Inge-Sarah Andersen

"Inge-Sarah is an Electrical Engineer on the Network Rail graduate scheme, working on rail maintenance.Inge-Sarah says she is a logical thinker and a good communicator which are important skills for her role, as she works out what is wrong and how to solve each problem. The ‘Developer’ and ‘Coach’ types are a good fit as she uses her logical and persistent skills to find solutions to track maintenance problems, and helps her colleagues to apply this.She also has a passion for outreach work supporting young people to consider STEM careers, where she makes full use of her ‘Trainer’ skills."

"Inge-Sarah is an Electrical Engineer on the Network Rail graduate scheme. This means she has a varied role which gives her the opportunity to find out about all the different departments and roles at Network Rail. At present she is based in the maintenance department where she works with other engineers to identify and resolve any electrical faults on the rail system. These could be anything from signalling faults, power loss, or communications faults. She also helps to provide maintenance to keep the railway running to time. Inge-Sarah helped design and deliver the ‘Fast Trackers’ outreach project, an award-winning Network Rail outreach project where she was encouraging 200 young people to consider going on to higher education. "

"Inge-Sarah took a break from education after her GCSEs – she was caring for her mum who is disabled, and her confidence was low from being bullied at school. Her mum inspired her and she returned to study for her A-Levels as a mature student, she was determined to prove herself. She then took a degree in Electronic and Electrical Engineering which she paid for herself.Inge-Sarah started working for Network Rail straight after university, and is proud of her achievements. Her starting salary after university was £26,500 per year, plus a starting bonus of £2,000."

"Inge-Sarah enjoys going to the gym several times a week, as well as cooking, and reading. When she was at university, Inge-Sarah found out that she was dyslexic – she was surprised as people said she was too clever to be dyslexic which is really silly! Some of the best minds are dyslexic and she says this gives her a unique perspective and skillset that makes her more in demand.She says that there are lots of opportunities for progression and for travelling in engineering and is really looking forward to making the most of all these opportunities in the future. "

"On days when Inge-Sarah is working on a track, she has an early start (6–7 am) but is then finished by 2pm. She has breakfast at the depot and then works, and learns, with a more senior engineer. Office days are 9–5 pm, and on these days she will attend meetings, analyse data and liaise with her colleagues on projects. She says everyone is really friendly and meetings feel like opportunities to catch up with friends. "

"GCSEs A LevelsDegree in Electronic and Electrical Engineering"