Trainee Telecomms Engineer Review

My main role at Openreach is Fibre Jointer. This entails installing CBT's (Connectorised Block Terminals) onto poles, spanning fibre cables from pole to pole, rodding/roping and pulling cable underground, reading fibre node configuration sheets, installing any SASA's required by the FNC, labelling and splicing the node and assuring all the work we have done meets top quality standards. I also take part in a program called lead to cash, where we would use our installed CBT's to run a cable to a customers house and get them set up onto the new fibre infrastructure.

I have learnt a lot of new skills like splicing fibre, climbing poles, learning how to read Job Sheets and FNC sheets in order to complete work. I have also improved my communication skills along with my teamwork and social skills by an incredible amount, this in turn has improved my leadership skills and allowed me to take more responsibility for the team that I work with and for myself.

So far I am thoroughly enjoying working for Openreach, the team attitude is incredible and the support from our fellow colleagues is outstanding, everyone is willing to help you and that really says a lot to me about Openreach. Working for Openreach far exceeded my expectations on how we would interact with each other and customers alike, it is a very friendly and calm environment and I am really enjoying it so far.

So far it is hard to judge this, however we have had alot of emails come through with all of our scheduled study days and everyone is always on the ball with knowing where/when they need to be somewhere. The structure is also well defined in this course which makes it easy to follow.

So far I have only really had to ask for support from my manager and my fellow colleagues, I have never had an issue or felt afraid to ask a question even if it is silly I will always get a respectful answer and pointed in the right direction to where I need to go, and sometimes even praised for being the one to ask the silly question.

I am aware that our Training Providers are always on the other end of the phone to provide us with support if we get stuck, whilst I have not yet had to use this to progress, I am sure I will in the future if I get stuck on the course.

The qualification that we are going through will help me to perform better as I believe it will massively build my confidence and communication/teamworking skills. I can also increase my skill level as I will document everything I have done for this course I can always use it as a reference for ideas if I am ever stuck in a job which will help me come up with solutions.

So far I have not delved into this yet, as I have been concentrating on learning as much as I can, however, I know on our company Workplace there are a lot of groups that range from football events to car club events which allow colleagues to connect over similar interests and potentially help us to make new friends.

Yes

I have not so far yet had a bad experience with Openreach, the training has been fantastic and the support network within Openreach is incredible, being able to ask anyone a question and either get an answer or pointed to someone who has an answer is great. I have already recommended Openreach to multiple of my friends.

My advice to potential new recruits is be prepared for a steep but rewarding learning curve, be ready to battle a lot of fears (Like Heights with climbing, and spiders) and be ready to think on your toes to come up with new unique ideas on how to get a job done.