Openreach Engineer (Service Delivery) Review

My job as an Openreach engineer include many different tasks. Dealing with customers is a big part of my job. Your pretty much dealing with customers in some sort of capacity in every job you do. You can be fixing faults on phone and broadband lines (There is a difference), doing an install (line and/or broadband including fibre) or you could simply be giving another engineer a helping hand. You will speak to your manager once in a blue moon normally unless circumstances require. Mainly you are left alone. No one really bothers you. Your given a van a away you go. However, support is everywhere if you need it. Everyday I am responsible for checking my van, keeping it clean, planning my day and ordering my tools and equipment. Literary responsible myself and everything I do.

Right off, from day one you work towards an NVQ level 2 in computing and telecommunications. From there you can up skill and gain further qualifications in underground, gas safety and further broadband skills. You can take courses like cisco routers through the union if you are part of it. On a day to day basis you will always see and learn something new and even when you think you have learnt it all something new will come along. You will have good days and bad days (more bad when you first start) but over time it gets better and bit by bit easier. I could not even list the things that I have learnt so far.

The one thing I could say is it is not easy, far from it! I thought that it was going to be an easy number when I started. You get put up in a hotel for the first two weeks with virtually everything paid for where they tell you about all the benefits, give you loads of new work stuff, a new van and over all with all of that you feel really important. You head back home with your shiny new stuff and start your three months in class training. It sounds easy... Its not. After all this time being cuddled you then go onto 3 weeks buddying and realise just how wrong you were. It is complicated, frustrating and overall just hard graft! To top that nothing ever goes simply. Now if your still reading it gets... worse! :). You are now out on your own and although you have help over the phone and from the coaches it still feels impossible. You really have to grind through it but after a while it starts to get better. After a while you start getting to know your area and moreover, what you are doing. Never forget that you have a large team around you that you can phone for help and advice. I now get people phoning me :). At the start I did not in anyway way, shape or form enjoy myself, I hated it. It did not meet my expectations at the start because my expectations were that it would be easy. Now however, I really enjoy it. I get left alone to work my day but the support is there if I need it. I came out on top like I hope most would and will.

This is something that is difficult to answer. By the company as a whole, no I don't feel valued. However, by me managers and coaches yes I do. My manager and coaches tell me often how well I am doing and how far I have come. Not just that I now feel trusted by them, trusted to do my job to the highest standard. We get surveys done by the customers we help and mine are always good. The bottom line is, look towards your manager, coach, customers and other engineers for the feeling of value. Look to the team around you because that's what counts at the end of it all.

The training overall was not as well put together as I would have liked. It was really all over the place at the start. They just have so many people to deal with that it could not really be done any other way. After the initial induction which is probably the most organised it got came the 3 month classroom training. This seemed kind of all over the place... maybe that was my brain... anyway. It seems like more of a box ticking exercise than training, not that you don't learn stuff... you do. Sadly it is far from the real job, most of which you relearn when on the real job anyway. Once you are out in the field you will also be working your way through your NVQ. You do this mostly alone. You will have one day every 3 weeks to get any help or advice you need. Help as in evidence photos and whatnot... Not the answers. For that your on your own! During the days at work and NVQ days, the manager will pop by and get safety checks done. That's about it.

As I mentioned above you have lots of support from managers, coaches and other team members. We have different helpdesks for different problems and a helpdesk just for new starts. I phoned them a lot at the start just like most. You also have coaches that come out with you after your buddying. You will always have help. Everyone seemed more than happy to help me and still do. That's what they are there to do!

As I mentioned above you have lots of support from managers, coaches and other team members. We have different helpdesks for different problems and a helpdesk just for new starts. I phoned them a lot at the start just like most. You also have coaches that come out with you after your buddying. You will always have help. Everyone seemed more than happy to help me and still do. That's what they are there to do!

Personally I think the package is really good. I have not seen employers pay apprentices 20k for the first year and 26k after, have you? That's what I got from my first day even during training. You also have free broadband and TV for a fiver, the only thing I have to pay at full is line rental. There is also access to different benefits under a salary sacrifice (I have the healthcare and dental plan). On the pension side of things we now pay 5% and they pay 10%. Also taking into account that the company pays for your van, fuel and tools for work. I would say overall that's pretty good.

You have the works night out every year which the company pays for, other than that you can volunteer which the company gives you time off for (I have not looked much into it yet). We get emails every so often with the opportunity to go on company events (again I have not looked much into it yet).

Yes

Why not? I have experienced the difficult parts and came out the other side with a real enjoyment for my job. Its not easy but my week goes flying past and I get left to do my job. I get to solve problems and leave at the end of the month with a good wage. I have opportunity's to move into different roles and other lines of the company. What more could you want.

Read up on the job. What it entails, what its like and more importantly do you really want to do it. Ask yourself, is it something you have a passion for. Through the whole process show them how passionate you are about it. Read up about the part of the business you want to go into. If your rusty, brush up on your maths and English. Ask questions! I asked loads of them. Again though, make sure it is something you really want to do. If you don't then you wont enjoy it and likely wont last.