Exchange Support Engineer Review

My role currently involved working as a specialist exchange technical engineer within a second line department. This involves dealing with customer incidents which are passed up from first line and ensuring customers are receiving the best service provided along with long term solutions. Likewise involved in working in a few projects relating to a shift IT transition for an external customer which requires specialist skills to ensure each stage is completed to the best of its ability.

I am learning project management, finance, IT security and corporate social responsibility at university which has allowed to extend my skill set from just IT based skills to how they interact with business skills. From work learnt skills involving client (outlook) fixes and exchange skills. Finally skills in soft skills such as time management and presentations from both university and work.

I absolutely love this programme as there is a strong peoples culture within the work environment and every employee's values and opinions are respected. Likewise I am able to utilise the theories and knowledge I am learning at university and apply in the work place which has really increased my practitioner efficiency.

I feel highly valued and this can seen from awards I have received from my team manager and being allowed to be involved in other projects and external activities such as charitable work. I feel Fujitsu value their employees and constantly ask for feedback on anything which can improve an employees position/behaviour.

The programme is well structured, there is a lot of support from the company as the supply mentors to assist in university studies and there are constant meetings with managers and mentors to check on the progress being made at university. There was some minor hiccups initially due to being a new programme for Fujitsu, however these have been overcome very quickly.

I believe that we get a lot of help from the tutors at university to help assist/improve the work we are producing. Generally, we receive a lot of feedback from tutors about our work which helps us improve. There are also separate workshops for students to improve soft skills or their studying behaviour which is a useful option. Sometimes, time issues can get in the way of receiving support, however this has usually been overcome through tutors making time available to us.

There is a huge amount of support and guidance from team members to managers to mentors. They all give me guidance in how to improve certain skills likewise checking my work to see if it meets a professional standard. They are willing to listen to any questions I have and give me useful answers which has benefitted my development.

The salary package meets costs very well, as I receive a highly competitive salary for being just a sponsored degree student. I also receive travel costs whenever I work away from my base location. There are many benefits as well in the package like the pension scheme which is very good for employees. The only criticism would be that maybe the employer could provide relocation costs if needed as some other employers to provide this.

There are multiple opportunities outside of work to get involved in such as company events, charity events, community events, leisure and voluntary initiatives. For example I got was involved in some charitable work for Action for Children outside of work which was a great event to take part in. There can be time constraints occasionally due to the balance of university work and the day job however this is something to be expected in the first year as it is not something I am used to,

Yes

It is a great opportunity to earn a degree without the need of paying for it and you are able to gain very important work experience which is something which is usually underestimated by many students. Many employers seek work experience when employing potential employees. However, this programme allows for that and getting a degree so that you can be qualified in a specialist area. Also you receive different types of work experiences as you are not constantly doing the same type of work throughout the time of the programme.

I would recommend reading up on the history and current initiatives Fujitsu are involved in as this is something the company would expect from any new recruit that they have done some background reading into what kind of company they are doing. Also, making sure you stay relaxed during the interview stages as this will come across to the interviewer when speaking. Finally , making sure that you use real life examples when talking about what skills you have so the company can hear how you have utilised them.