Network Apprentice Review

In my role I am currently involved with the WiFi team. We are responsible for looking after public WiFi access points in businesses such as in hotels, fast food chains and in public areas. I do this by resolving tickets and ensuring every issue is handled promptly. I also communicate with businesses and engineers on the phone.

In my role I have enjoyed the opportunity to learn new technical skills, and can now log in to routers, switches and controllers in order to remotely fix issues. I have also gained a more confident telephone manner and can conduct myself in the appropriate manner. I have also enjoyed the opportunity to develop my maths.

I would say that on the whole I enjoy my programme but that there is quite a lot of micro-management. There are many opportunities available within BT and many chances to explore what you really want to do in the business. You can also volunteer and get credited for volunteering a lot.

My programme is very well structured thanks to the large team behind apprentices. We have multiple contacts who we can fall back on should we ever have any issues and this helps us to stay organised and on top of our degree work. If we ever struggle then we know who we can talk to.

We receive lots of support in the form of study days, and we can request more of these if we feel that we are struggling to get work done for university or if we are finding it difficult to get to grips with the content. We also have regular meetings with our manager.

As mentioned above, we get study days every week that we have university and can request more if we feel that we need them. We can also work with one another and I have received help from colleagues who have already completed the programme to ensure that I fully understand content.

I feel that my qualification is highly relevant to my work and it helps me to understand and appreciate just what it is I am doing on a day to day basis. One tends to support the other and what I learn at university informs my role, and vice versa.

There are many extra curricular activities in Adastral park and as part of the apprentice team. There are regular socials and clubs on the park that anyone can take part in, including football, sailing, sports days and charity days. Everyone is encouraged to get involved and it is really exciting.

Yes

I would recommend BT to a friend because it is a highly rewarding place to work and offers many opportunities for advancement. The pay is good, and the people are helpful, friendly and happy to help. I think it would be difficult to find a workplace where people support you and where you can enjoy this sort of upwards mobility.

I would advise people to be themselves when applying as the people at BT know what sort of people get along well here. It also pays to know lots about the company before applying, and to have some knowledge of computer systems and networks, but this can all be learned on the job too.