Union Pacific Railroad Interview Questions.

It's always hard to know what to expect when going in for that interview -- and preparation can make all the difference. What is the interview process like at Union Pacific Railroad?

Any advice on striking the right note?

checking on my resume confirmation number 014957

checking on the status on my resume 014957

Kyle Vangilder said: checking on the status on my resume 014957

I am checkin on the call I got yesterday to my cell phone and did not get the information from it.

My adive to you all is to keep the job you have or find something other than the railroad (UPRR). Guys that have been employeed with them for 2 years or not working and can't hold a job because the company cuts jobs and seniority rules the roost so if you don't have 4 to 5 years of seniority you can plan on being bounced around and working some where far away from where you were hired. If you have 4 to 5 years to play the game of being bumped around go for it and good luck, but if you need money now you had better not hold your breath. If I had the chance to do it over or they would have explained a lot of this during the interviewing process I would have gotten up and walked out.

Host said: It's always hard to know what to expect when going in for that interview -- and preparation can make all the difference. What is the interview process like at Union Pacific Railroad?

Any advice on striking the right note?

Go after some other type of employment, this is not a good company to work for. It will take you 5 years to be able to HOLD a job year round.

Kyle, they will bing you in and lay you off as they did me....

I am a Diesel Mechanic Located in Los Angeles and currently the website is hiring. They have not hired for the past few years. I see allot of new faces also. I came from aviation, been working there for 7 yrs. I do recall some of the questions that asked me and are as follows;
1. Why do you want to work here.
2. Do yo have a problem working different shifts, in rain, cold, outdoors?
3. Tell me a little about your work history, or education.
4. You have a 4000 hp engine thats only producing 3800 hp. what would you check first?
5. Is safety important to you?
6. Just do what I did Lie Lie LIE, TELL THEM WHAT THEY WANNA HEAR, MANAGEMENT ARE IDIOTS ANYWAYS.
You do not even have to be qualified to work there just recently they hired a bunch of guys from Burma (they a cool group of guys), but in my opinion compromise safety due to their lack of knowledge.
A new hire is brainwashed by the company for about 2 weeks with EEO, discrimination, safety, and rules policy.
Once your put on the floor all the other employees are very untrusting of you cause you may be a rat or a mole.
Then you like everyone else wants to move up the corporate ladder, but there is only one problem, if your not from Omaha or back east forget it probationary supervisor is as far as you get, by the way you'll have to sell out everyone who help you out in the beginning. Finally after a few years and a couple of levels later you grow cold and come down with a horrible attiude.
Wind up drinking, lose your wife to sancho, and get hit with child support.

They did the same thing in 2006 and 2007 with the hiring. I guess they still have some of those crappy SP locomotives still on the tracks. You are so right about Omaha. By the end of the year, they will complain about the budget na d do the layoff thing, but not to engineers or mechanics.

Just glad that I am out of there because the trust thing is very hard to attain because of the seniority issue. until the old SP guys are out of there, that place will never change, especially in Los Angeles.

In response to Jausan in Beverly Hills, California

Yes I been thinking about getting back into Aviation cause at least there a mechanic may just be a number but not easily replaced and treated much better. UPRR seems to hire you then tries to fire you as if your some Guinea pig ready and waiting for disposal. Management is seriously under-qualified to be signing off tasks from their desks. I see it time and time again. I hope nobody ever gets hurt as a result of managements mismanaging ways. I have noticed allot of the SP guys have been retiring. I hear allot are going this year. The Los Angeles facility recently finally got rid of the last SP manager, but I guess thats their politics not mine.

If you want to still get into rail roads take a look at BNSF. Next time you have a chance drive south on the 710 freeway toward Long Beach and take a look at Commerce Yard, then before the next exit take a look at BNSF's yard. There is a serious distinction as to how organized they are by comparison. Also, You should do a salary comparison on this site and see how under paid the UP people are compared to BNSF employees. It is a very interesting gap.

I work a Commerce Yard and I am very aware of how unorganized UPPR is. Its not uncommon to build a consist and outbound it twice because of bad units. Its seems Management tells itself," pick that one, no that one, wait that one, and so forth. Its unfortunate that the employees must undergo so much redundancy due to a Management that is incompetent. Funny thing is that everybody accepts this practice as normal business. Once in awhile a new management team comes to Commerce (yes from back east) and come up with their reinvention of the wheel. Unbeknownst to them when they leave or get fired the hourly employees are the ones who have to deal with the aftermath. I have noticed that UPRR mechanics are in the 50% category for pay & benefit in a salary comparison. Amazing thing is that we are working on 4000 hp engines and are in the 50% category now BNSF has the same Union as UPRR so they make the same. If I wanted to goto BNSF its the same pay, just different working conditions. UP makes a ton of money and throws crumbs at its employees then as employees all fight for those crumbs the company slowly takes the crumbs away, I thought slavery ended a long time ago.

