Trainee Openreach engineer Review

As an Openreach telephone engineer on the Service Delivery team I respond to various jobs from providing new telephone lines for businesses and private dwellings to investigating faults on existing lines. This work involves working outside in all weathers to provide our customers with the service they require. I enjoy being out in my van completing the various tasks I am given and meeting different people.

This new role for me was a total career change so I have learnt a lot of new skills and knowledge on my apprenticeship. I have learnt about the principles of Openreach as a company and about the BT group. I have learnt how to work safely and to the correct policies and procedures. I have learnt a vast amount of information about the telephone network and how it works which I now use every day to complete the tasks I am set to provide service to our customers.

I am enjoying my apprenticeship and my new role on Service Delivery at Openreach. I enjoy meeting new customers each day and look forward to investigating their problem and getting the customer back in service the same day where I have the necessary skills to do so. I look forward to going to work and have made some good friends during the apprenticeship.

The program has been very well structured throughout the entire process. This includes the application process and starting the apprenticeship. There has always been very good communication between the company and myself and if I have ever needed to ask a question I have known who to ask. I feel it has been very professionally organised from the start.

I receive all the necessary support I need from the management structure in Openreach and also from the apprenticeship team at BT. In Openreach there is a clear management structure and my patch lead is my first port of call for advice them my line manager. My apprenticeship assessor is also very easy to talk to and responds quickly to any emails I have sent.

I have completed an ICT qualification as part of my apprenticeship which I have passed. Before the exam I attended a days session during which the ICT exam was explained and all the necessary topics were covered. This was a very useful day and I feel it prepared me well for my exam.

The apprenticeship is key to being able to function as a telephone engineer as with out all the information and skills I have been shown I would not be able to do the job. It also has shown me how to do the job in a safe and controlled manner which prevents injuries occurring.

There are a vast amount of extra-curricular activities in BT and Openreach. The information about these is easy to find on the intranet. I have not taken part in any activities as I have a young family at home which takes up most of my spare time. Openreach has recently introduced Workplace which is like Facebook at work which is really useful for finding out information on any topic.

Yes

I have been impressed with the professionalism of BT and all the staff from the beginning. I feel like a valued member of the team in Openreach and feel that I am looked after as an employee. I have been supplied with all my uniform and all the necessary good quality tools required to complete my job.

The tips I would give to anyone applying for an apprenticeship in BT would be to read all the information which is available about the role you are applying for. I would try and speak to someone who is currently doing the role to gain some first hand knowledge about the job. Read all the information which is sent out and follow the instructions as necessary. Enjoy the new journey which has been started.