Passenger to Professional, Vet Finds Amtrak

LaToya #AmtrakVets

Once an Amtrak customer, LaToya is now a utility worker for the company in Washington, D.C. But it’s not her time riding the rails that earned her the job, it was her military experience.

“The leadership aspect is definitely transferable,” LaToya says of skills from her four years with the Air National Guard that are also helpful at Amtrak, “Just knowing your chain of command is helpful, because it’s the same at Amtrak.”

Before LaToya was hired about six months ago, she had posted her resume on the career site CareerBuilder.com. When a recruiter spotted her military experience she was asked to come in for an interview.

“I had a neighbor that retired from Amtrak, so I knew it was a good company,” LaToya says.

The Philadelphia-native says her favorite part of the job is interacting with other people and getting to know people from other locations. “That goes for passengers and other employees that pass through,” she says.

In addition to leadership and punctuality, LaToya says safety is also another military skill that Amtrak values. “In the military they make sure you always have safety briefings,” she says. “It’s the same at Amtrak, everyday you have to start with a safety briefing.”

Once she gets more time under her belt, LaToya hopes to become a conductor and eventually enjoy a ride on the company’s Auto Train. “I haven’t gotten a chance to be on it, but I will be next year,” she says. “You can put your car on it, and it’s a straight shot to Florida. You can’t go wrong with that.”

 

In a continued effort to support the nation’s service men and women, Amtrak has set a goal of ensuring 25 percent of its new hires are veterans by 2015. Amtrak is the nation’s passenger railroad, serving more than 31 million passengers annually and 500 destinations nationwide. For more information, visit Amtrak.com/VeteransCareers.