Optional · 1 of 2

Things that get you hired and promoted

• Conductor experience

  Knowing what it is like on the ground makes you a better controller, and most railroads treat it as the normal route in.

• Air traffic control or military experience

  Any background in moving vehicles safely under time pressure reads well on an application.

• Extra territories

  The more stretches of railroad you are qualified on, the more shifts you can pick up and the harder you are to replace.

• Chief dispatcher track

  Supervising a floor of controllers. More money, more meetings, and you carry every desk's problems.