Openreach field engineer Review

I am a trainee Openreach field engineer, in the customer support role, repairing faults in the network and in customers’ homes and businesses, I also install new lines, this involves a lot of customer interaction and good communication skills, I use a variety of hand tools and test equipment and work regularly at height on telegraph poles.

I have learnt a whole new skill set in telecoms engineering, working with a large range of test equipment this involves 10 weeks on site training in Openreach’s training facility and a further 12 months on the job training helped by coaching and training courses, there is plenty of opportunity for extra training on completion of you initial 12 month training period.

I enjoy the job I am working in it can be a demanding job working mostly outside in all weathers and regularly working at height. However whilst the support in the field is good it could be better implemented as it is fragmented and the training is not always paramount, you are expected to be self-reliant and motivated without constantly asking for help

I do feel valued by BT, the company has an excellent employment assistance programme and I regularly have to fill in surveys to assess the company, but I feel a more structured training program would help to raise team morale, the management of the teams can be fragmented and changes on a regular basis so it can be hard to fell settled in a job

Whilst the training programme is structured, in my case I fell between the cracks and had no coaching support for 3 months after completing my buddying period and my coach was regularly taken from me to work, when they were with me the workload wasn’t allocated properly leading to wasted days, no my coaching is complete I still find there is little feedback on performance and goals to be achieved.

I don't appear to have a training provider, I have worked on my NVQ pretty much on my own, my NVQ liaison can be hard to get hold of and appears very overworked, however I have been given regular days off to work on my NVQ with help from coaches on an occasional basis and my manager has helped me develop my working practices to successfully improve my performance.

There is quite a lot of support from my employer with coaching helpdesks and managerial support, however you are expected to "get on with the job" without a lot of fuss, as I have not had to ask for a great deal of help I have had little experience of asking for support, that said a handy reference guide for new recruits would go a long way to providing any support needed, at the moment you are expected to find help yourself.

The salary and package is very acceptable however the transition point to fully trained engineer with an increase in pay is not explained very well, the pay is quite competitive and there is opportunity to improve your pay by taking on extra training courses when you have completed your initial 12 months training

As I am a lone worker there is little chance to socialise with colleagues, but we do talk and have regular get together's supported by the management team, they organise team meetings and regularly provide a morning team get together with tea and bacon butties, there is also a paid for Christmas function.

Yes

Overall I feel Openreach is a good employer and treats you fairly, they provide a good and competitive work package and whilst things could be improved in the structure and provision of training the company does provide a good working environment and I enjoy working for them.

Research the job thoroughly, it is a very physical and demanding job working alone for the majority of the time, but I enjoy it and so do many of my new colleagues,