FND Fibre Engineer Review

My day-to-day work includes installing, repairing and the upkeep of Openreach's fibre optic network - I've recently been made live so I get sent my own jobs to complete, usually in new build properties but sometimes I have to go out and fault find and fix known problems on our network.

I've learnt a lot about our fibre optic network, I didn't really have any knowledge on how fibre optic systems works before I started my apprenticeship which says a lot about Openreach's training as I'm now quite confident in doing work with my colleagues or by myself in the field.

I really enjoy my work, every day is different whether it be working in new build properties of fault finding or cabling new routes. I enjoy the fault finding work the most and it's very rewarding when you complete a job - I'm not such a fan of working in new build properties as it's sometimes quite mundane and basic tasks.

The apprentice induction provides us with everything we need from the initial 13 weeks classroom training that we get to the buddy training we receive after that - Once we're out in the field it's good initiative training as well, it almost feels as if we get thrown in the deep end, but we have everything we need.

So far, any issues I've come across in Openreach has been solved pretty quickly from my line managers which gives me confidence that I do and will have all the support I'll need from my employer. We was told at the start of our apprenticeship that we would have all the support we need, but it's nice to actually receive it and not just be told.

My NVQ assessor [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyApprenticeship Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] has been wonderful in terms of support, he's very quick to reply to emails with questions about our course and will reply at all hours of the day. I've emailed him at 8pm before with questions on an item I was working on and he replied within minutes.

I don't think the qualification itself is massively important for our actual work, but I can understand why it is important, there is lots of information we need to come up with based around health and safety, using IT in our roles, but the role itself, I feel like we learn most of that in the field.

So far I've been invited to a team building adventure day with new recruits that came on the company at the same time as me, this was pretty enjoyable and I've been invited to a leadership development event which is first come first serve so hopefully I'll be able to attend this.

Yes

I feel BT is a great company for somebody who wants to find a job to do for a long time, I personally grew out of my previous career and I quite like the thought of working at BT / Openreach for the rest of my life because the quality of life I'll get will be lovely.

I would tell someone to do their research into the company and the type of work around fibre optic systems, this is what I did and I think my genuine interest came across when I was being interviewed for the job. I would also show interest in having a long term job which offers amazing progression.