Trainee Cabler Review

I am a Trainee Cabler for Openreach. I am involved with building the new fibre network. On a day to day basis I focus on getting cables from large joints on our spine cables up to just outside our customers premises. This involved rodding and roping duct lengths as well as sometimes digging on blockages.

I have learnt many new skills at Openreach. I have built massively on my inter personal skills as you rely on teamwork to get your job done. I have also been given some responsibilities within my team so my organisational skills have improved also. I have learnt new cabling specific skills such as rodding and roping and cable management. This is something that only gets better with experience. Although it is a rather simple skill it is imperative that it is done to the best of my ability in a safe manner. If it were to be done wrong it could have drastic consequences.

I really enjoy the programme as I feel I am being pushed in the right direction. I also feel as if what I am doing is for good and benefiting myself and others. You can see this when you see how relieved people are when they see us rock up on site to fix their issues. This programme is helping me be more confident when working as it allows a safe space to try new things and ask questions.

This programme is very well structured and all information is handed to me in a timely manner, I feel this helps to get the best out of me at all times. My assessor has been with me every step of the way which has made everything run very smoothly.

My employer couldn't be more supportive if they tried. Everything that I have needed on my journey has been sorted for me without issue. For example, I was having issues with my back and this put me in a rather depressive state. The company have gone above and beyond to get me into physio and other rehabilitations to help me deal with this. Now I am beginning to make a recovery.

I receive lots of support from my assessor when working towards my qualifications. As I have said before, he has been with my every step of the way. I know where to find help if I need it via Apprentice point. I find this a very useful collation of information.

My qualification helps me to better my performance in my role as it allows for open discussion with other colleagues from different patches. I am aware that there is no set way to do multiple aspects of my role so speaking to people whom I do not work with on a regular basis has been hugely beneficial when it comes to furthering my learning.

I am aware that there are events that I could get involved with, however, none of these have gone ahead due to the current pandemic. For example my team did not have a Christmas party this year, instead we were given and Amazon voucher to spend. Once things open back up I am more than likely to attend a few of these events when I can.

Yes

I already have recommended Openreach to a couple of friends and now one of them is due to start in June I believe. I recommend this company to my friends as I feel this really is a job for life that really looks out for me. I haven't got a bad word to say about the company so why would I not recommend?

I would just tell them to apply and be yourself. I would also say definitely talk about Fibre in the interview as this is definitely the side of the company to be on right now. Fibre is the future and you can really feel it around the place at Openreach.