Our two-year programmes are designed to take you out of your comfort zone and quickly develop your skills and career. Bringing lots of energy and ideas, you’ll roll your sleeves up, take on responsibility and work with a variety of teams on real-life projects.
FirstGroup stands proudly as the top smaller-intake graduate employer in the transport sector as voted by the graduate employees themselves. FirstGroup’s graduates wax lyrical about the development opportunities and “excellent career progression prospects”. Not only does the company offer a “vast array of career opportunities”, it is also “very supportive in terms of your development and really allows you to tailor the scheme to your interests and goals”. Offering the “freedom and flexibility to learn the business inside out” and the chance to “drive your own development forward and cater placements to your skill set”, it is no wonder that FirstGroup achieved a rating of 4/5 for Career Progression Opportunities. Simply put, “it is one of the biggest public transport companies in the world so the breadth of opportunities is huge”.
Click below to hear Ben’s experience of coming through FirstGroup’s graduate programme…
1. The Best and Worst things about working for FirstGroup
Best: The best part of working in the railway industry for young professional is its diversity. Colleagues are encouraged to complete various roles across different divisions and parts of the organisation. This means that you can consistently challenge yourself, taking on new and different tasks on a day to day basis.
Worst: The worst part of the railway industry is that it’s some 20 years behind other industries. A strong trade union environment coupled with old and complex processes represents challenges for any professional in this area. This can often be frustrating but this challenge represents a huge opportunity for any colleagues working in the industry. This industry is one of the few left where a person can leave a real impact and legacy upon it. If you believe you can change the future of this industry, get involved and help make it happen.
Operations Graduate at FirstGroup
Best: The diverse nature of the company and the industry as a whole means that there is a lot to learn if you want to. Even over the few months I have been with the company, I have been surprised at the opportunities I have been offered. There are also frequent opportunities to network with graduates from other transport companies.
Worst: The graduates are spread out across the country so you will not necessarily see other graduates on a day-to-day basis, but there is still a good graduate community.
Engineering Management Graduate Trainee at FirstGroup
Best: They are very supportive in terms of your development and really allow you to tailor the scheme to your interests and goals. They provide you with an excellent support network and actively encourage professional accreditation. There is plenty of opportunity to travel around the UK and good perks, e.g. rail card, bus pass. They also give you good exposure to high level company employees and make you feel valued and important to the company’s future.
Worst: Sometimes it can feel like you’ve been thrown in the “deep end” when you start taking on responsibility. However, there are always people willing to help and talk it through, be it your mentor, buddy, line manager, the graduate team, or just another member of your department.
Engineering Management Graduate at FirstGroup
2. Average Working Hours
8:00am – 4:00pm
3. Average Graduate Salary
£25,000 – £27,000
4. Interview Tips
Application Advice: If you are the kind of person who requires a varied role that offers different challenges day after day, someone who would get bored sitting in an office and completing mundane tasks, then this is the industry for you. Just show you can get involved in any capacity and before long you will be working on issues and challenges you would have never previously envisaged.
Interview Advice: The FirstGroup Graduate application process is a challenging one. Rail knowledge is not essential; the organisation is looking for customer-focused people with great strategic skills. On this basis, come in with a positive attitude, let your personality shine through and demonstrate you have an analytical and strategic mind in solving issues.
Operations Graduate at FirstGroup
Take your time when answering interview questions and think about how your answers relate to the company’s core values.
Engineering Management Graduate Trainee at FirstGroup
Application Advice: Be yourself and show your personality. Research the field you’re applying for and make sure you understand the potential roles that you will be experiencing during your placements.
Interview Advice: Do your research on the company ethos and think about whether it aligns with your own values. Be well prepared to back up your statements.
Engineering Management Graduate at FirstGroup
Interested in finding out more about graduate life at FirstGroup? Click here for their full range of graduate reviews.
