Digital Support Technician Review

I work on a 1st Line Dedicated Service Desk responsible for a single company's network infrastructure. I answer calls, respond to emails and, above all, create and work incident tickets/request tickets that begin the process of diagnosing and resolving telephony and Internet connectivity issues.

I have gained a deeper understand of the telecommunications industry, business relations and IT overall. I have become more adept at efficiently using computers and technical tools/systems that allow me to navigate through a broader range of technologies, and diagnose the issues they may encounter.

I enjoy the programme for multiple reasons that I believe gives an apprentice a well-rounded and multifaceted experience. There is a dedicated Future Careers Network, multiple regular all-hands calls and informational emails that create an impressive level of transparency, there are a multitude of benefits, and genuinely supportive co-workers.

I am happy with the structure of the programme, although it is mainly dictated by the training provider rather than the employer. It is flexible and allows for coursework/projects to be completed at the apprentices own pace, which is perfect for my style of working and relieves a lot of stress.

From my immediate colleagues, I receive as much support as required whilst allowing me to take responsibility for more aspects of the job as I progress. From my managers, I receive as much support as desired, they seem genuinely concerned/involved with my career and I am confident that they will take any issues I have seriously. From the Future Careers Network, I receive constant assurance of support and am presented with a multitude of opportunities/resources that can further my career and maintain a healthy wok-life balance.

From my apprenticeship mentor, I receive support and can freely message them at essentially any time if I have any queries. I do sometimes feel like my mentor can be too confident in my progress, as I believe that my confidence in my communication contrasts with other apprentices and can make myself seem more organised than I am. That being said I am certain that if I began to go off-track they would raise this with me. From my learning support councillor, I receive as much support as necessary. I feel I can be open with them and they are actively concerned/involved in checking I am maintaining my physical and mental heath well.

The CompTIA courses provided through my are broad enough to allow for a more well-rounded understanding of IT, while still being relevant to my day-to-day responsibilities. The coursework/projects that Firebrand lays out make me think about my job from more perspectives and allow me to realise how stakeholders perceive value in work related to IT. I am able to tailor the projects to my own method of working and allow me to achieve the criteria in a manner of my choosing. The content of my qualification is broad enough to prepare me for multiple career paths in the IT industry but some content, while important, is further remove from my immediate responsibilities within my employment.

There are a multiple of work and non-work related activities presented by my employer. While I have not made use of them as yet, I plan to become more involved once my team moves office to a new, centralised operations hub.

Yes

I get the impression that BT has a genuine interest to upskill young people, and employees in general, that are motivated to progress their career. I myself had no particular qualification in IT, despite being very familiar with the involved technologies, but after joining I realised there there were exceedingly more aspects to the business that I believe is not advertised well enough to young people. I went out of my way to organise work experience with BT whilst in secondary school and if I had not done so I would not have realised how many different skills and personality types are valued within the company and, by extension, the industry. I still believe there are misconceptions surrounding the range of job opportunities within BT and I have already recommended the apprenticeship I'm on and similar apprenticeships within BT to those already involved in IT and not involved alike. I still feel as though the perception received from those I have recommended it to is that of uncertainty and doubt, which I would suggest countering with more proactive, public experiences that display the many career paths and adaptable skills that are involved within the company, IT industry, and industry overall.

Realise your weaknesses and admit them from the start, the more open you are, the more the company/training provider can help. They don't expect you to know everything but being honest about it allows all parties to adjust to your method of working. Display your interests and try to correlate them with as many adaptable skills and aspects of the work as possible. This can be hard to realise but liaising with external or internal councillors can help in realising the various positions you will be suited for. Reach out to others that have taken these apprenticeships, gauge as much as possible about the overall process of the scheme and use that information to gain confidence and time to prepare for what else is to come. Specialising is great but keep your options open and take opportunities that arise, as most career stories I've heard involve the person being unaware of the existence of a job, taking a chance on it and gaining success off the back of it. Mistakes are lessons and learning from them is more valuable then never encountering them. If there is anyone considering applying for the Digital Support Technician course, I would be happy to give more information surrounding my experience.