Rating
- 1. Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:
- 2. Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
- 3. To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
- 4. How well organised/structured is your programme?
- 5. How much support do you receive from your employer?
- 6. How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
- 7. How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
- 8. Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)
- 9a. Would you recommend BT Group to a friend?
- 9b. Why?
- 10. What tips or advice would you give to others applying to BT Group?
I currently work within BT Mobile within BT Enterprise. This role is not to be confused with BT Mobile in our Consumer Division. I look after 100+ medium - large enterprise customers, including FedEx, Manpower and FIS. I do everything from the standard SIM Swap, to creating new mobile numbers /managing them, to providing technical support and creating custom reports for customers.
I have become very proficient with Excel. In 2019, the company kindly did a one-off move and moved me to a new team, which is the best thing to ever have happened to me. The Excel skills I learnt on my previous team (such as VLOOKUP Formulas) has allowed me to go above and beyond, and create custom reports for customers. It has also allowed me to quickly create multiple internal reports, so that I can examine weather any mobile connections have been built incorrectly.
I am massively enjoying the program. I have learnt many things along the way and by the end will have obtained multiple qualifications. In fact, I have already obtained my BTEC Level 3 Diploma in Professional Competence For IT Professionals. I completed multiple tests and assignments over a period of 5 weeks (spread out over a couple of Months). In one of the 4 main tests, I had to get 100%, which I did get the 2nd time - this was one of my greatest achievements.
The program has been structured very well. Essentially, it consists of 3 main parts: Employee's Rights & Responsibilities Document BTEC NVQ Coursework Most of my time for the duration has been spent on the NVQ part, as the idea here is that the experience you obtain on the job helps you to complete all modules.
I have received a large amount of support from BT. Firstly, I have had 3 assessors for the duration and every single one of them have been fantastic. They have all gone out of their way to ensure I complete my apprenticeship in time and have given advise on non-apprenticeship related things as well, which has been very useful. All of the Managers I have had for the duration of my apprenticeship have also been very supportive. Non of them have tried to micro-manage and have put enough trust in me to do my role as best as I can.
The main training providers were at Stoke On Trent Collage (Yarnfield). I had 2 Lectures and they were both fantastic. They were both extremely knowledgeable and I got a real feeling that they wanted me to succeed. They both brought the very best out of me. They would contently stay behind for a few hours if me or another apprentice need a bit more help with a particular area, and for that alone I believe that is how I got 100% on one of the tests.
It has helped me significantly. The areas the modules covered varied and although some modules I will never use again (nor never want to due to how intense some of the topics were), the majority of modules will help in the future. For example, towards the end, I had to build virtual networks, configure routers (using the Cisco Command Line) and ultimately I built a real VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) network.
There have been various opportunities, although due to the nature of my role and the fact I have built an amazing customer relationship with all of my customers, I did not really have time to take part in any. This is not BT's fault though and is just the nature of the role, combined with my mind set to put customers first. For example, one opportunity would have been to become the North Of England apprentice lead for the Enterprise Committee.
Yes
BT have made it clear that they want me to stay in the future. They have been supportive and given me frequent £3000 /Year pay rises to reward me for my hard work during my apprenticeship. Being in an operational role, I have been allowed to 'spread my wings' outside of my core role. This includes building multiple SharePoint sites (including migrating one to SharePoint Online), using Microsoft Power Apps and Power Automate, and training another colleague based in India.
If anyone joins, they will hear this a lot from virtually everyone - put yourself out there in the company and try to take on new challenges, that are not necessarily based on your core role responsibilities. BT will want to support you, but more importantly the people who you will work with every day will also want to support you.
Details
Level 3 Apprenticeship
Information Technology
Chesterfield, Derbyshire
March 2021