Customer Service Apprentice Review

Chatting with BG customers on webchat, two customers/chats at a time. Working on their queries and complaints on chat, and working them in allocated times each week when you can't resolve it on first point of contact. Keeping up to date knowledge of complex metering issues, billing, complaint processes etc.

I now know all about meters when I previously had never taken a meter reading and knew nothing about them. I've developed my maths, english, and people skills with investigating billing, practicing grammar on webchat, and customer service experience improving your speaking skills.

I enjoy working on complex queries if the customer isn't angry, problem solving is interesting and rewarding. Taking two chats/customers at once can be overwhelming though, and harm the experience the customer has with you. I enjoy the off the job work, doing apprenticeship assignments regarding customer service skills.

We have 1 day a week for apprenticeship studies, and 4 days a week for webchatting with customers and working on enquiries/complaints. For the most part, the programme is well organised.

We receive lots of support from our billing, metering, and complaints specialist teams. They help with complex queries and making changes on customer's accounts that we don't have the authority to do. Our training provider is always available to answer questions and give support. We have weekly 1 to 1's with our manager at BG, although they are not greatly in depth.

We can message or email our training provider whenever we need to, for help on specific assignments or questions about the apprenticeship programme. We have video calls with them regularly regarding progress and any additional support needed. Babington is a good training provider. We receive lots of time each week to complete the college assignments.

The training we receive from Babington helps us develop our customer service skills, along with english and maths key skills if you need these. The assignments can be pretty simple, and some feel a bit unrelated to the role. However it does help and gives you strategies to perfrom better as a customer service advisor.

There are football events you can attend, and we often have charity events at work like bake sales that get people socialising. We have team events out every now and then, and everyone comes to the office once a month, teams mostly come in every week. Although most people work from home most of the time, which means that the office can be desolate. This means we don't know the people we're working with, only their Teams photos.

No

It can sometimes feel like a conveyor belt of employees, and there's only one way to do things, with no wiggle room. We need more space to be able to be creative in how we work which would improve wellbeing and productivity. The amount of monitoring from our manager and higher ups only relates to your computer and not how you are doing, it's very much all productivity productivity productivity.

Speak up where you want to see change, and take on an additional role in the team.