police officer

bus driver

superintendent

elevator apprentice

operator trainee

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

A typical day at work was quite busy.  This is great because if you keep busy & maintain proof of your work then all is well.  As a new employee, fitting into the culture was quite a daunting task as employees with unusually long tenures could make life difficult should they feel threatened.

I gained a lot professionally from taking classes/training and great tuition reimbursement program.

Management, however- not in with modern times... Too many time-consuming extremely unproductive meetings.  Metro began using Microsoft Office Suite in- Fall 2009

The age disparity amongst employees is quite interesting.  Life is easier if you do not come across as brilliant, forward or one who is passionate about your job.  Its like undergoing an initiation process that entails hazing for a Secret Society.  Nevertheless, keep personal life far away from your professional life as best as possible.  Well its the first place I've ever worked where employees scour to the internet to gather any information regarding any new employee who works through those doors.  It was creepy in the beginning but I stayed focused.

The hardest part of the job is that assessment of employees/evaluation is usually not objective.  In Management, depending on level, one may feel helpless because the ability to manage effectively is stripped because employees may use the union as a "shield." And a fight with the union definitely takes away from day-to-day operations.  Nevertheless, few employees, including Managers & Directors who have worked outside the organization are aware and versed about managing effectively & efficiently in a Union environment.  If you are lucky to have a very brilliant Manager or Director (esp. one who is inclined to modern day practices), um, tenure is usually very short.  The organizational structure is quite Hierarchal.

Positive Aspects:
Benefits (Non-Monetary), Training, Exposure to City Officials and other organizational chiefs, free transportation..
When one becomes immune to some of the politics and brilliantly shield self from debris (paying attention to actual job functions as well as interaction w/ internal & external customers), problem-solving under limited time-constraints will be a self-rewarding; acquired skill.

I've worked there for years and a member of the union.If you like money and hate a social life or doing anything outside of your career this is the job for you. My advice, have a plan and stick to it. It is very easy to forget that there is life outside of your job. If you get an office gig, kudos you'll live, as long as you stay under the water cooler radar. If you take a union job, because people usually end up dying in their position, forget about every holiday or weekend throughout your career, or at least until you reach the golden age provided you live that long due to exposure various cancer causing fumes and agents you are subjected to for hours on end. Coworkers are snakes in the grass and supervisors are on the hunt for their first confirmed kill, armed with the deadliest clipboards, ball point pens, and the poorest grammar known to man . I enjoyed the overtime though, I spent one summer and bought a Benz... only to drive it to work and party hard on Monday and Tuesday nights smh. This review is opinionated and totally anonymous so I for once in my career feel free to finally speak my mind which once you do get the job you find that will not be able to do because of the gag order you sign which is contingent with your employment. All in all good luck and by all means let it be a stepping stone and not an end all be all.

A typical day was to watch the different lines on the screen to see if there were any delays in the rail system.  If there were delays, we were to inform the customers in the station of the delay by making announcement in all the Metrorail stations. Any incidents on the rail, we had to keep the customers up to date with the incident. Management over the position had some areas of mismanagement.  I had almost 30 years in the Authority and I could see those areas that needed improvement. My co-workers were very important part of my job.  They provided on the job training for me, assisted me whenever I had a problem or did not know how to handle a situation.  Management did not play a part in the training process at all.  The hardest part of the job was it could be stressful if you allowed it to be. You had to act quickly to rail incidents, customers having injuries, etc.  You had to contact the proper authorities in a timely manner if some one was injured.  The most enjoyable part of the job was my co-workers.  We all worked together to get the job done.  I'm a people person, I like assisting customers with any problem they may have, however the only customers we assisted were station managers.  There were no public contact with this position as I though it would be prior to accepting the position.

As a system maintainer, you are not encouraged to think freely to solve new issues. There are very smart people that work here with BS and MS degrees that are being underutilized. Prescribed procedures are frequently outdated or poorly developed with someone unfamiliar with the equipment beyond just the data sheets.

Advancement is based more off of who you know and being in the right place at the right time. Transitioning between departments for a new opportunity most of the time puts you back to where you were day 1 of working for Metro, no matter how low you have been employed. Also, transitioning to a more office based type of job has proven to be extremely difficult even as a qualified internal candidate. This is part due to a unresponsive HR staff.

Work/Life balance has been HORRIBLE. Time off and sick leave were poorly worded in my offer letter and poorly explained in person before I accepted. So bad that I was taken aback when I request a day off only to be told that I had to wait until 1 year in to get ANY time off.

Overall, it is a very laid back job. If you do not want to think and make decent money then this is what you need. If you like to solve real problems and get encouraged by management to do so, this is not it. You will be met by a large amount of people working only to complete work incompletely and to cover tail otherwise.

