Networks Specialist Review

I work in mobile network optimization which involves getting a list of antennas which are live in the network and seeing how they are performing. A typical day might include fetching a list of antennas which have high interference and troubleshooting what the root causes for this is, other activities include trying to improve coverage for customers or trying to stop calls from failing or dropping once established.

Yes I have developed a lot of skills. Maybe some of the most valuable skills have been understanding my working environment well and good practice within an office environment. Some of the skills through the course were relevant and some were for the broader field but overall the experience has been good and it's been clear with the link to my job.

The program has been pretty good overall. Possibly nearer the start it would have been good to have a mentor which has a few days dedicated to you. For example in my experience I was used to being told what to do, and having to ask someone for this was a change in attitude and needed some adjustment.

The program has been quite well structured. Overall in terms of being informed with what's going on and any requirements on myself it's been good, but in terms of sticking with one University, that had been a bit of a challenge. With two years in one University and one in another, only the grades from the last year counted (although looking at the results, it seems the first years were considered).

I receive a lot of support from my employer. It is up to me to let my manager know when I need some time to focus on taking time for learning but I'm happy to say that whenever that I do say about that my employer is more than happy to accommodate it. We are a company which is strong with self development and I think thats something key for me.

A lot, we had a mixture of face to face, over the phone and generic conversations. Although I didn't attend there were also courses which helped students with more generic topics like referencing or getting ready for employment. Provider did give at least one draft and gave fairly good guidance on how to improve it. At times a lot was asked in terms of timeframe to complete work but I think this is normal.

Pretty good. I think the apprenticeship is more specific then a typical University course but at the same time I think that in a final year there could have been more specific learning centralized more specifically to the job role which could have been captured.

Yes, although during lockdown it's been difficult. We have social events such as quiz Friday and that kind of thing to keep spirits up. Also during lockdown we have had a group on Strava so that side of things definitely motivates me to become more active.

Yes

Very good salary for coming straight out of school followed by a good salary in the field. I would recommend Vodafone also because they are very flexible in their approach to things and increasingly are becoming focused on developing every individual and allowing them to find their strengths. It's a good progressive company with multiple opportunities for development.

Be ready for the workload, and when going to University try to spend the extra few minutes making sure that the notes you wrote down can be read again and will make sense to you. You'll need them later and may need to come back to them for your job role.