Eircom apprenticeship

gerire

Im sure this will interest some on here looking for a trade/profession with a job to come afterwards;

50 spots available

must have a basic leaving cert; c in ord english and maths

has nothing to do with me, just saw it on facebook;

good luck to aanyone who has a go at this

https://careers.eircom.net/wd/plsql/wd_portal.show_page?p_web_site_id=1964&p_text_id=1773

Delancey

Amazed to see them hiring given all the redundancies and cost cutting there in the last few years. That said , good luck to those who apply , I'd say there'll be no shortage of applicants.

evosteo

thanks for that link, 2 year apprentiship with a job at the end of it, very very rare. any one know their wage structure?

Delancey

evosteo wrote: »

thanks for that link, 2 year apprentiship with a job at the end of it, very very rare. any one know their wage structure?

I worked for Eircom once but had no contact with the engineering side of things so have no idea of pay.
I can guarantee that the new contracts will be a shadow of the old ones - I suspect pay , pensions , allowances , overtime , work practices , etc , will all be different to what the ' old timers ' are on.
Eircom is in deep financial trouble and may soon breach its banking covenants so cost cutting is the order of the day.

HoggyRS

Thanks for posting this up, looks like a very interesting opportunity!

As this is not a normal trade apprenticeship, does anyone know is there an allowance paid during the training?

Lux23

Its a good idea, more companies should do something like this. Is there a wage?

gline

i'd love to know is there any wage involved also.

They also say "Upon successful completion of the programme you will be offered a permanent position within the eircom Group." I wonder do you sign a contract at the start that has this in it. I mean if Eircom start doing badly, can they just say goodbye after the 2 year apprenticeship (or even before you finish)?

Has anyone done one of these apprenticeship's before? Would love to hear from someone that has done it and how it worked out.

thejohn0512

i applied and done the aptitude test there the other day, i havnt heard anything back yet. has anybody else done the test and how did you find it?

gline

thejohn0512 wrote: »

i applied and done the aptitude test there the other day, i havnt heard anything back yet. has anybody else done the test and how did you find it?

It wasnt the easiest test ive done in my life

thejohn0512

i 100% agree, to be honest i was a bit surprised with the length and depth of it. did ya hear anything back from them? fingers crossed for the both of us yeah.

evosteo

have not done the test as of yet, can you say what it involves??????

thejohn0512

just your general aptitude stuff, it takes forever to complete so make sure you set aside a bit of time and have a pen, paper and a calculator at the ready. the hardest thing i taught was the spatial tests, basically it involves un-ravelling a block....google it and you'll find some samples. best of luck.

gline

thejohn0512 wrote: »

i 100% agree, to be honest i was a bit surprised with the length and depth of it. did ya hear anything back from them? fingers crossed for the both of us yeah.

no i havent heard back, but i think the closing date for aplicatons isnt for another week or so.

moonlighting

i did the esb test awhile back and it was the same test.
so whatever company they hired to do the esb online test the eircom crowd used the same company

newuser1

How soon after submitting the application do you have to do the aptitude test? Do they email a link? Do you have to do all the sections at once or can you come back to it?

gline

newuser1 wrote: »

How soon after submitting the application do you have to do the aptitude test? Do they email a link? Do you have to do all the sections at once or can you come back to it?

As soon as you apply you are sent the link. You dont have to do all sections at once.

Lux23

A guy I know has an interview next month for it, there will be more tests as well as a competency based interview but think it looks like a really good programme.

thejohn0512

wow luckly him, do ya know when he done the aptitude test? i havnt heard anything yet.

