Sarah Hill

Apprentice, Siemens

Apprentice, Siemens

“I’m quite a girly girl. I still like doing my hair and makeup! Working on the railway has definitely toughened me up, working on grubby trains, getting dirty all the time. But I really quite enjoy that aspect of it!” Sarah Hill is 18 months into a three-year apprenticeship with Siemens. When she was in secondary school she went on a two-week engineering course at a university and enjoyed it so much that she realised she wanted a job in engineering.

“After I left school I wasn’t quite sure what my opportunities were. I was going to do A-Levels but my school closed down before I could start them, so I was only given a couple of days to choose another course. I went on to do Business and Law as a last-minute thing for a couple of years. After that I was stuck between university and an apprenticeship. I’d already done eight years of school and I wanted to get out and have a hands-on job.”

For Sarah, this is the great thing about an apprenticeship - she gets to learn on the job, rather than sitting in a classroom. She knew a couple of people who worked at Siemens and seized an opportunity to join a thriving business in a growing industry.

Currently Sarah works at Siemens’ depot in Hornsey (North London) performing maintenance on Thameslink’s new Class 700 trains.

“I really love it. I mainly shadow a technician, fault-finding on the trains. When they come into the depot we check them over and basically give them a service. We look for faults and do whatever’s necessary to get them fixed. I particularly enjoy working on the roof of the trains, doing maintenance work on the pantographs.”

There are about 1,000 different jobs that need to be done, so there is always something new to learn and no two days are the same. While Sarah is always shadowing a qualified technician, being an apprentice is still very hands-on. Sarah will continue working on the Class 700s for a few months before she moves on to a temporary placement in a different depot, working on another class of train.

When she first started her apprenticeship, Sarah’s friends were a bit confused about her choice.

“All my friends are also quite girly girls, they’re into hair and nails and stuff. When I told them what I was going to be doing they didn’t think it suited me. But once they understood it more, they were really impressed and are quite interested in it now.

“I moved out of my parents’ house about a year ago and I rent a flat with my friends, which is great fun. Their jobs are different to mine. I work night shifts and they do nine-to-five jobs, but they understand my shift patterns so they’re careful not to wake me, because they know I’ve just finished a 12-hour shift!”

Sarah likes her working schedule because it gives her a lot of time off. She does a pattern of five day shifts, followed by five days off, then four night shifts, followed by another five days off. It’s quite a culture shock from working student hours!

The rail industry has a reputation for being male-dominated, and probably nowhere more so than in maintenance depots, but Sarah doesn’t mind this at all, even though there is only one other female apprentice at Hornsey.

“I’ve definitely found my career here, and I certainly want to stay on the railway”

“The people I work with are great. Women shouldn’t be hesitant about coming into the industry.

“Fair enough, there is a massive difference between the number of men and women that work on the railway, but it shouldn’t be a barrier to women joining. I’m not treated any differently.

“Everyone’s the same, we all have the same job, we all do the same thing. Women are just as capable as men. I’ve definitely found my career here, and I certainly want to stay on the railway.” ■