Starting your career in a large company? Vasúttechnika as seen by young people

SWIETELSKY Vasúttechnika, which employs more than 200 people, is an indispensable player in railway construction. The Austrian-owned company, Swietelsky AG, as a Hungarian subsidiary, has announced a talent management programme for students of the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) for the 2022/2023 academic year. Two of our interviewees participated in this programme and today they are colleagues of Vasúttechnika, the third of our interviewees also graduated from BME, specifically in the specialisation of transport facilities. All three started their career in the railway construction company. The topics of our interview included the opportunities and support they received from the long-established company, what it is like to see railway construction in practice as a university student, and how and why young people choose civil engineering as a career today.

Márton Suga, Dávid Bódai and Dávid Szabó all came to the Railway Technology Department from the Infrastructure specialization of the Faculty of Civil Engineering at BME. Their professional enthusiasm is largely fuelled by the deepening of their practical experience, which they have a good opportunity to do as members of Vasúttechnika.

How did you get involved in railway engineering?

Márton Suga: I've heard about the company before, as I've been interested in railways for a long time. My thesis and TDK advisor mentioned that the company had a scholarship programme, which I successfully applied for. After a year of training, I was offered the opportunity to work part-time at the Railway Technology, which I accepted.

Dávid Bódai: I'm not "officially" an engineer yet, but hopefully that will change in a month or so - I'm writing my thesis at university. I was interested in the construction industry already in secondary school: I graduated as a building construction technician, from where it was almost natural to apply for a civil engineering course. This is how I ended up at the BME, where I specialised in railways. I came to Railway Engineering through the scholarship programme and then stuck here. Last year, I was able to do my summer internship here, after which I asked if I could stay on as an intern, and they said yes.

Dávid Szabó: I heard about Vasútechnik during my studies, as it is a major company in the sector. At first I got to know the company better because of the scholarship programme; however, I ended up not applying for the programme. However, the subject of my thesis brought me into contact with the company, as my external consultant works there.

I was interested in construction and transport when I was young. I went to high school for maths and physics, so it seemed natural to go into engineering. I quickly decided on civil engineering from the wide range of courses on offer, and during my training I decided what I wanted to do - and chose a specialisation accordingly.

I completed my bachelor's degree in Transport Facilities Specialisation and in the autumn I will continue with a master's degree in Infrastructure Engineering.

What were the tasks of the scholarship programme?

Dávid Bódai: "Vasúttechnika organised various programmes for us: we didn't participate in any concrete construction work, but we were able to learn about how the company works and what kind of machines it uses through site visits and courses. This was an important experience, as it is rare to have the opportunity to see large railway construction machines up close.

Márton Suga: The company also provided us with training, which was held at the Vasúttechnika office. The fellowship programme was not only useful and interesting, but it gave us the opportunity to learn about railway construction on a very broad spectrum.

So perhaps it's no wonder that we stayed here after the programme and started our career building here.  

Why did you choose to build railways?

Dávid Bódai: What I like about it is that it is a very multifaceted, complex process, with many disciplines working together to finally get you on a train that can run on a well-functioning railway track. I think it is very exciting to see how all this coordinated activity comes together.

Márton Suga: I decided when I was in primary school that I wanted to work in the railways. Of course, it was only gradually that I decided which area would be better for me to learn more about, initially I was interested in all aspects of the subject. Today, I obviously know more about the sub-areas, but I also see how much I can learn about each of them: designing, building or maintaining them is a process of almost incalculable proportions. I ended up going into planning and logistics, but a big advantage is that I can get an insight into several disciplines at Rail Engineering.

Dávid Szabó: It was obvious that I would choose this specialisation, and it was also obvious that I would move from road and railway construction to railways. For me, construction is the most exciting of the railway construction phases, but I'm happy to look into any sector. What I decided during university was that I would definitely like to work for a company where I could not only learn about design, but also get an insight into more aspects of railway construction. Here you can see all the phases of construction, which is a big advantage.

What's it like to work at Vasúttechnik?

Dávid Bódai: The environment is very supportive. Everyone we have worked with has been very helpful. Nobody treats us as if we need to know everything right away, but at the same time they involve us in more and more different kinds of work every day.

Perhaps it's true for all three of us that we can get out into the field more and more. It gives us a chance to get to know the conditions there, to get a better insight into how the machines work. There is a lot to be learned from this, as we have only ever seen the tools used in construction in textbooks or on slides. And of course we also get some great office work. We will focus on the BIM and its different orientations.

Márton Suga: Until now, if we asked anyone for help, they helped us immediately or found us a person who could help us - whether it was an engineer or a machine operator. We have a very diversified job, which makes our everyday life really varied. We've had to work with colleagues from abroad on several occasions, which is also good language practice.

It's very instructive during university, but of course towards the end to get a taste of practical work.

Dávid Szabó: Everyone is very willing, which is a very good feeling. We can see a lot of things that are not possible at university. Some of them were things we hadn't learned about at all before, because in school the goal is to expand our general knowledge as much as possible, but there is no opportunity to explore a question in depth.

What are the advantages of starting your career here?

Dávid Bódai: Whatever you become, even if you have very serious ambitions, it's good to look into the details and learn how things work - even the individual machines out in the field. It can be useful to experience how to build, say, a track, because if you go on to a higher position you may not have the opportunity to do that.

Dávid Szabó: Here we can see as many phases of railway construction as possible and try out many new things. The international network also means a lot: the group has colleagues in many countries with whom we can work, and we can learn a lot from that.

Márton Suga: It's very good that we are not split up for office work or site visits, but alternate our tasks. Although the company is basically a construction company, it is quite diversified, so we can also look into scheduling, for example. They also try to involve us in everything so that we can see as much as possible. I would probably summarise it as: there are so many ways to find your number here, and you get all the help you need to find it.

You mentioned the international network. Does Railways have the opportunity to experience what it is like to work abroad? Has there been such a programme?

Dávid Bódai: Yes, there is. During the summer we will have the opportunity to go to the Netherlands and Sweden and participate in the company's projects there as foreman trainees. In addition, we have already been to a training course in Vienna, Austria, at Swietelsky's Digitisation Centre in the spring, from which we came back with a lot of useful experience and new knowledge related to BIM.

Szabó Dávid: There is a possibility, I have not been abroad with the company yet, but during the summer I also have plans to go to Sweden to work with the SMD rebuilder. In addition, I had the opportunity to meet and work with Austrian colleagues, which was useful from a professional point of view and also from a language point of view.

Márton Suga: Mainly, as others have said, besides SMD there is the possibility to gain experience abroad, I recently visited Croatia for such work. But there are also opportunities to build up office contacts or to gain insights into other construction sites, and hopefully these will increase in the future.

Internal training and education are nowadays increasingly common in workplaces. Is there a similar programme here?

Dávid Bódai: Absolutely! Already during the fellowship programme we received a lot of training on railway construction, as well as on environmental and quality assurance issues. And recently, we have participated in a Autodesk Civil 3D training, focusing on the software's railway construction and design capabilities.

Márton Suga: But in general, it is also a fact that people are welcome and supportive if they have a personal motivation to study in a certain field, whether it is training to become a machine operator, a traffic exam, or more structural training, a language exam or geodesy education.