murphthesmurf

I have also applied for this and completed the aptitude test. I think I might be a bit older than most of the applicants though as I'm 36 , but worth a try.
I found the aptitude test a bit hard in parts, although the spatial awareness for me was one of the easiest parts. The questions about circumferences and volume of liquid in the tank were the hardest for me as I haven't done things like that since school
I don't fancy my chances because of my age, but worth a try. Even if there were no jobs at the end of it, having a 2 yr apprenticeship and some extra qualifications under your belt in these times certainly wont do any harm.
I read the advert on Jobs.ie, where the pay section said 15-25k, but don't know for sure. I would say you start on 15k, then as you progress it goes up until you are employed full time and will receive the 25k, at a guess.
The closing date isn't until the end of the month, so don't expect to hear anything just yet. They'll no doubt have 1000's of applications to sift through.
Also with the test, don't think of cheating with a programmable calculator or using google during it, as any successful applicants who go forward will have to sit the test again, supervised, any major discrepancies between your results will result in you getting a big red cross through your name.
Good luck all.

thejohn0512

well your not too much older then me mate, im 29. just completed my electrical trade there last month but as you know jobs are very scarce in this area. what kind of background do u come from yourself? i agree about the test, i was shocked when i started it but hopefully the results were ok.

thejohn0512

oh and id say maybe that payscale was during your apprenticeship, you might start on 15k and then in your 2nd year move up to 25k. well maybe thats being a bit optimistic but i couldnt imagine fully qualified eircom engineers working for 25k.

murphthesmurf

I usually work as a fire/intruder alarm service engineer. I've previously done a City & Guilds part 1 in electronic servicing and a part 1 in electrical instalations a number of years back. I've worked with alarm signalling equipment in the UK (where I'm originally from) similar to eircom phone watch (Redcare in the UK).
Maybe our previous experience and qualifications will over come our age. I hope.

fintanmcog

i was in the middle of applying and part of the test got blocked. how do i unblock it to finish it .

thejohn0512

sorry fintan i dont have a bloody clue, maybe you should ring there helpline number. yeah murph heres hoping our experience counts....it has to right lol.

murphthesmurf

fintanmcog wrote: »

i was in the middle of applying and part of the test got blocked. how do i unblock it to finish it .

I think you might have to contact them. There should be a phone number on the email that was sent to you.

osullic

Just done the aptitude test there now,seems very similar to the ESB one as someone eluded to in an earlier post. I think I did pretty good in the test but I was really stuck for time for some parts.

I hope they let us know about interviews etc fairly promptly, I assume we won't hear anything until a bit after the 26th of July closing date.

I think this is a fantastic opportunity, i just hope I get through to the next stage.

jimbis

8 years experience in security systems but no leaving cert.....

Any advice?

osullic

jimbis wrote: »

8 years experience in security systems but no leaving cert.....

Any advice?

Pretty sure the leaving Cert is a minimum requirement.
Sorry man.

murphthesmurf

Now advertised on FAS, pay stated as 19000, closing date 25th July.
Worth a try jimbis, your experience might count. I think they gear these apprenticeships more towards school leavers, hence the leaving cert requirement, but worth a try.

FoamyMushroom

The applications started the 11th of July, closes the 25th of July. I can say that this i well worth trying for my mate's dad did this about 20 years ago or something he still works for eircom to this day..

I applied a few days ago, got through all the test's. Found them hard enough, also easy at times.

Anywho.. whoever did apply wont hear anything back from them till after closing date the 25th. =]

msg11

I applied there yesterday and done the test today. My god that was some test, think I flunked the Maths part of it. When I seen the pie squared symbol I knew I was up **** creek without a **** paddle.

None the less, I hope to hear back from them. I would love this type of work. Particularly the mast work and installation of equipment in the exchanges.

Particularly interested in the pay scale of things? Anyone have any ideas or what the working week is like ? A guy I know works for them and he is up and down the country seems like long hours on site. Would you get a van straight away ?

