Kathleen O'Malley

"My personality types - Coordinator, Influencer and Trainer - suit me. I love to work with and be around other people, and find it rewarding to help and support others. Although I work well on my own - and often find it quicker when trying to get things done because I have strong organisational skills - I tend to find more energy when I'm working as part of a team. One word used in my results is 'diplomatic,' which is frequently used by my manager to describe me - I think I'm good at judging the personality of someone else and adapting my communications style to work with them, often stopping any conflict from escalating as a result. That said, I have had to work hard over to years to be assertive when needed."

"I help our business to deliver our social value framework, which involves engaging employees and influencing senior leaders and stakeholders across the rail industry to create social value through railway works, assets and people. I currently work on social sustainability projects including a rough sleeping outreach pilot and the creation of a tool to enable us to measure our social value as a rail industry. I am passionate about our impact on people and community engagement - I enjoy making a positive difference. The starting salary for my role is £45,000."

"I started working at Network Rail as a Station Support Assistant at Waterloo station. I really enjoyed working with the charities that held bucket collections at the station and realised I wanted to work more closely with the charity sector and communities. So, I moved into the role of Community Relations Executive, managing queries and complaints and collaborating with colleagues to update our lineside neighbours on railway works. Then, as I wanted to be even more pro-active, I became a Community Safety Manager - monitoring hotspots for trespass and working with local schools and community groups to educate people on the dangers of trespass on the railway. After a brief role in one of our communications teams, which enabled me to build on my previous experience, I moved into sustainability and my current role - managing our corporate charity partnerships and now working on our wider social value agenda."

"In my spare time I like to go to immersive theatre experiences with friends - and if there is food included, all the better! I have some fairly mixed interests - as well as being a huge Disney fan and always planning my next trip to a Disney park, I once trained to be a zombie, as I also love a horror event!"

"At the moment most of my days are spent in meetings planning the next steps for our two major projects - the rough sleeping on rail outreach pilot at two of the stations we manage and the development of the Rail Social Value Tool which will help us measure our social value. This involves discussions around emerging risks and opportunities and developing communications plans to keep us on track and our colleagues and the public up-to-date on what we're doing. I haven't been able to visit our outreach teams yet due to the pandemic - I can't wait to start getting out more and seeing my efforts come to life in the real world!"

"After GSCEs, I completed my A-Levels in English Language & Literature, History and Media, and then went on to study Media at Sussex University. I chose that subject as I thought it was the one I would enjoy most and that would have the most flexibility for me to take different pathways. I studied such a range of subjects within my course - from documentary making to news values all the way through to the history of persecution. It set me up well for working life - I can now adapt easily and multi-task no matter what is thrown at me!"