intern

bus driver

engineer

conductor

manager

NJ TRANSIT

A typical day working at New Jersey transit depends because initially you will start out in their “student program.” Regardless of CDL or endorsement status which is odd. I wish the quotation marks around “student program” could be stressed because it’s nothing of the sort. You will have days of the week in which you work on the field taking turns with other students, driving or days in which you’re in a classroom. All of the “instructors” are just glorified bus operators and they use their title to criticize every little thing you do. After the stress of being at work they have the audacity to give you HOMEWORK. To add insult to injury they also compile mandatory videos for you to watch at home on top of your “HOMEWORK!” The company is just lazy because they can literally extend the “student program” for an additional month so you can do all the hw in class and watch all the videos there as well. It’s just their way of speeding up the process and not paying you because yes you will not be getting paid for the time you’re doing hw. You’ll be forced into a union in which you have to pay for prior to even being within which is a joke, the health benefits cost an arm and a leg, your starting wage is a joke for the severity of the job, and you have to pay for everything on your own while working there and I mean EVERYTHING. Background check you have to pay, work clothes you have to pay, you need a watch can’t be digital you have to pay, the school program they don’t even tell you but you have to pay which is a $300 fee as well! Now let’s get into you actually working in the garage finally after you graduate! My manager was literally brand new so he didn’t know what he was doing, the miscommunication between management is astounding, one person would tell you you’re working this time, and another will tell you you’re working another and have you waiting in the garage for hours. They run on a seniority system that mean everybody at the top has all the perks and you at the bottom get trash. Nobody retires or leaves because they been there for 30 plus years so you’ll stay on their open board meaning they can call you anytime any day to work anytime. Sounds good to the hungry person like myself who likes to work but nope you guessed it they find ways and not pay you for the hours you work. Worked 55 hours one week and got paid for 40. They’re stuck in the 90s have no electronic sign in all your personal hours and what you worked is in a big binder for everyone to see which causes friction if some get more hours than others that can be seen. All window/depot masters/managers have nasty attitude can’t ask them questions or help for anything, just a very toxic environment. If you’re thinking about working for njt DON’T!!!

This company used to be a great place to work for in the late 90's early 200.  That , however has changed as the company has become 100% political.  NO raises for the past 6 years and counting, and the only way to get a promotion or higher position is to be friends with someone higher up (AED, Senior Director, etc).  The company recently took away the non-agreement transportation benefit which allowed employees to ride NJ Transit buses, trains and light-rail vehicles for no charge.  Now, employees must PAY NJ Transit for the privilege if riding their system to and from work. (The only transportation company in the US to do so).   Salaries are consistently 20-30% less than comparable positions found at other transportation companies and private sector companies.  NJ TRansit no longer offers a pension for new employees (They have a 401a).  The company has also started a trend of hiring consultants to replace  employees who have left or retired (after the transportation benefit was taken away, 150+ employees either retired or left the company, most of whom were replaced by consultants as a way of getting around the hiring freeze and as a way to show the governor that they haven't added any new employees to the company).   The company has also become a dumping ground for Governor Christie's friends and political alias.  Since taking office, the Governor has placed at least 20 of his friends at NJ Transit in high paying positions (125k or more).  These hirings weren't done to back-fill open positions either, as every single person was placed into a position that NEVER existed at NJT and were created specifically for that person.  (all the while there has been no raises for the past 6 years, no promotions or reclassifications, and a destruction of employee moral all for the regular, middle-class workers who have still remained loyal to a fault).  This is a company where its spokesman was RECORDED as saying that "Our employees should be grateful they all have jobs, because if it wasn't for NJT most of them would be poor and unemployed".  

So, If you still truly want to work at NJ Transit, go right ahead, I wish you the best of luck, but don't say you weren't warned.

I wasn’t at NJTRANSIT long. They decided not to retain me past the 120-day probation period for reasons that weren’t made clear to me, though to be honest I doubt I would’ve made it regardless.

I applied for a job as an assistant signal maintainer, though after the job interview they put me in pre-employment for the communications trainee job. The difference between these two positions is not explained well, I believe the website uses the same description for both jobs. I was in pre-employment for three months, and based on what I gathered from the other new hires this was actually much shorter than usual. Once I was given a job offer, I had less than 12 hours to accept it. I don’t know if that is a common occurrence or if I was just unlucky.

