Even though many of our graduates will have progressed in their careers since completing a case study, they are still of interest to students who wish to gain an understanding of the world of work.

First line response to incidents or failures on the railway. Supervise signallers, provide cover as a signaller as required.

Varies massively depending on what incidents occur, if any.

One day I can be out on site dealing with people from all sorts of companies to get trains moving, and the next day in the office going through paperwork.

Solving problems to keep trains moving.

At serious incidents you can be under lots of pressure, but you have to stay calm and work safely.

The variety and challenges of the job make it interesting

As a languages student I learnt how to communicate in all sorts of situations and I draw on those skills all the time.

Did a year abroad during my degree as a translation intern. Went from uni straight into the Network Rail graduate scheme.

I see myself staying within the company or at least the industry. The benefits of working for the company are good and the skills you gain within the operations sector of the company don't transfer well to other industries.

Language students should realise the range of possibilities that a language degree gives you. Companies want those soft skills as they can always train you on the rest, and our interviews are heavily based on non-technical skills.

I would also recommend doing a placement/internship on a year abroad, it proved invaluable material for graduate scheme interviews.