diff --git a/EmployeeDirectory/Services/NetworkService.swift b/EmployeeDirectory/Services/NetworkService.swift
index cddd430..1ed750d 100644
--- a/EmployeeDirectory/Services/NetworkService.swift
+++ b/EmployeeDirectory/Services/NetworkService.swift
@@ -49,14 +49,24 @@ public class NetworkService {
     /// - Throws: A `ServiceError` for network, decoding, or unexpected errors.
     /// - Returns: The decoded object of the specified type.
     public func fetchData<T: Decodable>(from endpoint: String, as type: T.Type) async throws -> T {
+        //ensure a valid URL
+        guard let url = URL(string: endpoint) else {
+            throw NetworkServiceError.invalidURL
+        }
+        
+        return try await fetchData(with: URLRequest(url: url), as: type)
+    }
+    
+    /// Fetches data using a URLRequest and decodes it into a generic Decodable type.
+    /// - Parameters:
+    ///   - request: The URLRequest to execute.
+    ///   - type: The type to decode the data into.
+    /// - Throws: A `NetworkServiceError` for network, decoding, or unexpected errors.
+    /// - Returns: The decoded object of the specified type.
+    public func fetchData<T: Decodable>(with request: URLRequest, as type: T.Type) async throws -> T {
         do {
-            //ensure a valid URL
-            guard let url = URL(string: endpoint) else {
-                throw NetworkServiceError.invalidURL
-            }
-
             // Perform network request
-            let (data, response) = try await URLSession.shared.data(for: URLRequest(url: url))
+            let (data, response) = try await session.data(for: request)
             
             // Validate HTTP response
             guard let httpResponse = response as? HTTPURLResponse, httpResponse.statusCode == 200 else {