New hires have about 3 days of orientation before being sent to one of communications’ locations. North Jersey locations are Paterson and Hoboken, while the South Jersey locations are Cranford and Red Bank. If you’re lucky, you might get sent to whatever is closest, but only temporarily. They want you to be familiar with all of the locations, so every month or so you’ll be rotated to a different location while you’re still in training, so in all likelihood you’ll have to deal with a really awful commute at one point or another, and you’ll have to get there at the same time as always. 

The training itself varies, both in terms of what you’re doing and what you’re likely to get out of it. Different locations tend to do different kinds of jobs, from repairing security cameras to laying underground cable. The South Jersey locations maintain a much larger area than the North Jersey ones, so more time tends to be spent driving to job sites there. The quality of the training ranges from decent to practically nonexistent: some people won’t tell you anything unless you ask them a question first. I dealt with that a lot during the first month or so that I was there, which further limited my already brief experience at NJTRANSIT.

I can’t say much about what the job becomes once you finish training as I didn’t make it that far. They really don’t make it easy for you to actually get reach that point, though. Would only recommend to those highly interested in this particular job.

Details changed because everyone knows everyone else.  

Since the Christie budget cuts, NJ TRANSIT only hires temps.  They hire them for a maximum of two years, provide no benefits, no time off, and will never buy them out of their contracts.  In short, there is no future here for you.  

If you were lucky enough to get in before the Christie cuts, or if you know someone (it's like a mafia family there - they look out for their kin), you will make twice as much as any temp, you will have amazing benefits, you will have half the work, and you won't need to do it anyway because you can never be fired.  They never fire anyone.  That is why the company is being run into the ground by old white men who have held their positions since 1982 and who get snippy when you start to press them on their actual responsibilities.  

These men, some more than others, always claim they're too busy to answer your emails or calls.  However, you often need their agreement and approval to finish your projects.  Because of this, progress is slow.  I've had assignments that took me two hours to complete, yet I proceeded to wait over nine months to get the approval I needed from one department head.  I emailed twice each week, and called.  This is typical.  Your six bosses will agree that it's a problem, but they won't do anything about it.

If you are able to appear productive, perhaps your department will recognize you for your outstanding service, at which point you won't get that raise they've been promising you, you'll get sabotaged when you try to apply for other jobs, laterally or externally.

One thing about NJ TRANSIT is that everyone knows everyone else.  Word always gets around, either by formal channels or by the Underground of temps and part-timers.  Bold-faced lies are told through brightest smiles.

I have been a Bus Operator for seven months now. I like the job. The coworkers are great and I haven't seen my boss in months, which I love. The job is very independent. Just show up on time and don't call out sick to show that you're a responsible employee. Be sweet towards the customers, and in turn they will be just as sweet as you are, which makes your day a positive one. 

However, you will start off as a "Provisional Full Timer". Which means you will get no benefits and no pension "for a year". But I have a coworker that's been at my garage for two years, and still has no benefits or pension. I look at the ads on our buses to work at NJ Transit as a Bus Operator which states that you will get sick days, vacation, benefits, pension etc. But that is a lie. I have none of that. 

I'm taking the NYC Transit Bus Operator test in the near future and will jump over as soon as I get the call. The NYC pension fund is still blossoming with money. I'm not sure if NJ could say the same. I feel like NJ will try to rid their pension plan in the future and try to have all their employees switch to 401K like all the poor souls that work in Manhattan in the corporate world. 

Also, our contract expired in June 2017 and everyone is working like nothing happened. At my old job, if our contract expired at 12:00, we'd be on strike at 12:01. What's up with "our union"? Do they not care? Moreover, I hear that "Management positions" at NJ Transit have not had a raise in almost ten years. Is this a company you want to work for? 

My advice is to get your CDL with NJ Transit who's dying for people to work for them. Then switch to a stronger company in the field that will treat you like a regular full timer. It's low balling them, but hey, aren't they doing the same? To me, it looks like NJ Transit is going down the tubes anyway..

Dynamic fast paste evironment at times. It can be challeging during rail emergencies, fatalities, and other serious service interruptions.

Observe and supervise Bus Operations activities to ensure maximum schedule compliance for field assignment.

Investigates service related complaints to determine cause, make recommendations and or solutions.

Coordinates with other outside agencies to handle extraordinary events.

I've learned in management, internal controls must be implemented, updated, and in compliance. When adhered to, it will mitigate any unforeseen events. 

Oftentimes, co-workers are like team workers we collaborate with each other to reach a specific goal.

