Employees appreciate their global development opportunities in the Group

As a global Group, DB offers its employees a variety of career and development opportunities. Below are four examples from the international business units of the DB Group.

Hanna Münninghoff, 23, has "a job that inspires me and that I enjoy." She works with the Xrail production alliance, which aims to strengthen single-car transport efficiency in Europe. DB Schenker Rail is a member of the network. She came across her career during her training as a project engineer, which gave her a thorough insight into working practices at various DB Schenker sites while she earned a degree. "I always received an exceptional level of support," she says. She completed some of her training in Denmark. While she was in Copenhagen, she came across Xrail, where she now helps to optimize processes.

Björn Gäbler, 30, is a servicing supervisor for the automated metro system at the women-only Princess Noura Bint Abduhl Rahman University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. "My career plans didn't actually include spending time abroad," he says. He was working for the S-Bahn suburban rail network in Stuttgart in 2011 when his departmental manager told him that someone was needed for a metro project in Riyadh. He accepted the job, DB Regional seconded him to DB International, and now he ensures that the metro system at the women's university runs smoothly. Gäbler's wife and three-year-old son have now joined him. When his contract runs out at the end of the year, he "definitely wants to stay in the region" for the time being. "There are so many projects at DB International."

Vanessa Holl, 42, calls the worldwide growth program "Go for Growth (G4G)," which she was responsible for introducing by the end of 2011, "my baby at Schenker." She left the Logistics Strategy department in Berlin and moved to Essen to work on the project. Her work on G4G made it clear that "the Region West has scope for development," as she says. As she can speak three of the countries' four languages, she was chosen to fill a newly created position in Paris. Now she is responsible for all strategic issues in the region. Holl praises the culture at DB Schenker Logistics: "It's shaped by humanity, and achievements are rewarded." Currently, she is learning Arabic and she can imagine bringing her practical experience to bear at Group level or in a DB subsidiary – preferably in an international setting. "I'm always eager to tackle new challenges."

Michel Bizot, 57, has a passion for driving trains. In his free time, he drives historic locomotives in France. He only turned professional five years ago, when he left the sales team at a telecoms company to join ECR (Euro Cargo Rail), DB Schenker Rail's French subsidiary. During his nine-month training period, he proved that age is no obstacle to getting the job done. “Quite the opposite! My younger coworkers were glad that they could benefit from my knowledge." Now he drives trains near the Spanish border. "Despite the unusual working hours, my job gives me a sense of freedom." And he is still taking on new challenges too: "I want to learn English."