hi,how secure is the job as diesel mechanic in union pacific? i work as aircraft technician in AA dfw and because of to many lay off i am looking if i can changes carrer

The last lay off for mechanics was back around the mid 90"s when UP bought SP I believe. Since then there has been no lay-offs. What they do instead is fire their employees or force retirement on them. I worked as a diesel mechanic for 10 years. I saw it all. UP seems to be thinking more like a company now instead of a railroad now days. We would hear that they first lay-off in the transportation dept first and then snowball from there. I came from aviation myself. I got the famous A&P license as well. I Worked for General Electric Aviation Overhauling CF6 family turbine engines, but that place had a plant closure. Therefore, I went to the railroad. If you like having Mon-Tue off working different shifts every week for the first 3 years then go to the railroad. They give you a 1/2" drive tool set and expect you to pull out power assemblies, water pumps, and bla bla with insufficient tooling. I had to bring my own tools from home and my tool box got broken into, well I filed a police report with the UP police and the company did not reimburse me for my tools I had stolen. If you get hurt they will fire you. It’s a really weird place to work at. There is allot of friction between the crafts and the supervisors/managers. Who can screw who is the environment, ask anyone from the Los Angeles Diesel Shop. They will all agree.

goto BNSF much more professional, UP is for the birds

PapaChonies in Los Angeles, California said: The last lay off for mechanics was back around the mid 90"s when UP bought SP I believe. Since then there has been no lay-offs. What they do instead is fire their employees or force retirement on them. I worked as a diesel mechanic for 10 years. I saw it all. UP seems to be thinking more like a company now instead of a railroad now days. We would hear that they first lay-off in the transportation dept first and then snowball from there. I came from aviation myself. I got the famous A&P license as well. I Worked for General Electric Aviation Overhauling CF6 family turbine engines, but that place had a plant closure. Therefore, I went to the railroad. If you like having Mon-Tue off working different shifts every week for the first 3 years then go to the railroad. They give you a 1/2" drive tool set and expect you to pull out power assemblies, water pumps, and bla bla with insufficient tooling. I had to bring my own tools from home and my tool box got broken into, well I filed a police report with the UP police and the company did not reimburse me for my tools I had stolen. If you get hurt they will fire you. It’s a really weird place to work at. There is allot of friction between the crafts and the supervisors/managers. Who can screw who is the environment, ask anyone from the Los Angeles Diesel Shop. They will all agree.

In response to papa chonies comments about UP firing employees when they get hurt on the job. It's true because it happened to me, I was terminated for reporting an incident. Worked there for 10 years and everything went down the drain because of one stupid individual who lied along with the management. Never had a chance to defend myself.Being a good employee does not mean anything to the company. Company has a way of fabricating a story and make it look like you're at fault.

IN response to dee_magician in Riverside, California, Company has a way of fabricating a story and make it look like you're at fault.

Why does UPRR always hire? Because they are always firing. It seems like a game to them. I once heard that Management gets bonuses for firing employees. The Company hires unqualified people so that the employee feels like having a job there is the next best thing since sliced bread. At the mechanical facility in Commerce, CA it was not uncommon to see employees working through their lunch or not getting a lunch at all while managers and foreman generals took off to go eat, McDonalds give their employees a lunch. As of right now no employee can leave company property for lunch, yes I said leave for lunch. What kind of hogwash is that? The fabrication of stories is so true. They always expected mechanics to perform job duties that the employee did not receive training or was qualified on. When the accident happens the Company is quick to fire or cast blame on the unfortunate under qualified employee. If anyone wants to work for this place be ready to say, "yes master" and be ready to take one for the company when the time comes.

Papa Chonies,

Who is your union local charman?
Do you by any chance know his phone number?

This is crazy!

Hey....
here is my question.....

I know it is impossible to guarantee questions in any interview; but GOOD preparation often makes all the difference!

The interview is for the Operations Management Training position with the Union Pacific Railroad. They said it will focus mostly on verbal reasoning, business reasoning and job fit tests.

Here is a link:
www.unionpacific.jobs/careers/apply/descr.cfm?REQN_NBR=038123

Hey....
here is my question.....

I know it is impossible to guarantee questions in any interview; but GOOD preparation often makes all the difference!
The interview is for the Operations Management Training position with the Union Pacific Railroad. They said it will focus mostly on verbal reasoning, business reasoning and job fit tests.
Here is a link:
www.unionpacific.jobs/careers/apply/descr.cfm?REQN_NBR=038123

I was a manager for UP, they are the best at being unprofessional, older guys in management that have been there for years are arrogant and the new breed that are fast tracked are truely idiots on how to manage. My advice is to look for another field, I did and have never looked back