Arturo Gutierrez has one simple piece of advice to anyone starting a new job: have a positive attitude, and you can learn the rest. It’s this philosophy that helped Gutierrez earn a promotion just six months after starting his career at CRRC.
Gutierrez, who now works as a team lead on the interior furnishing team, started at CRRC two years ago. He quickly advanced into a higher position in the company due to his eagerness to learn and strong work ethic.
“My supervisor would always tell me, ‘I need this done,’ and I would do my task the way it’s supposed to get done, in a timely manner. That’s what helped me advance,” Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez appreciates having opportunities to advance within CRRC and that the company rewards hard work with new opportunities.
“There’s opportunities for growth here, it’s a decision of if you want to step up to the next level,” he said. “If you work hard and get your tasks done, you can keep growing. It’s on us.”
Since advancing to the team lead role, Gutierrez has taken on the additional responsibility of training new workers. He’s trained 10 workers since starting the job and enjoys working with new people and passing along the skills he’s learned.
Gutierrez says the training he received when he first started at CRRC is what allowed him to advance so quickly.
“When you start a job, you have to learn how to do something before you can teach somebody,” he said. “I think it’s good that you start from the bottom and build up. That’s what helped me.”
Gutierrez can tell the rest of his team shares his positive attitude, which is why he enjoys coming to work every day. Working with the team is one of his favorite parts about his job at CRRC.
While Gutierrez appreciates that he can have fun at work, he also takes his role extremely seriously, especially when it comes to safety concerns. Quality is his top priority throughout every step of the building process.
“You have to think to yourself: ‘I’m going to ride this train one day, is this ok?’ They have to come out as best they can for the passengers in Chicago,” Gutierrez said. “We have to do the best job possible for the people, and that means a lot to me.”
Many of Gutierrez’s friends and family didn’t know that CTA trains were being built in Chicago before he started working at CRRC, and they have lots of questions about how the railcars are being built. Gutierrez enjoys telling them about his job and answering questions about the new 7000 Series trains.
“My friends and family want to see how it gets done, and it’s exciting to be part of that,” he said. “It’s a really good experience here, and everything is going smoothly.”