I am no longer challenged in my position at NJ Transit. I would like to work or be employed in the capacity of my education and past experiences. However, during inclimate weather, it can be very hard due to long hours for several days, as an example, during  hurricane sandy we had to work 10-12 hours for weeks until transportation was up and running again.

The most enyoyable part of my job is meeting great people. It is also rewarding when a problem is solved or a broken relationship with an outside agency is mended because of my involvement.

Pays well can make close to 90k out of the gate but seniority system is bad. Have to wait to get a better job for better days off. No contract for over 4 years now. BLET union is useless, paper tiger. Extra list for first few years. If you do your job correctly and don't cut corners your tagged as a trouble maker. This follows you through out your career and management will discipline you at every opportunity even though you may have many years with the company. The priority is to get the trains out at no cost, so the middle management can appease the upper managers.  Safety is a joke and a facade . ALL managers are not trained to lead, some are promoted because they kiss the uppers rear end. They are enforcement only or are paper pushers. No formal training for them, recruitment just gets the lowest quality because the people who apply to be managers are either connected with someone in upper management or have little to no experience and are seeking to avoid the seniority system in their early years of employment. Some managers don't even have railroad experiences! Need eyes in back of your head.  Cameras with listening ability in your locomotive, cab cars, sign up rooms, platforms etc.  They monitor your personal conversations and use it against you. Its camera land at NJT. The only thing good to mention is the railroad retirement . 30 years employment + 60 years old and your at full pension. 

Overall I enjoyed my time at NJT and was able to have a really great work/life balance. On a day to day my work load was pretty light, sometimes almost not enough work to go around. Things run very slow here because of waiting on approvals for everything, sometimes waiting on several departments approvals, or waiting on some thing or other. The management is great but depends on what department you work in. Everyone is pretty respectful of each other and the culture is very relaxed. Unfortunately, because of the relaxed culture and having to wait to do anything, I felt like I wasn't really learning a lot after a certain point. You get into your routine and it rarely changes. If you are early in your career and are looking for learning opportunities and ways to genuinely advance, this is not the place for you. If you are seasoned and want a slower pace of work then this is it.

The cafeteria has pretty good options as well as a ton of different lunch spots around downtown Newark within walking distance from HQ. 

Most departments offer hybrid work schedules.

Was a great secure job THEN and looked forward to going to work each and everyday. My co workers were friendly and management was there for you if you had any problems or concerns, whether it pertained to the job or personal. If you needed to reschedule your work to either come in earlier, later or even take off for the day, there were NO ISSUES, unless of course you abused it. Things started change around 2009/2010. The old timers were retiring whether it be management or bus operators and the morale of the company started to shift. And it wasn't for the better either! New Management these days are hired off the streets, never driven a bus and don't have a clue of what happens on the road because they've never had to deal with passengers, so when you address things to them, they don't understand you and will write you up for the smallest infraction without thinking twice about it. Not only is it management but now NJT has put cameras on the bus. I have no problems with a camera being in the bus because it actually can help you out with certain things but that's not the case. NJT has the camera facing the bus operator as oppose to facing the passengers, why is that? Good luck!!

I Managed 24 Mechanics and Bus Cleaners, including a Janitorial Staff along with Supervising employees on assigned shifts, including assigning/reviewing work to ensure sufficient, clean, and safe vehicles are available for customer transportation.  I also coordinated with other Maintenance Foremen and Transportation Staff at the Control Center/Bus Garages to ensure that road calls are properly handled, and departures go effortlessly.  I monitored the workforce at assigned locations to coordinate maintenance activities and clean-up to ensure equipment is inspected in accordance with NJ TRANSIT maintenance standards. I supervised the dock room authorizing special orders, issues materials and ensures security and accurate accounting of stock. I trained, counseled, and motivated staff to maintain and improve productivity.  I enforced work rules, safety cleanliness standards; monitors condition of facility and equipment.  I had responsible for monitoring the timeliness and completeness of the revenue collection system, including proper vaulting procedures and reporting procedures.  The hardest part of the job would of been learning a new system and procedures.  The most enjoyable part of the job, meeting new people.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Intern 8 salaries reported	$21.88 per hour
Bus driver 3 salaries reported	$24.67 per hour
Engineer 1 salary reported	$75,500 per year
Conductor 3 salaries reported	$39.46 per hour
Manager 3 salaries reported	$103,000 per year

Working at NJ TRANSIT: Company Overview and Reviews

NJ TRANSIT

NJ TRANSIT Ratings

Popular jobs at NJ TRANSIT

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected