Many people who work at Metro Transit take on new responsibilities and roles throughout their careers. Career Tracks highlights the paths employees have taken to their latest assignment.
🚉 How did you begin your career with Metro Transit?
An industry contact mentioned Metro Transit was hiring to staff a new signal department for the startup of the METRO Blue Line. That was back in early 2003. I’d studied mechanical and electronic design at Dunwoody College of Technology and was working in freight rail as a signal systems designer for an engineering company that did signal work. The Blue Line looked like an interesting opportunity to get in on the ground floor of something that would become much bigger, allowing me to build an interesting and challenging career. I started as a signals technician in August 2003, just as systems testing was beginning.
🚉 What advice do you have for others who want to take on more or different responsibilities?
It helps to be a self-starter. There’s no school you can go to that teaches everything you need to know about railroading and rail transit. It’s learned by developing relationships with people, digging into documentation, asking questions. Knowledge is also passed on through mentorships. In the rail industry, that knowledge is traditionally passed down from older generations to younger generations. In the case of building a brand-new light rail system, everyone has to learn together, dig into technical documents and ask questions.
The most successful people in the industry also have really great contacts. They go to the trade shows, conferences, get involved in the standards programs like American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and AREMA, the American Railway Engineering & Maintenance-of-Way Association. That’s not only how you get to contribute and learn from others but how you build contacts. I approach things from the standpoint of ‘If I run into a problem, I am probably not the only person in the industry who has seen this, and if I need help, someone I know can probably help me find the right answer.’ Having that community is very important, and the rail industry is very small. It helps to get out there and develop contacts and build relationships with others.
🚉 What other education and work history would be beneficial for Metro Transit’s open signals positions?
Anyone who has interest or experience in any electro-mechanical systems. An electronics background, mechanical background, or industrial automation background are great foundations for what we do here. I will also say some very successful people in the industry don’t have any of those backgrounds. They just have an interest and build on it.
🚉 What does your current work involve?
I am currently working on Renew the Blue, contributing to final testing and commissioning for the extension of the Green Line, design work for Blue Line Extension, and a lot of other maintenance, enhancement, and small capital projects.
With service on the extended METRO Green Line beginning in 2027, Metro Transit is filling about a number of open rail maintenance positions. Learn more and apply at metrotransit.org/rail-careers.