Working for Metro as a Bus Operations Manager was a dream that quickly turned into a nightmare. After training I was placed under a Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent that created a hostile working environment. I was assigned new tasks with little training and sometimes half information in regard to my authority for the task. It wasn’t until something went wrong that I was given the rest of the information needed that proved to be key to preventing the issue. My relationship with leadership took a toll for the worst due to their lack of follow up and poor communication. After the relationship soured I was essentially placed under a microscope, with leadership trying to find discrepancies in my performance but ended up showing their own discrepancies in the process. The leaders at WMATA generally have been drivers that came up through the ranks. So as a person who came into Metro as a manager or “off the street” I was viewed differently. All I can say is check with others you may know or get to know and ask those difficult questions. I can surely say that whatever you hear twice you should take heed. I did not do this, thinking I would formulate my own view. Unfortunately, it ended up being the same.

When I excepted the position at Metro it was exciting and I couldn't wait to start. I over the location assignment and I  enjoyed working with a sensational team of people. The awful part was when my position was abolished, management made effort to relocate me and had the nerve to want to turnover the spreadsheets that I created in order to track personnel and supplies. Besides that, I really enjoyed working at Metro and as you know it's difficult to secure employment at Metro due to the fact that within the Administrative side their's low turnover people remain until they retire, but if given the opportunity, I  would work at Metro again in a heartbeat. I found out that some of your peers can be slick so you have to watch your back. When I  excepted the position I wasn't informed that my director was leaving or that my position was a contingency based on their retirement so when they left the position I had a temporary reassignment and only directors have Administrative Assistants. Watch out when it comes to your severance pay, because they can screw up and then try to come for you to cover up their error.

They are on a mad spending spree since the dedicated funding. For example, every printer was replaced with a brand new one
but good luck finding one that still works six months later. Employees are also employment agencies, meaning many have five or ten employees working for them. They make millions but the consultants they bring are often inexperienced.
Management are all friends from previous unrelated jobs and protect themselves well. There are many very talented people there but they are often ignored and stressed for the way they are treated. The turnover in IT is insane for a union protected job. They really go the extra step to make your life miserable. I was there for many years and never met a person that wasn't near Director level that liked working there.
When I started, there were five or six levels of management above me. Now, we have Presidents, assistant presidents, deputy presidents, directors, assistant, and deputy... it goes on. Every few months they hire more layers of management with no experience.

A typical day at Wmata requires you to maintain a professional attitude at all times. During my employment with Wmata, I have learned how to deal with people as individuals, on a typical day you will have customers that you can't please, but one main thing that I've learned that dealing with people is a skill, not achievable by everyone. I have enjoyed talking and helping the people, from all different walks of life that  I have met during my career.Our work place Culture is all about Safety, this is the number one priority when working in a Transportation environment

The hardest part of working for the Authority is when you get a customer that leaves not satisfied, even after you have done all you can to please them.And last but certainly not least, The most enjoyable part of my day at Wmata, was seeing the smile on my customers face, and them telling me I was very helpful, or the nicest person they got to meet during their trip.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Office was close to home. There are Metro office buildings in Lanham, Alexandria and DC with smaller offices scattered throughout the area. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Wasn’t in the union when I first came to WMATA. Found out that due to decision from a case filed years ago that my job IS union retroactive to when case filing date. Provides some protection from incompetent managers. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Did not have good experience because manager was new to the job and incompetent. Felt like higher ups would not address this problem because they didn’t want to admit that they made a mistake choosing this manager for a promotion. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
There was always a lot of manufactured drama due to incompetence manager stirring things up - making up rules, not following policies and procedures, writing up bogus disciplinary letters that weren’t vetted by HR.

I came in early every day and clocked in on time every day and was fired for not clocking in 10-15 minutes earlier by which i was not even told that i had to. I was thankful to have the job because it afforded my family better opportunities which had me coming in 20-15 minutes early every day. The benefits were great and needed for my family and yet they basically took some sort of issue with me and decided to let me go without reason and because of poor agreements with the union i was let go without even being allowed the opportunity to fight for myself. basically they are hiring people for dream jobs and letting them go for personal reasons. Do not come in as a storeroom clerk like i did every other position that is available will better suit you if you expect to be there a while. the management in this area is horrible and the pay is not worth the mess you have to put up with.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Police officer 1 salary reported	$79,569 per year
Bus driver 3 salaries reported	$24.31 per hour
Superintendent 1 salary reported	$107,605 per year
Elevator apprentice 2 salaries reported	$34.35 per hour
Operator trainee 3 salaries reported	$18.00 per hour

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