Employers should use armed services leavers more
Is it just me or are we missing a trick here? Our service leavers, off whom the numbers will grow this year to record levels, are often the best time keepers, disciplined, hardest working, excellent man management skills / trained, and, innovative because "they have to be in theatre" - why are they not being snapped up in Civvy Street? My answer - employers don't want to know - they are not tuned in to this skill set. If they have never "sold a service" they could never compete with civilian experience!? I think not, and I,m a civvie. Lets look wider and longer. Thoughts?
An article in support - http://www.defencemanagement.com/feature_story.asp?id=14534
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Do you think the armed forces could do more to equip them for civvy street Keith? (saying that as an ignoramus on this subject so apologies if much is already done)
Hi Mike,
Part of the proplem is that people just don't know what is happening post Service. For every news article about one individual falling on hard time through lack of support, many hundreds start a successful second career. Enjoy the supportive articles below.
http://www.defencemanagement.com/feature_story.asp?id=12018
http://www.defencemanagement.com/feature_story.asp?id=11649
The MOD has definitely improved its media presence in recent years, particularly regarding operational successes in Afghanistan, but I totally agree with Keith that they could and should build on post-service success stories. I believe in the principle that ex-members of any organisation are often a useful barometer and I remember an old saying that ex-soldiers are the best recruiting sergeants.
If post-service success stories were to be publicised more effectively I think that it would actually encourage recruitment, as would-be soldiers would have confidence that they have longer-term prospects, rather than concentrating on depressing statistics about ex-soldiers in prison.
Many ex service personnel take some time to adjust to commercial / financial awareness, but that is also true of other areas of the public sector to a varying extent. Service resettlement provision is, on the whole, pretty reasonable and the past few years have seen a noticeable shift towards through-life development, although that might be a cunning ploy to cut expensive end-of-service resettlement training!
Hi Ian,
I have my first CTP (Resettlement) involvement at RAF Northolt tomorrow. There are 13 Officers in attendance, thus 13 less commanding officers available to duty, but 13 potential top class recruits aiming to be snapped up by commercially aware civvy street corporates.
Hi Keith, saw this and thought of you. It's US orientated but the principle will be the same here I think.
http://www.ere.net/2010/11/11/employers-think-vets-are-great-they-just-d...
Recruiters need to make a greater effort to recruit military veterans, who often get high marks from employers for their skills and leadership abilities, John Zappe writes. Other advantages to hiring veterans are that the federal and state governments offer free or subsidized training, company tax credits and salary supplements.
Adi,
this section from your link struck me:
"(the military to civilian job) translation problem begins even before a veteran gets to the interview. The resume itself can be a jumble of military jargon, meaningless to most recruiters, unless the job seeker is careful to “civilianize” the job."
I was just wondering if, in Keith's work with military service leavers, they allow them to continue using phrases like 'Civvy Street' or whether they point out that few non-military people have ever heard this phrase before and that using military jargon won't generally endear them to people who haven't been in the military? Referring to people as 'civilians' outside of a military base or theatre of war also seems pretty bizarre. In fact, I'd suggest that using terminology like that emphasises the detachment between military life and other types of work, which makes it more difficult for employers to see how an ex-military person would fit into their company. I would assume that most employers really aren't much interested in somebody's previous military achievements, unless these can be used to give examples of transferrable skills which will bring clear benefit to their company.
Having said that, I don't know the exact nature of the work that is done by military resettlement, so perhaps they do cover such things adequately.
.Thomas, you raise a lot of valid points. Let me answer just one that stood out - Civvy Street is something that still gets used. I am non committal on the term but service leavers tend to use and understand it fully so I guess no harm. It isn't a term invented by us civilians for them but the reverse rather strangely