Trainee Engineer Review

I work as part of a gang of Cablers responsible for installing fibre optic infrastructure such as cable and connection terminals both underground and on poles. Day to day my job involves surveying sites for routes and suitability, accessing underground structures such as pavement boxes and manholes, clearing blockages in ducts and laying rope and cable.

Yes, the training so far has been heavily focussed around Health and Safety, however I have gained skills and certificates, such as "Signing, Lighting and Guarding", I have further formal training planned.

I thoroughly enjoy going to work and completing training, my job satisfaction is very high.

There is a clear framework for our apprenticeship and support structure, however, further training outside of the apprenticeship seems very disorganised, I'd probably attribute this with covid at the moment and the difficulties that come with trying to put people into a classroom together.

I get plenty of time to complete my NVQ work, if I'm struggling it is easy to approach colleagues who have completed the program for help and my assessor/instructor is always happy to help with any queries or concerns.

To be honest, I have absolutely no idea what ALS's involvement is other than providing the curriculum and testing (I assume), my assessor is employed by BT/Openreach and his support is great.

Given that I will be a field based engineer, it seems as though there is not a great deal of value in many unit's of the apprenticeship which seems to focus heavily around ICT; using emails, word processing and sourcing information online, things that whilst useful, I do not encounter everyday in my role. Perhaps the course is more technical further down the line, I certainly hope so!

I'm certain these things exist, but given that I've only worked for the company during covid, I don't know anything about them as they are not actively promoted.

Yes

Great starting wage and progression opportunities, working on a gang is brilliant, the work is involving and can be challenging at times - see something new or a new technique or piece of equipment all the time. I'm very happy in my role although this probably wouldn't apply to all positions.

The recruitment process is a nightmare for trainee engineers, get used to waiting around for a role to become available, apply, but don't count on starting immediately, many people wait well over a year. Research the company and when it comes to interviews, make sure you've got examples of health and safety issues and solutions, as well as customer service issues and solutions.