Network Engineer Review

I work for BT and my job role is Network Engineering. I manage telephone exchanges and fix any faults on them and the general network. A day to day basis involves finding and fixing these faults, and other work related to this. I also do a lot of training to do with the job role as it is quite complicated, so I expand my knowledge in Telecoms to help with my job role.

I have learned a huge amount over the course of my apprenticeship. At the beginning, I had no knowledge on Telecoms or how a network works. Since then, I have been to college to study Telecoms, and learned a lot from colleagues. This means that my knowledge on the subject is much better but I still have a lot to learn.

I enjoy my apprenticeship program a lot, as people have been so helpful and I have learned a lot. The people around me are always willing to provide help or training, and are really friendly. BT is a great company as they provide a lot of fantastic experiences for apprentices to learn about different parts of the company. I have been to a few of these trips and found them very useful.

I feel valued by BT as an employee. BT offer benefits such as cheaper broadband and phone lines to employees. This is a great incentive to work for BT. Another reason is BT can provide advice is you have a problem, whether it is to do with work or outside of work. There are confidential hotlines and line managers are always willing to listen if you have an issue.

When I first started my apprenticeship with BT, there was an issue with my induction as I was given wrong information about the placer where I had to attend. However, the issue was sorted quickly and everything after that has run smoothly. My training is well organised and is always very useful and informative. I also have well organised support if I have an issue.

If I need support from my training, then I can go to a lot of people. As I don't have a specific "training provider" as I am taught by a large number of people, I can go to any of these people to seek assistance. Anyone in the office can provide help to me if I ask for it.

I receive support from my employer if I need it. There are a lot of people I can turn to if I have a work related/non work related problem. I can talk to my line manager, HR, Ethics team or confidential hotline. Each of these will listen to my issue and will provide support if needed. The problem should be dealt with and sorted. If I ever have an issue, I will talk to them to get it sorted.

My salary meets my costs well, as I do not need to pay too much as I still live at home. When I first started my apprenticeship, I was surprised at the pay as it is very good for an apprentice. I do not travel alone so I do not need expensive for that, so most of my salary goes towards daily and social costs.

BT offer a lot of opportunities to represent the company at events. I have attended a few of these, and they are great for my social and marketing skills. I attended a careers event in Slough where I talked about and promoted BT apprenticeships to school kids. This event lasted 2 days and was a great opportunity. BT also offer volunteering days where you can take days off in the year to volunteer for your chosen charity.

Yes

I would recommend BT to a friend as it offers a great apprenticeship program with a lot of fantastic opportunities. I really enjoy my apprenticeship and BT apprenticeships are in high demand due to the popularity. A lot for my friends are looking for apprenticeships so I will mention BT apprenticeships as a potential path for them.

If I were to give advice to someone applying for BT, it would be apply sooner rather than later. As I mentioned in the last question, BT apprenticeships are in high demand, so I applied a long time in advance and I would recommend others do the same. Another piece of advice is that people need to stand out from the crowd in order to get accepted. You can do this by being yourself, having a good CV and generally being interesting during the interview. You need to prove to them that you should be chosen for the job.