To further its goals of supporting a diverse workforce, Metra has partnered with the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership’s Opportunity Works program over the past few months to host 14 young adults and give them firsthand exposure to the wide variety of career paths available in the rail industry.
“We want our workforce to reflect the communities we service,” said Metra CEO/Executive Director Jim Derwinski. “Partnering with Opportunity Works has allowed us to directly reach a group of young people and open their eyes to the wide variety of occupations needed to operate a railroad. Our hope is that this program informs and inspires them to pursue a career with us.”
Metra’s Opportunity Works group consisted of 14 young people between the ages of 18 and 24. They toured Metra’s Mechanical, Transportation and Engineering departments and spoke directly to Metra employees about their jobs, how they decided to work for the railroad, what type of qualifications they needed and what they like about working for Metra specifically.
But it wasn’t all field trips. The Opportunity Works participants were also deployed in the field to assist Metra in performing passenger counts and helped the Transportation Department with train service observations.
The group’s Metra experience also included instructions on resume preparation, job application and interviewing skills as well as the participation in a mock board meeting and the creation of a Metra television commercial.
