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Section head
Pamela Donald's Story
Pamela has nearly completed her apprenticeship with Openreach a BT Group Business and will soon be a fully qualified engineer.
I am a 23 year old Openreach apprentice and am on course to complete my apprenticeship to qualify as a BT Engineer this year.
After working a mundane job in a department store I stumbled upon the apprenticeship opportunity and applied for the job at Openreach. A career as an Engineer had never been on the cards, in fact, I had never even considered it before.
I was in fact looking to gain a place at University, but the apprenticeship offered so much more variety and opportunity for hands on training. Ultimately I didn’t want to be stuck in an office or classroom as this just isn’t me, instead I am now out and about learning a trade. On a typical day I might be installing phone lines or finding faults on the customers’ lines. It is a challenge but every day is so different and I love it.In my first year of the apprenticeship, I helped launch the Open2all campaign – a new initiative to attract more women to the world of engineering. For this I was asked to speak on attitudes and issues affecting male and female engineers including anything from toilets and job sharing to the recruitment process and flexible working. I really enjoyed being involved with this initiative and spreading the word of being an engineer for Openreach.
The industry itself is still largely male-dominated, but this doesn’t bother me at all, in fact, I hope my story will inspire other young women to go for a job that is not typical for women, if they feel it is something they would enjoy. My friends are often surprised by my career choice but very supportive.
I made the decision to become an engineer because I fancied doing something completely different and I knew that BT was a great company to work for. It has great company values and a tremendous amount of support for its people. I often tell people about my job and in particular, other young women It really is great that every working day is different and I’m absolutely loving it.
