In June 2019, Helen Townend (Amey) and Sarah Birtles (Network Rail) held a session at a York primary school to speak with parents looking to get back into the workplace or for a change in career, to share the variety of opportunities available within the Rail Industry.

Recently one of the attendees, Hannah Morris, has secured a permanent role with Network Rail and has shared her experience.

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My journey after attending the Women in Rail recruitment workshop at my son’s primary school

I had previously applied to Network Rail a few years prior to having my second child, but now felt I had a great opportunity to speak with a Network Rail representative, face to face to refocus my ambition to work for them. I must add – now with a very active baby in tow!

Sarah Birtles and her co-presenter Helen from Amey were most welcoming and provided useful information and advice about why they were actively encouraging more women to join the rail industry.  This promoted and supported many parents in the same situation as I, with provision for flexible working hours around childcare and other commitments.

For a long while I had aspired to join Network Rail given its prominence in York and having commuted weekly by rail to London, in my previous working life.

Following on from my attendance at the recruitment workshop I decided to home study towards the Prince 2 Project Management qualification. I then reapplied to join the Network Rail Asset Protection team. The application process began by sending a CV and subsequently followed up with a recorded video interview. I must confess chance played a part as I was lucky enough to sit next to a Network Rail employee on the train as I journeyed to London for work. This chance conversational opportunity enabled me to pinpoint areas to research prior to the video interview.

Following a positive video interview, I was successful enough to be invited to a face to face interview. The face to face interview was one of the toughest I have experienced but you can imagine my delight when I was offered the role.

Being a member of LinkedIn played a part in my successful application for this role. Being able to connect and communicate with Sarah and other Network Rail people proved beneficial and a useful tool to ask advice at various points in the application.

The onboarding process took a little longer than expected no doubt as a result of Covid lockdown, however all the staff assisting with the process were proactive and helpful.

So nearly 6 weeks in as a Network Rail employee I am pleased to have made the move, to be part of a fantastic team and be learning new things every day in a supportive environment – even if it is virtually!

 

Want to find out more?
Visit the Network Rail and Amey careers pages here:
www.networkrail.co.uk/careers
https://www.amey.co.uk/your-career/

Interested in future Women in Rail events? Sign up here: https://womeninrail.org/contact-us/