Apprentice Telecommunications Engineer Review

I am an apprentice telecoms technician for Network Rail. I am required to maintain the telecoms infrastructure of the company and to work on any faulty equipment that is reported. I deal with a number of different pieces of equipment including Phones, Concentrators, Voice Recorders etc.. I am based at a depot with a number of other technicians and we are required to carry out maintenance tasks for our route to keep the standard of the equipment as it should be. Some of my every day jobs include testing batteries, testing phones, walking the track, carrying out maintenance tasks etc..

I will be gaining a number of qualifications which can help me to improve my knowledge in the future and secure a stable job which i enjoy doing. There are a number of different training courses which i will be sent off to do throughout my final two years of the course and a number of these are carried out at HMS Sultan in Gosport. I have learnt that you will only get out of an apprenticeship what you put in to it so as long as you know what you want and you work hard to achieve that, it will all come with time.

i thouroughly enjoy many aspects of my company including where i work, who i work with, and what my job involves. Network Rail are a brilliant company to work for with many different opportunioties being offered to you along the way. It has succeeded my expectations of what I thought it would be and i have enjoyed my apprenticeship so far.

I feel valued by my manager and i have regular one to one meetings with him to review my progress and to organise anything which i feel would benefit me if i were to be involved in. I have been regularly involved in tasks and projects and i find myself busy with work every day.

The first year of my programme was working and living in Fareham away from home and although the training is very organised, it is not all entirely related to my role as a telecoms technician. the second and third year however are very beneficial to me and i get lots of hands on work and am involved in many different jobs which improve my knowledge of the job.

my training providers are always helpig me and providing me the correct knowledge needed to further progress and bring the best out of my potential.

i am constantly receiving support from my employer and i am provided with tools to help me work, and any other supplies which i need to help me.

the salary is very fair i feel, as it offers a lot more than other apprenticeships which i have previously looked at, and the job at the end of the three years also has a very good starting pay.

Yes

i feel that it is one of the best things you can do at my age (21) as you are giving the opportunity to continue learning with hands on experience whilst building for a job in the future and earning at the same time.

stay calm at all interviews, get involved as much as you possibly can, and interact with others in as many ways possible.