Reach
Issue 8 2015
|
29
“Airwave is local to me in Rugby so when the Warwickshire
College Student Services told me about the apprenticeship, I took the
opportunity to apply. It’s IT oriented and is helping out the emergency
services. Supporting the emergency services to do their job, while
learning, is a real honour.
After sending the online application, I had a telephone interview, and
was then asked to come into the Airwave offices to do a presentation
– which I did explaining how I recently rebuilt my home PC.
I knew there were only two places available for the IT apprenticeship
so I was really pleased to get the call saying I had been successful.
On my first day I met the other two apprentices, and our line managers
took us through a general induction, with talks on the Airwave
Network, Airwave’s Service and the future of the
company. My first placement was in the
Reference System team, where I was involved
with testing and coding, and the TETRA
Messenger pagers. The staff are really
helpful towards me as a new starter!
I’ll have other placements to give me a feeling
for the company, then choose two or three
areas to look at in depth, interspersed with
time at college. So far, I’m loving it!”
Sam Brown – IT
“I was lucky enough to be offered the
apprenticeship which started in September, and
so far all I have to say about the programme is
positive. Being part of the Airwave team means
a lot to me. I take great pleasure in knowing
that the hard work and effort I put into my
apprenticeship helps the emergency services to
carry out the amazing work that they do every
single day to save and protect lives.
I really like the format of the apprenticeship programme as it allows us
to visit lots of different departments within the company and experience
something new every few weeks. This gives us an insight into what the
different areas of the company do in order to ensure that we can work
together and deliver for the emergency services. It also allows us to
determine which different areas of the company would be best suited to
us (and vice versa) and discover what we enjoy most.
I applied to Airwave because I have always been very interested in the
emergency services. I always wanted to work in the police when I was
younger, however, as I got older I realised my passion was for information
and communications technology (ICT). So for me this apprenticeship is a
great opportunity to gain a Level 3 qualification in something that I love
whilst helping the emergency services to carry out their everyday jobs in
order to provide an excellent service for the country.”
Stephanie Shilton – IT
“I chose Airwave
when applying for
an apprenticeship
because it is a
company with
passion and the
dedication to fulfil
the work they are
given. I want to
work for Airwave
because I can see a
long term career and there are many
different opportunities for me to progress.
The assessment day was good for me
because it allowed me to show more about
myself and I could show them my hands-
on skills, as well as my communication
skills. Attending the assessment day
made my formal interview much easier
because I had already met and spoken
to my interviewers, and this meant they
had seen how I work.
At the moment I am shadowing different
engineers and visiting different sites and
seeing various types of kit and how we use
it on a daily basis. I have had a couple of
sessions in the Network Management
Centre (NMC) and I saw how
they deal with network maintenance on
Airwave’s Emergency Services Network
(ESN). It was interesting to see how
quickly they react and how fast they send
engineers to a site if that’s necessary.”
Matt Stidston – Field Services
Reach is the official magazine for users of
the Airwave Service. The editorial team is
always keen to hear about how you use
the Service, and to share best practices
across our customer base. Please get in
touch if you would like to be featured in Reach
magazine – email the editor Helen Bleasdale:
Issue5 •2013 •Theof cialmagazine forusersof theAirwaveService
Future technology
Theneedsof theemergencyservices
Working
smarter
Protecting
our world
Theworkof the
EnvironmentAgency
Anewseriesshowcasing
greateref ciencies
Special solution
Inside theScottishAmbulanceService
iCover_REACH5.indd 1
19/07/2013 11:03
Issue7 •2014 •Theof cialmagazine forusersof theAirwaveService
Working
together
New alert servicemeans faster
response forAmbulance Trust volunteers
Thebene tsof interoperability
Dyfed-Powys Police
Transforming ruralpolicing
iCover_REACH7.indd 1
28/07/2014 16:14
