Network planning engineer Review

This is an office based engineering role so almost all of the work based portion is spent in the office shadowing mentors or working through information packs/legislative documentation. Getting to grips with the numerous softwares takes a lot of time, finding and combing huge amounts of infiormation from various programmes and producing a report. At this early stage there isn't much we as apprentices can do.

I have learnt a lot of new skills in the work place. Mostly centred around using new software but also in terms of planning and using my time effectively. I have also developed my report writing skills whilst at the college for the off-site part of the course. There hasn't been as much hands on skills as I would have liked as the college lacked the facilities to provide practical application for the theory taught.

I very much enjoy the work part of the apprenticeship, the people are all friendly and helpful ,even if the pace feels a little slow for me. The college is fine too, not as enjoyable as doing the job. Some of the subjects can feel not relevant to the job but it's all good background

It started off really well, the application process and induction all went very smoothly. As it's the first year of this specific programme there have been some hiccups along the way but nothing too stressful just teething problems and there has been support from SSE throughout. The support from the college has been a little more hit and miss

There is massive amounts of support available from SSE. Not just in terms of the programme itself but from a more personal level too. There's always someone to speak to and the online resources are really good too. It feels like supporting and encouraging personal development are genuinely important to them

The training provider support is very hit and miss. The resources available through the college are good and some of the tutors are very supportive and want to help. Others not so much, some of the co-ordinators don't listen to peoples problems even when they are explicitly asked for support

At this point I'm not sure how relevant the qualification will be for the role specifically as it's a very specialised role. It will however give a good background or base knowledge to support my going forward. I don't expect to be in the same role for ever so having a broader knowledge base is always helpful

There have been a couple of social events at work since I joined. Sadly due to COVID restrictions etc there hasn't been as much in terms of social time. There is the option for events and classes, I believe some people from the office play football but it's early doors

Yes

There are a huge variety of roles within SSE to suit a wide range of people. They seem to have a genuine interest in personal and professional development and are incredibly supportive. It's a very interesting sector to work in with a lot of change happening sat a very high speed so you won't get bored

I know it sounds cliched but be yourself, SSE are looking for a variety of people from different backgrounds to work within the company. It's always a good idea to run through some of the most common scenario based questions too as they always seem to come up, just to give yourself some preperation