Apprentie water network technician Review

We have a weekly meeting with tells us which of our areas that we cover have had a rise in water. This could be from a bust main, leaking comm pipe or boundary box. It is our job to go and find where the water is leaking and raise a job to get this fixed.

Whilst in the role I have learnt the noises you can hear through a listening stick. These include whether a customer is using water such as a washing machine or tumble dryer, a split in the pipe and background from other assets such as PRVs. I have also learnt to do fix from the tops which include putting a clamp on a pipe.

I enjoy learning on the job and all of team are great to work with. The job gives you responsibility are you are responsible for up to 17 areas. The college side of the programme has a decent number of practical tasks to do, however I struggle at college as the trainers are unable to relate some scenarios to Shropshire but can relate to other apprentices' counties.

Very structured, at the start of the programme we were given a timetable of what weeks would be at the academy and what each day would entail. This lets us know whether we have any practical tasks that week, so we know what PPE we need to bring for the week

My manager is very good and if I need study time, he allows it and is very supportive whether it include work or home life. For the 1st year of the programme, we are given a mentor to do all our daily tasks with and help build up our confidence

If we are struggling with an assignment question the next time we are at college they will go back over that area when we have free time. They have also given extentions on work if people have really struggled. Some of the questions on our assignments are on things that we have not cover so it can be difficult at times.

It allows a greater understanding of the role and the equipment used, also why we do it however I don't feel it is essential as there are many people who transfer out of the office to our role or go straight into a WNT role with no previous water industry exposure.

The apprentice programme does hold socials such as bowling and lazer tag however they are always in Birmingham so limits the people who can get to it

Yes

I feel the company looks after its employees. The company will help with employees wanting to further educate themselves or wanting to progress into higher roles. Thy have benefit programmes such as a wellbeing app where you earn coins that can be transferred into vouchers of your choice which is extremely helpful with the price of living at the moment. It also allows you to plan your future by having Sharesave and allowing a great pension.

It is very hard to get into the company however once you're in its great, there are so many roles to choose from and you can swap from field-based roles to office and vis versa.