Fibre engineer Review

My role consists mostly of building, installing and maintaining the fibre network for new building sites which all get fibre to the premises internet connection. this includes installing splitters and manifolds to individual houses as well as fixing faults. I get my jobs through in the morning and me and my team member go to the local stores hub and pick up the relevant equipment for the day.

I've learnt many new skills. Before I started at Openreach I was a postman and had zero experience with engineering and had never even picked up a drill before. I was trained from scratch and now I am a valuable member of my team and I'm progressing my knowledge at a quick pace.

I thoroughly enjoy my programme. My favourite part is actually going out doing the job itself. personally I prefer being outdoors more than being inside so doing my NVQ work (which you get study days and an NVQ assessor to assist you) is my least favourite part of the programme.

The structure is very easy to follow and you get all the assistance that you need to get your work up to the correct standard. every NVQ day you have an assessor with you who can answer any questions and guide you as well as other colleagues who are with you on the day.

The support that is offered by Openreach is the most I have received in any job. Right from your first day you're told that anyone is willing to help you with anything and that's very much the case. Because a lot of people are coming onto the company with zero experience in engineering (like myself) they are very good on support in all aspects.

The support is world class. you have an assessor with you every study day that you have and also you can email him whenever you have any questions or concerns relating to your NVQ and also you have members of your team and manager who can also give you guidance.

The training that I have done is mostly on the job training. I had several weeks of courses in the classroom which got me up to a basic level and understanding of the network and then I became more involved with my team out in the field, where in my opinion the real learning begins.

The team in which I am in is a very close-knit team and we do a lot of social things outside of work. we have a organization that you can join for telecoms professionals from different companies which come together for networking and also mentoring which can be an invaluable experience.

Yes

I think that Openreach is a fantastic company to work for and the amount of people in the company at the moment that have done 20+ years just shows that its a job for life and a job people love and never leave. the career opportunities within the company too are staggering. every senior person I've spoken to (including the CEO) all started their careers as trainee/apprentice engineers and worked their way up the ranks internally.

If you enjoy working outside this is the job for you. customer service is paramount and doing a job RIGHT not fast by taking shortcuts is the key to success. And also, no question is a stupid question. most people started their careers as trainees with no experience (I had never picked up a drill) so take in as much as you can from more experienced engineers, even they are still learning all the time.