Fibre Engineer Review

As a fibre technician engineer I am responsible for installing fibre broadband direct into customers property’s. Most of the work is installing cable from a pole or underground over to the house and then installing new equipment in order for that fibre cable to be installed inside the property

I’ve learned a vast amount over the last few months, some examples of this are the ability to splice fibre cables together. Another skill I’ve developed is my drill work and working with different drill bits and different materials internally and externally. My buddy taught me a lot as he was a civil engineer before so had lots of experience.

The apprenticeship is okay. Our co Ordinator has been brilliant but the actually contents of the programme seems very unnecessary there is a lot of repeated questions where you’ve already partially answered it in a previous question so that can be frustrating sometimes other than that the programme is quite good.

Very well organised - we’ve been sent all the relevant information by our co Ordinator and we get emails a week before reminding us when our NVQ day is. We always have access to our co Ordinator on the day we get to do our work and this works very well.

We have a dedicated co Ordinator like I’ve previously mentioned and he has been absolutely brilliant. He is always there to support us and helps us with advice and support when needed. The fact we get a day off to study is brilliant and there’s more support if needed.

From what I’m Aware we’ve not yet had any correspondence from the training provider but this may not be correct as I have to previously studied and gained a degree so I have been treated differently throughout the training song is perhaps is why I’ve not had any support from The provider as yet

Being honest there’s not much that we do in the qualification work that I think actually helps us in the field. A lot of it is ICT and how to find stuff I think it would be better if we actually got asked to read about techniques we use in the field.

Due to COVID 19 there has been a lull in any social gatherings but luckily last week our patch manager took us paint balling. There has also been a gathering planned for summer so there is plenty of activities outside of work which is great for team bonding and morale.

Yes

So far Openreach has been brilliant - very supportive - the managers and patch leads have been brilliant in all situations so far - the pay is good the perks and benefits are brilliant and the pension and other share saver schemes are very attractive to. It’s a safe job and the hours are manageable.

Make sure to do your research and to prepare as best you can. Read reviews on the interview process and think about what questions might be asked and what your answers could be. Make sure you present yourself well and just be yourself - if possible ask a current employee for advice beforehand