me while I'm working on other options. But it also may be a foot in the door as Phyregod said to a more lucrative career in the same industry.
 
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