Maintenance Engineering Technician, Apprentice Telecoms Review

My role as a telecommunications technician apprentice is to maintain and uphold telecoms assets throughout the railway. This equipment includes GSM radio systems, Cisco routers, old and new transmission equipment, fibre optic cables, copper cables, and telephone exchanges/switches.

I have learnt many new skills throughout this apprenticeship that will help me throughout my career in Network Rail and in the wider telecoms field

I do enjoy the hands on experience of the programme and going on course to develop my skills. However, i feel there are a lot of unnecessary hoops to jump through that could be reviewed to allow the apprenticeship to be more fluid and enjoyable.

It is fairly well organised, however there are clear communication issues between the apprenticeship organisers, the instructors, and apprentice line managers.

I receive a large amount of support from my employer and from the apprenticeship support staff.

I receive a lot of support for training. I get put on a large amount of training courses that develop my knowledge well.

The process to gain my qualification does somewhat hinder my ability to perform better in the role due to constantly needing to take days out to gather evidence and write reports. However, it does prove to my employer that I am competent.

There are some extra-curricular activities available but there are not many.

Yes

Although there are some annoying hoops to jump through paperwork-wise; it does provide you will extensive knowledge in the telecommunications field, and it gives you the opportunity for a job for life

Do your research and keep safety in the front of your mind when you're in the interview.