Openreach engineer/ acting operations manager Review

I am a telecommunications engineer, my job role involves fitting and fixing telephone line in order to get customers connected to the internet. I spend a lot of my day doing single man work, accessing different parts of the network including working up poles and going in underground points as well. I also get to visit a variety of locations and go to customers houses which means I get to meet a lot of people on a daily basis. Recently I have taken on the project role of a operational manager, where I have a team of 18 engineers, I am responsible for their welfare and to make sure they meet the required standard that the company expects of them. I daily check emails, conduct quality and safety checks, give on the job support and make sure the engineers are hitting the targets they are measured on to become qualified engineers.

I am working towards getting a BTEC in Pearson BTEC Level 3 Diploma in Professional Competence for IT and Telecoms Professionals. I have also completed a variety of training courses including a EUSR card, streetworks qualifications. As well as on the job training including underground training, working at height, customer interaction, wiring, frames and FTTC. I have also developed communication, leadership, teamwork and independence. I have also learnt how to fully make use of Microsoft excel as well as how to break down reporting.

I enjoyed the engineering job as it was something different and the chance to try a new skill, although it is a large amount of single man work I am still part of a team who support each other when required. The company culture can be tough for a woman as it is seen as a male job. I have faced issues with customers and people within the company saying that I am unable to do my job due to my gender.

My manager values me as an individual and allows me to make decisions regarding my team and allows me to make changes to the team dynamic. I believe I have received internal recognition as I have been given the chance to step and become a manager, however I am aware that the job is only acting and there is the potential I will not get the role which is concerning.

My programme is well organised as I am programmed to have at least one NVQ day a month, as well as this once every three months I have a review with my NVQ assessor where we discuss my progress and how I can improve going forward. I enjoy the fact that the course was independent learning as I was able to find the information at my own pace. I feel I get ample support from my assessor as well.

I can get hold of my assessor in a variety of ways including mobile, text and Skype, the only criticism I have is that he has so many people to deal with I have to remind where I am at with my progress. However when I have had any issues regarding anything I have been able to talk to my assessor openly about any problems.

BT and Openreach have allowed the absences to be put in place so I can have these NVQ days and ELP reviews. They have also allowed me ample time to go and explore other areas of the business in order for me to develop my career. However aside from this I had 4 weeks of buddying out in the field which I felt was not long enough to learn the job properly.

I live at home with my parent, however if I was living by myself I would struggle to be able to live comfortably as the original salary was just over 14k this would have been a massive struggle. My wage has since increased to 18k however as I live in an area that is within the London commute belt which drives the cost of living up. As the average engineer earns 23k, 28k with fully skilled, I believe the wage should be more.

I have made several friends in the company who are very social, this means we regularly meet up outside of the workplace to catch up which I enjoy. We are also given the chance to do volunteering for the company including events for recruitment. There is also a recreation society which gives away cheap tickets to sporting and entertainment events.

Yes

It is a good company to work for you get decent pay, a company van with tools provided for. They also offer good company perks, health services and money off your internet bill. you also learn new things about your character and learn new skills on a daily basis.

you will get a huge amount of opportunities to develop yourself as a person, and the chance to learn a new skill. the application process is straight forward and easy to follow, although it has changed since I applied. I would say that it can be a lonely job as you may not see any engineers for several days, but it is a job for life.