Where do I go if I have a problem something on the website?

In the first instance please email support_engineer@thenetworker.co.uk . We will endeavour to answer any emails within 4 working hrs however if your issue is of an urgent nature please call us on 0844 7406381. Site wide issues will be communicated to all engineers via email.

How do you keep an eye on my standard of Work?

We carry out a number of tasks and checks to make sure your customers are receiving the quality and standard of work they should be from you, these include a phone call from one of our agents within 30 minutes of you leaving site in order to record feedback. We also use a number of in-house tools such TimeKey, optional online exams, theNetworker engineer rating system and more.

What do I need to take to a customer site?

In short...YOU. Other requirements or equipment you may need from time to time depending on your work environment, at a minimum we suggest the kit to have available for your use would be:

- A Laptop

- Console Cable

- Passport/Driving Licence (for authentication purposes)

- A couple of short Cat5/Cat6 cables may come in handy

- USB harddrive/key (for image transfer etc...only to be used with prior customer approval)

- ToolKit (ScrewDrivers, Compressed air can etc again depending on your work environment)



We are currently working on a possible complementary toolkit for you at present, however if you are in need of cables or further advice regarding equipment/tools needed email engineer_support at thenetworker.co.uk or check on the forum for advice from fellow engineers.

What can I do if I can't carry out the work for a customer?

theNetworker engineer selection process means that every effort has been made to select engineer with the correct skill set for the assignment, however should you find yourself in a position whereby you feel professionally unable to complete the assignment we strongly recommend that you notifity your hirer. Ultimately, as the hired engineer you are responsible for all work carried out and consequently you may be held responsible for the quality of your work.

Updating my Status settings using my mobile phone

Engineers who have completed the registration process are able to change their availability status via SMS. To set your profile status to online or offline simply by sending an SMS to 07624803768 with the word ONLINE or OFFLINE and you will receive an automatic message back confirming your status change. If you would like to receive customer enquiries to your phone when out send the words 'GET JOBS' (without quotes), to turn this feature off send an SMS with the words 'NO JOBS' (again no quotes please)

Job Distance

You can set the maximum distance you are willing to travel to a job from your location by entering the distance in miles within the options tab of your profile in the maximum distance box. Distance and travel time payments should be discussed at your conference call.

Contractor or Not?

theNetworker is open to any engineer whether you are a contractor, temp, permanent employee etc. Contractors however may be operating under their own limited company, in this case we will need your company registration, name and VAT details entered into your profile area for authentication reasons. If you are not a contractor and are a permanent/part-time employee during the day, you may need to check what tax implications if any there are for you to be earning money through our service, the best place of course to check first would be HMRC

Customer presence

Simple, if you are early, wait. If you are there at the agreed time, wait. We will leave it up to your own judgement as to how long you will leave it before trying to contact your customer. If after a period of time you are unable to get in contact with the customer do not just leave, contact us and we will try contacting them further.

Going it alone

Although TheNetworker is not responsible for your work, we advise all engineers that should they be asked to attend an unmanned site or to work unsupervised that they undertake to gain written permission from their contact. And that they follow the correct health and safety procedures.

Travel costs and expenses

We do not offer any kind of reimbursement for costs incurred whilst travelling to or from or working at a site, if you are worried about the potential cost of travelling to a customers site alert them to this during the telephone interview stage, or simply change the proximity within your profile area to restrict your profile from turning up in searches outside a range of miles from your location.

Lateness

If you are late to site or suspect you may be late for an assignment, try to contact the customer well in advance to let them know, if you are unable for any reason to contact your customer, call us and we will try and contact them for you.

Can I sell my services directly to a customer that found me through the portal?

We hope you don't however there may at some point be a temptation to do this, if however we suspect this is happening or obtain evidence that this has occurred your account and the customers will be immediately removed from the portal.

Are you a recruitment agent or consultancy?

No, we are engineers like you, however we have noticed through our time in the industry that a customer at times will only need a certain skill or level of expertise for a short amount of time i.e. a customer with a smartnet receives a replacement router but needs an engineer to install it...this is where we and you come in, unlike long-term/month long contracts, permanent roles or temps, we exist in the customers life for mere hours...long enough for us to get the job done and leave with the customer satisfied.

There are already a great deal of high quality recruitment consultancies, agencies and job search websites in the employment market and as they're already doing a top job it was never part of our plan to compete with any of them, we are aiming to simply fill the niche or if you like..the 'gap' that is available between the current employment offerings and ultimately offer a new type of service and additional choice to the customer and you their engineer.

Do I have to keep working above a number of hours a week or month to keep my profile live?

Not at all, you can set yourself as available to work as many hours as you like or as little as you need it is all up to you just set your profile to 'ONLINE' when you are ready to take new assignments and any customers that locate you in a search and want to hire your services may do so, also whilst you're offline if you turn up in a customers search results the usual 'bid' and 'book' icons are replaced by a 'notify' icon meaning as soon as you come online they are sent a notification and can book you straight away!

What's included in my control panel?