FoamyMushroom

^^^^

I can imagine that they'll ask you to use your own car for a short period before they could supply you with a van. Its not like they got a van for everyone ya know ^.^

msg11

FoamyMushroom wrote: »

^^^^

I can imagine that they'll ask you to use your own car for a short period before they could supply you with a van. Its not like they got a van for everyone ya know ^.^

Oh I understand what you mean, I wouldn't expect to walk in and be provided with a van. Don't mind using my car to go to the sites, but I can't imagine a Fiesta coping to well getting up rocky surfaces etc..

moonlighting

usually the apprentices ride shotgun

gline

murphthesmurf wrote: »

Now advertised on FAS, pay stated as 19000, closing date 25th July.
Worth a try jimbis, your experience might count. I think they gear these apprenticeships more towards school leavers, hence the leaving cert requirement, but worth a try.

wow if its 19k in the first year thats not too bad for an apprenticeship. do you reckon preference goes to recent school-leavers?

newuser1

gline wrote: »

wow if its 19k in the first year thats not too bad for an apprenticeship. do you reckon preference goes to recent school-leavers?

I would think they will take the best candidates. The more experienced candidates would be better for a company in these times. Less likely to leave.

gline

newuser1 wrote: »

I would think they will take the best candidates. The more experienced candidates would be better for a company in these times. Less likely to leave.

hopefully that is the case.

FoamyMushroom

I was talking to my friends dad as I said in a earlier post, who did the same apprenticeship he said that the pay comes out for the apprentice at either 17 - 19k a year..

iColdFusion

Just did the test for this, that whole spatial section just did not compute but other than that it was fine

newuser1 wrote: »

I would think they will take the best candidates. The more experienced candidates would be better for a company in these times. Less likely to leave.

I would say experienced candidates would bring more to the company but also more likely to leave as they have experience in other areas compared to the kid just out of school who only has their eircom experience.

Trying to not be too pessimistic but I can see alot of these places being filled "inhouse" too.
Hope I'm wrong and good luck to everybody


Don't forget fellow boardies when your planning out those fiber links too

Badger the witness

i did the test today, it was ok but a bit harder than tests iv done in recent times. Will everyone be based in dublin during training?

brotherrabbit

well folks. Im doing the tests tomorro. have my calc ready and hope to god they ok. dose anyone know if many ppl applied?

Captain Chaos

brotherrabbit wrote: »

dose anyone know if many ppl applied?

Thousands, for 50 positions.

brotherrabbit

fantastic...god i miss the celtic tiger
Roll on these tests tomorro

Lux23

Captain Chaos wrote: »

Thousands, for 50 positions.

Really? How do you know?

murphthesmurf

Captain Chaos wrote: »

Thousands, for 50 positions.

I wouldn't be the least bit suprised. In 12 months of job hunting in Ireland, this is the 1st opportunity like this I've come across.

brotherrabbit

Yea im finished college with a degree in engineering and half the lads jumped at this opportunity!

LHavo

Well lads, Really hope i get this. I did the tests tuesday and got a call today for an interview tommrow. So fingers crossed..

Max Moment

FoamyMushroom wrote: »

The applications started the 11th of July, closes the 25th of July. I can say that this i well worth trying for my mate's dad did this about 20 years ago or something he still works for eircom to this day..

I applied a few days ago, got through all the test's. Found them hard enough, also easy at times.

Anywho.. whoever did apply wont hear anything back from them till after closing date the 25th. =]

Any ideas what you will be on money wise when qualified? Would you have an idea what rate your mate's dad is on?

Delancey

Max Moment wrote: »

Any ideas what you will be on money wise when qualified? Would you have an idea what rate your mate's dad is on?

Pay and conditions of current staff are not a guide to future pay and conditions , true of many jobs but none moreso than Eircom , they are in severe financial difficulty and when I was there the focus was on cost-cutting , outsourcing work , changing benefits , etc.
Not saying this is not a job worth going for but you can be sure that upon sucessful completion of training , people will be on different contracts with different pay and benefits compared to those with longer service.

jeddie20

applied for this yesterday, just stumbled accross this thread. have 3 of the tests done and plan on doing the rest tomorrow. hopefully leaving cert points won't come into account

brotherrabbit

Anyone who do de tests here back??? and what was the time scale between tests and hearing back???