Filip Zucker, a dedicated and talented trainee, is bidding farewell to our organization. As his traineeship period comes to an end, we sat down with him to learn how he perceived his time with FTE and what plans he has for the future.
Filip, what brought you to the railway world?
I have been a railway enthusiast since I was a small child when I read my first book about trains and their history. My interest in railways increased while doing a part-time job at a customer service center at a passenger railway company, where I discovered what happens “behind the scenes” in such company and since then I was motivated to learn about it and explore how the railway business works. FTE gave me a perfect opportunity for this and I am very thankful for this chance to dive deep into various aspects of business and find what exactly I am interested about.
Can you describe some of the tasks that you had at FTE?
I have worked on various tasks, from creation of nametags for a conference, through creation of communication materials, support with organizing international meetings and conferences to working on a new European Capacity Regulation for Railway Infrastructure. However, I would like to highlight my work on IT tool ECMT (European Capacity Management Tool), which I had to learn to use from scratch in order to test the new module implemented into the tool. Based on functional requirements I tested the app, created the report and presented it at international meetings in Vienna and Lausanne. Working on ECMT was one of the most enjoyable projects I had, because the whole report was my own work and I enjoyed presenting it in front of professionals and discussing the results with them. This feeling of doing a valuable and important work is essential to me.
What did you like about your other tasks?
Some of the tasks were more time consuming or more difficult to do, but all of them gave me some valuable experience, with many of them being interesting and fun to do. Even smaller and seemingly not as important tasks have improved my abilities which I may find very useful in the future. What I particularly liked was attending international meetings and conferences, because this gave me an opportunity to meet many inspiring people and have interesting discussions with them.
Can you name a few key takeaways from your internship at FTE?
This whole traineeship is an invaluable experience to me, because I feel it opened the door to railway business to me. I have learned a lot about different aspects of the industry and this I don’t think I would be able to get this much knowledge anywhere else in such a short time. Another notable thing is a big number of professionals from the business whom I had met and discussed with. I also improved my communication, became familiar with a formal environment and improved my soft skills.
What are your objectives for the future?
I definitely wish to continue my career in the railway industry. Firstly, I wish to learn more about different aspects of actual operation of trains and experience it in reality. In the future, I would like to become involved in making the international railway transport better and more efficient for everyone. It’s a long journey and I am still just at the beginning!
In the end, I would like to thank the whole FTE team for their support, I really enjoyed working with you all. Big thanks goes also to many people whom I met while attending meetings or conferences, who were very welcoming and always happy to discuss with me.