Telecoms Apprentice Review

My roll as a telecoms apprentice varies from day to day. One day I could be carrying out maintenance on the FTN (fixed telecoms network ) in an equipment building or relay room or assisting in dealing with a fault such as battery replacements or fibre optic/ copper cable failures. Although the shifts for telecoms engineers are usually 8am till 3pm, the opportunity for night time and weekend overtime is common.

During my time on the apprenticeship, I've learned multiple different skills that I use everyday on the railway. The most important skill I've learnt is taking an analytical approach to fault finding to ensure that I am able to identify and rectify every issue that arises and assist the technicians as much as possible.

Although some of the assignments throughout the apprenticeship are tough, the varied types of work and environments we work in are fantastic and have provided me with a wide range of experience and enjoyment in the two years I have worked for the company. Each day is in a different place experiencing different faults or tasks.

Although the vast majority of the programme is very well structured, there were some aspects during my time at Westwood that required improvement such as the uncertainty about programme length, pay, and day to day rotors/hours that we remained unsure about until we arrived at our Depots after 6 months. Although when we arrived it became clear that each depot works differently with different shift patterns etc.

The support from Network Rail has so far been fantastic. From the offset you are allocated a "Line Manager" who will help you where possible with any questions that you may have. My line manager made it very clear that he would always be happy to help or send me in the right direction with my queries such as ordering additional PPE or booking hotels/train travel for courses.

Although Babcock do support us a great deal, the training we receive is in blocks of 2-3 weeks residential training down in HMS SULTAN in Gosport meaning that we are in contact with them very little in the interim periods between training. However, the staff at Gosport have provided us with contact details should we require any assistance or support during our training when we are away from Gosport at our Depots.

The vast majority of the subjects taught by the training providers have been used regularly in my day to day tasks allowing me to perform better in my team. Although some skills taught have yet to be used on site I'm certain that the underpinning knowledge taught by Babcock will be useful throughout my career with Network Rail.

When studying at Westwood, the opportunity for extra curricular activities was vast, there was a pool, sauna steam room sports hall and gym. And the site is situated just down the road from Astro Turf pitches that can be hired out for small 5 a side foot ball games for a small cost.

Yes

I would recommend Network Rail to a friend because of the vast opportunity's for learning, gaining qualifications, and working in a stable and prosperous career. I genuinely believe that Network Rail is a great company to work for with endless opportunities for those employees that work hard and chase them.

The main piece of advice I'd give people is to try everything and be proactive. Instead of waiting for your boss to give you jobs or placements, request time with other disciplines or trades to expand your knowledge and understanding of how the railway operates. Approach each task with a positive mind-set and you'll learn an enormous amount of incredibly interesting and useful information that will really help you throughout your apprenticeship and career.