Customer Service Operations and Planning Apprentice Review

My role is a customer service operations and planning apprenticeship and I am working within Complex Engineering Workflow at the moment. I am dealing with orders that come into to dig when there is a fault or a new order for a customers internet. The dig orders come from engineers, who are the primary customers I serve. I use various systems to complete the order occasionally ringing the engineer when I need more information to complete the job.

There have been many useful enable modules where I have learnt new skills such as in relation to decision making, the 5 Whys. I have also learnt about the value of PDPs and was refreshed on my knowledge in regards to SWOT analysis. I also learnt about continuous improvement which I had not heard of before and found really interesting researching this and thinking about how I can carry this through the job. Through the job the learning has mostly been systems based training.

For the most part I have found this apprenticeship enjoyable so far, I have found the company to be excellent. There is a real sense of team work within the role and that we are all looking out for each other and that our managers and team leaders are there to help. In regards the Interserve Work, it has mostly been enjoyable, however some of the learning I have not felt is relevant, such as the learning relating to extremism online which I believe was a Cognasist module

I would say that is a really well structured programme and well thought out, I know what to expect. I have the regular meetings, a mixture of group sessions and 1 to 1s and I think the way that ILE have managed to adapt to the Corona Virus pandemic moving the teaching online has been great. I know that I will get time during my job hours to complete the ILE work and that the ILE work will complement the job. It is mostly very organised.

I feel there is a lot of support as my managers at work have made it clear that if we need extra time to work on ILE work that the time is there, we just need to ask for it, and we are given and adequate amount of time to complete the work. My managers and colleagues are also more than happy to answer and help with any work we have if they can and they do so that is also very useful.

My work coach from ILE is great at helping me towards my qualifications, she has been very approachable and made it clear that we can come to her with any questions we have about the work and is always very contactable. The only thing I would say is I don't feel there is quite enough feedback on the assignments. I think more feedback on the assignments would be useful other than it just being accepted . I would rather more clarification that I have met the target of the assignment.

I would say that sometimes it might not be obvious that a learning module is relevant to the job, however I then at some point see how obvious it is. The decision making module on enable is really useful as there are lots of decisions I need to make, so if it is a difficult decision to make, then I can use what I learn in that module. So it does help me perform better in my role.

There are extra activities that I can do, however I do not know what they are because of the Covid 19 Pandemic.

Yes

I would recommend Openreach to a friend because of the support that is on offer, the job prospects within the company, the job is really interesting as well. ILE is also a good provider as well, as I have said, it is well structured and easy to get in contact with the apprenticeship provider and the modules are useful in supporting me in the job.

If you are after a new challenge then go for it, if you are a customer service orientated person, go for it apply for it. Openreach are truly a great company to work for. The apprenticeship is great, I do not feel used, it is not like many apprenticeships that I have seen where you get paid less than minimum wage. Having ILE as an apprenticeship provider is great because you can build the portfolio online over the course of the apprenticeship and the portfolio will all be in one place. I have a clear plan and goal and know how I am going to be assessed and what I am meant to be doing. Best decision I have made applying for this role at Openreach.