Is there an Openreach Engineer in the house?
Discussion
Just done the online assessment (and no doubt picked the 'potential psychopath in waiting' options) and was wondering if anyone already works for the company as an Engineer? I see the wages aren't as good as I thought they would be at around £20k. I'm making that in my call centre job at the moment if you include bonus. Is there much scope for improving on that or moving onwards? Not sure what happens next, I guess it depends on the results of the tests. What's it like day-to day? The call centre I work in I do have access to the Openreach website and hear from our customers but have never spoken to anyone at Openreach directly but most of the feedback I get from customers is missed appointments, miserable or rude engineers and a general low opinion of the company in general!
Zad said:
When I heard about this, I was interested too. Ironically it was on the day I was supposed to have FTTC fitted, and the sub-contractor couldn't even find the dial tone on the D-side pair at the cabinet. Despite being a graduate with a fair few years "proper" electronic engineering experience, trade isn't wonderful and I have no wish to get a job driving an office desk.
It looked interesting right up to the bit where it says 17K a year, 22 days annual leave, and the van is for company work only (not that I'd ever want a van for private use, let alone a signwritten one with company car tax).
17K getting abuse from the public, working in all weathers and getting it in the ear from your manager. I can't imagine why they don't have enough people.
Still, I'd take it over working in a call centre and slowly turning into a Borg drone.
Hence my questioning about going beyond the engineering side of things.It looked interesting right up to the bit where it says 17K a year, 22 days annual leave, and the van is for company work only (not that I'd ever want a van for private use, let alone a signwritten one with company car tax).
17K getting abuse from the public, working in all weathers and getting it in the ear from your manager. I can't imagine why they don't have enough people.
Still, I'd take it over working in a call centre and slowly turning into a Borg drone.
SlimRick said:
Ex open reach engineer here, up until 5ish years ago.
Starting salary is poor, but you'll reach the higher rate after 3 years. Overtime is usually available so the minimum you're looking at is 30k.
Job can be great. Union has negotiated the job rate down to 3 per day so you have time to do all your safety checks and no corners are cut.
Auditors are b
ds, too many joints that you haven't sealed properly, or get caught up a ladder without your harness done properly and you're on a PIP.
Management are bds. They take no responsibility for anything and will st on you from a great hight to save their own arses.
Suicide rates amongst engineers are surprisingly high, I have no idea why. I think it's the old school engineers that have been doing the job for 40 years and can't handle the way things are these days. One of the old fellas on my patch hanged himself in the local exchange.
Me? I loved the job. I was based on Anglesey so got to drive around the countryside and manage my time as I saw fit. Most days your work could be finished by lunchtime so you'd spend the afternoon in one of the exchanges drinking tea with your colleagues. Things may be different now as the vans have trackers.
Eta...all new engineers will be multi-skilled. You will be trained on installation, overhead wiring, and underground wiring. The training is superb and the work is varied. It can be technically challenging, but very satisfying when you find a fault on a 7 mile stretch of cable running through trees, across fields, under ground etc. the job will certainly keep you fit.
Thanks Rick, more what I was after.Starting salary is poor, but you'll reach the higher rate after 3 years. Overtime is usually available so the minimum you're looking at is 30k.
Job can be great. Union has negotiated the job rate down to 3 per day so you have time to do all your safety checks and no corners are cut.
Auditors are b
ds, too many joints that you haven't sealed properly, or get caught up a ladder without your harness done properly and you're on a PIP.Management are b
ds. They take no responsibility for anything and will st on you from a great hight to save their own arses.Suicide rates amongst engineers are surprisingly high, I have no idea why. I think it's the old school engineers that have been doing the job for 40 years and can't handle the way things are these days. One of the old fellas on my patch hanged himself in the local exchange.
Me? I loved the job. I was based on Anglesey so got to drive around the countryside and manage my time as I saw fit. Most days your work could be finished by lunchtime so you'd spend the afternoon in one of the exchanges drinking tea with your colleagues. Things may be different now as the vans have trackers.
Eta...all new engineers will be multi-skilled. You will be trained on installation, overhead wiring, and underground wiring. The training is superb and the work is varied. It can be technically challenging, but very satisfying when you find a fault on a 7 mile stretch of cable running through trees, across fields, under ground etc. the job will certainly keep you fit.
Edited by SlimRick on Monday 9th June 20:43
Deanno1dad said:
I've been an openreach engineer for 14 years.
Starting salary may be quite low..I believe it's 5 years to reach the top pay scale as an engineer.
depending where in the country you are,inside the M25 you will get at least £2k more London weighting.
Most engineers I know earn over £30,000 with Overtime..If you can park at home as well you have no travel costs getting to and from work..try and be flexible and take as much training as you can.
Contrary to others opinions we are not all brain dead fools..the job can be very challenging in the winter and working in rural locations looking for Fibre and ADSL synch issues can be tricky but rewarding when done right.
Decent enough set of tools to work with..try not to let the stats get you down,If you do a good job your manager will know you make the effort..it's certainly more than a pair of wires..just try to get skilled on ISDN,Underground network broadband and fibre boost techniques..you can PM me for any questions..some parts of the network are in need of investment,as an engineer you cannot change that...good luck
Thanks Deannodad. I may take you up on that. I'm of the opinion that once you understand something without too much thought its time to learn something else so I would put my name forward for any training available! Do you think there's any benefit in working for an ISP in technical at the moment?Starting salary may be quite low..I believe it's 5 years to reach the top pay scale as an engineer.
depending where in the country you are,inside the M25 you will get at least £2k more London weighting.
Most engineers I know earn over £30,000 with Overtime..If you can park at home as well you have no travel costs getting to and from work..try and be flexible and take as much training as you can.
Contrary to others opinions we are not all brain dead fools..the job can be very challenging in the winter and working in rural locations looking for Fibre and ADSL synch issues can be tricky but rewarding when done right.
Decent enough set of tools to work with..try not to let the stats get you down,If you do a good job your manager will know you make the effort..it's certainly more than a pair of wires..just try to get skilled on ISDN,Underground network broadband and fibre boost techniques..you can PM me for any questions..some parts of the network are in need of investment,as an engineer you cannot change that...good luck
Halb said:
Can anyone here advise me on the likely window of my cabinet being upgraded to fibre?
Really depends on about fifty reasons. Have you looked on www.superfast-Openreach.co.uk ?You can also try dslchecker.bt.com for info.
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