Media centre

Wednesday 11 Jan 2012

RAIL WORK PLACEMENT SCHEME OPENS TO GRADUATES IN BIRMINGHAM

Region & Route:

One in four (26%) people who graduated from university in the last two years have turned down a job offer because they felt they were overqualified or the role wasn’t appropriate for them. This startling figure is revealed as more than 25 companies across the rail sector have joined together for the first time to help up to 100 graduates get their careers on track by launching a new cross-industry, paid internship scheme.

The scheme - Track and Train – will provide an all-round industry experience over 18 months, where up to 10 graduates in Birmingham will enjoy three, six-month placements: one at Network Rail and two at either a passenger or freight operator or another company within the rail sector.

The scheme, funded by Network Rail, involves 27 partner companies based across Britain providing local employment opportunities – i.e. those living in Birmingham will be placed at companies in Birmingham. It will target young people who have graduated in the last two years but owing to the tough economic times have found themselves either unemployed or more likely under-employed in a non-graduate level role.

As well as Network Rail, Birmingham based companies involved in the scheme include Carillion, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry and London Midland.

Jo Kaye, Network Rail’s route managing director, said: “We know that there are many smart, talented individuals out there that haven’t had their break yet and as a growing industry we can work together to provide challenging, valuable and paid work experience to kick start their careers.

“What sets this scheme apart is those involved will work across the rail industry and by linking it all together, develop a fantastic knowledge and understanding of the challenges we all face and the opportunities for the future.”

As thousands of young people start 2012 looking for meaningful work, Network Rail surveyed those who have graduated in the last two years and found:

• Four in ten people (41%) are unsure if they made the right degree choice and a further 14% believe they made the wrong choice.
• Graduates have applied on average for nine jobs since leaving university.
• 8% have been offered no job interviews
• 65% have been offered between one and three interviews and a quarter (24%) have had more than five interviews.
• 43% have found it extremely hard or hard to narrow down the type of job they are looking for with a further 34% finding it sometimes hard.
• One in five (19%) are not interested in doing voluntary work with a third (33%) only wanting paid work. 19% have already done voluntary work.

• When asked what they think employers value most:
  - 40% said “work experience relevant to the job”
  - 28% “skills relevant to the job”
  - 14% believe that top qualifications are most valued
  - 10% said “where someone went to university” is what employers are most interested in
  - 29% believe that a lack of experience most puts off potential employers in an application or interview; 24% say poor spelling and grammar, 16% say lack of research
• More than one in four (27%) rated their university careers service as “not very good” or “poor” with a further 34% saying it was “only partly helpful”.

Typical roles in Track and Train will be in network operations, station and train teams, customer service, sales and marketing, route strategy, asset management and project management. There will not be roles in corporate functions such as finance, IT or engineering, where the industry has bespoke graduate schemes already in place.

Additional coaching and mentoring classes will be provided at Network Rail’s development centre where those on the scheme will receive advice on interview techniques, presentation skills and how to present a great CV.

The closing date for application is midday on Friday 27 January 2012. Applicants can find out more about this scheme through http://www.trackandtrain.org.uk