Wanna drive them? Does one actually drive a train? Hmmm, I don’t know. Union Pacific could probably tell me the answer to that if I asked. Last week, I came accross a story in TheO about how Union Pacific was recruiting train worker in Portland via direct mail. I thought it interesting and moved on, until this weekend when I received said junk mail.
Union Pacific is being hit by two major staffing issues - upcoming retirement of over 1/3 of their workforce and the increase in demand for their freight service. As a result, they are on a hiring spree and this direct mail postcard is one way to do it. When I read the card, it intrigued me enough to go check out the positions offered in Portland. The one positon - Train Service Personnel - starts @ $40,000/yr and requires little experience. I think you have to be at least 18 and no criminal record. It does require being oncall 24/7, but it comes with a company paid retirement and full benefits, something hard to find in today’s job market. Heck, if someone offered me $40,000/yr with training when I was 18, I would have jumped at it. I would jump at it now for the experience if I didn’t already have a pretty good job. I was thinking it would be cool to take this job, play around with trains for a year and write about it. How cool would it be to tell your buddies you are a train driver.
Well, if you’re out there looking for a new career or the topic for a good book or blog, check out Union Pacific’s job openings.