I received a phone call the day after applying online, asking some of the basic questions (i.e. Are you willing to submit to a drug test, are you a US citizen, are you willing to move to any location on the BNSF system?). After I passed the phone interview, I was flown to Ft. Worth and put up in a very nice hotel for the 2 day hiring event. Around 100 people were at the hiring event, with about 75 being prior military.
The first day of the event consisted of a company overview followed by a job specific (mechanical, engineering, transportation) briefing. After the briefing we took the personality/skills test which took about 2 hours.
The second day we found out if we passed the test first thing in the morning. If you passed, you had an interview scheduled for some time later in the day, if you did not pass, you went home.
Some people had panel interviews, others had one on one. I was asked about my background as well as situational questions; I was not asked anything technical. I was also asked where I wanted to go on the BNSF system (it did not matter because that’s not where I was offered). The interview only lasted about 15 minutes and then I was told I'd hear back within two weeks. Before I left a hair sample was taken for drug testing.
I got a call a week later offering a position to a place I had not planned on going, but gladly accepted.