01.03.12
Making connections
Source: Rail Technology Magazine Feb/March 2012
Getting young people to choose careers in rail is a challenge for the whole industry. Paul Cooper, the new chairman of the Young Railway Professionals, explains how to provide vital support to this demographic.
The Young Railway Professionals (YRP) has expanded very rapidly since it was founded in October 2009, when it acted to join up the young members’ divisions of rail industry institutions such as the IMechE, both in the UK and internationally.
Paul Cooper of Hitachi Rail Europe was voted in as chairman of the YRP in January 2012, after Rob Mullen of First Great Western stood down.
Following the YRP’s third annual black tie dinner event on February 2, the biggest yet, Cooper talked to RTM about his new role, leading the organisation forwards and developing a vision for 2012.
Offering opportunities
The growth in YRP membership numbers was always expected, Cooper suggested, due to the huge potential to connect with more young people across the rail industry. Before the YRP, no organisation existed to provide the connections and networks that can be so beneficial to young people starting their careers.
He said: “Under British Rail, you pretty much joined the whole industry, and if you were a graduate or an apprentice, you would by nature meet all of the other graduates or apprentices at your level from across the country.”
Those relationships would help the young people to develop and grow their careers. This, Cooper said, is why the YRP formed, to offer these opportunities once more to young people today. Building a network can bring all the young member groups together and expand their career horizons.
The YRP has also continued to build relationships with young member organisations in Europe such as Dutch group Young Innovators, as well as having a presence at Innotrans in Berlin.
In 2012 one of the key initiatives is to maximise potential opportunities to run joint events with such organisations, designed to allow young people from different countries to meet, exchange ideas and share their experiences.
Cooper said that lots of countries are still without a network, and that this could be a potential service for the YRP to provide in the future. He commented: “If we grow more broadly into Europe, there may be the opportunity to help young people in the railway industry by starting up something similar there, because of the benefits it brings to the UK.”
Recognising rail
The rail industry has long been struggling with attracting fresh young talent, and Cooper stated: “Rail hasn’t done enough to let young people know how great the industry is, what great opportunities there are, the benefits that infrastructure delivers to the country. The rail industry needs to be recognised by young people in schools choosing A-levels and degree courses: they need to know that a career in the railway is one where you get to make a difference that impacts everybody.
“A lot of young people didn’t choose rail, they ended up in rail and discovered they liked it. There’s too many of us in that position to ignore the fact that most young people don’t know what the railway industry has to offer. There’s a huge amount that needs to be done.”
Approaches to raise this awareness include improving the industry’s public relations to promote the key attractions to a career in rail as well as enlisting young people working in rail to engage with people in education deciding on careers.
Up-to-date information about available career opportunities and career progression will also be provided through their new website, due to launch this year.
Coupled with a very close relationship with the National Skills Academy for Railway Engineering (NSARE), the YRP is not only able to help potential employees find their role within the industry, but also assist with any training and development requirements.
Cooper added: “With our Railway Ambassadors programme, we’re intent on making sure people promote the railway industry in schools, colleges and universities and sell it as a great career.
“We’re going to build on what the industry really needs. There is a huge need in the industry for the young people to come in and train.”
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