Ever thought about a career as a Ministry of Defence (MOD) Civil Servant?
Category: Job Finding
Publish date: 03/03/2023
The MOD offers unique, varied and fulfilling roles for its employees, as well as flexibility and the opportunity for continued development to achieve your full potential. Some typical professions include: Defence Digital, Defence Engineering, Project Management, Cyber, Commercial & Procurement, Human Resources and Defence Communications; as well as a wealth of other opportunities including teachers, MOD Police, surveyors, architects, MOD Guard Service, dog handlers and many more.
Working in the MOD also offers the following benefits:
- Access to the Civil Service Pension Scheme
- Generous Leave Package
- Departmental Flexible Working Policy
- Extensive Professional Development opportunities
How do I apply for a job in the MOD?
MOD vacancies are advertised on Civil Service Jobs – Civil Service job search - Civil Service Jobs - GOV.UK – or though the Career Transition Partnership’s online job portal, RightJob.
The Civil Service has changed the way we recruit. The MOD looks to assess your experiences as well as your strengths and will give you the best opportunity to showcase these throughout the application process. The MOD uses Success Profiles encompassing five key areas to enable Line Managers to successfully determine whether you’re suitable for a role.
The five areas of Success Profiles are:
- Behaviours - the actions and activities that people do which result in effective performance in a job.
- Strengths - the things we do regularly, do well and that motivate us.
- Ability - the aptitude or potential to perform to the required standard.
- Experience - the knowledge or mastery of an activity or subject gained through involvement in or exposure to it.
- Technical - the demonstration of specific professional skills, knowledge or qualifications.
As part of the recruitment process, a Line Manager will either ask you for a CV and personal statement, or a behaviour statement against one or more of the following behaviours:
- Seeing the Big Picture
- Changing and Improving
- Making Effective Decisions
- Leadership
- Communicating and Influencing
- Working Together
- Developing Self and Others
- Managing a Quality Service
- Delivering at Pace
These statements should be 250 words long and written in the ‘STAR’ (Situation, Task, Action, Result) model. Guidance on writing in the ‘STAR’ model along with some great examples can be found here. The Civil Service Careers website also provides guidance and videos that tell you what you'll need to provide throughout the recruitment process.
For further information on the wider Civil Service, including useful links and job finding advice, see the Civil Service Industry Sector Guide on the CTP website. Please also ask your CTP Career Consultant for help and advice.
Civil Service - Great Place to Work for Veterans Scheme
The Great Place to Work for Veterans Scheme aims to encourage more veterans to join the Civil Service when they leave the Armed Forces. When a veteran opts into the scheme and meets the minimum criteria, they’ll progress to the next stage for most vacancies. When you apply for a role through Civil Service Jobs, you’ll have the chance to confirm you’ve served in the Armed Forces and are therefore eligible for the Great Place to Work Initiative.
What resettlement training can help me prepare for a career in the MOD?
The CTP offers a range of training courses relevant to professions in the Civil Service, such as:
Project Management
-
APM Project Management (PMQ) 5 or 10 days
-
PRINCE 2
-
Agile Project Management Foundation and Practitioner Certificate
-
APMG Change Management
Information Technology
-
CCNA
-
CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network + & Security +, CYSA+
-
EC Council Ethical Hacker
Health and Safety
- NEBOSH or IOSH
- Lead Auditor (ISO 45001:2018)
Transport and Logistics
-
CILT L5 Professional Diploma in Logistics and Transport
-
L3 Certificate of Professional Competence for Transport Managers
General Management
-
CIPD Level 5 Associate Diploma in People Management
-
QMS ISO 9001:2015 Auditing
-
Executive Mini MBA
-
Director Development Programme
To make a booking for any of the above courses, please call the Course Bookings & Information Centre (CBIC) on 01252 954007 or look at the Training section of the CTP website.
Civilian Workplace Attachments (CWAs)
A CWA within the MOD would provide you with a valuable taster of working within the Defence environment. Your CWA can be taken at any time during your last two years of Service, and travel and subsistence can be claimed. It’s important to note however, that CWAs do not attract IRTC funding as they do not include formal course instruction. Instead, Graduated Resettlement Time (GRT) can be used for attendance on any CWA.
Veterans in Defence (ViD) Network
There’s also the opportunity to join the ViD Network which is made up of former Service personnel, Reservists and allies, working in MOD as Civil Servants. This provides an avenue for veterans working in the MOD to access mentoring, coaching, peer support and camaraderie from likeminded individuals across Defence and the wider Civil Service. ViD can also offer informal support on your application to join the Civil Service, and provide access to ongoing opportunities for personal and professional development and networking. For more information please contact: [email protected].
Mr Alister Jackson, MOD Head Office
Alister left the RAF as a WO1 after serving for over 35 years. Having held a variety of roles during his time in Service, Alister reached the point where he felt it was time for a new challenge, outside of the Armed Forces. His enrolment onto the CTP’s resettlement support was the logical next step, and he applied for a role in the MOD:
“I joined the Civil Service in Apr 2018 and am currently working in MOD Whitehall, in a strategic management role in support of the commercial CTP resettlement contract to Service leavers.
"I dedicated time in my resettlement period to prepare for my first job interview in 35 years – a daunting prospect – but the CTP workshop and my CTP Career consultant were of great help in honing and checking my CV. It was good to be able to choose my next role, and a relief that I was successful at my first interview; joining the Defence Academy as a Civil Servant working on a MOD Training Assurance team within Joint Force Development, UKStratCom.
"The Civil Service has been great in supporting my continuous personal development, which has included Lead Auditor qualification through to Certified Lead Auditor, and onto Membership of the Chartered Quality Institute. This then opened up a successful C2 promotion. Within 2 years I was promoted to MOD Whitehall to the Training, Education, Skills, Recruitment and Resettlement (TESRR) division, and to my present role as C1 CTP Delivery where I manage the day-to-day running of the CTP resettlement contract.
"Having undergone my own resettlement journey, I bring great value to my role in supporting all Service leavers. I had a very fulfilling military career and have transitioned well into the Civil Service – a rewarding second career that should keep me busy for the next 10 years.
"Transitioning from the military for some can be daunting and so I’d definitely recommend fellow Service leavers to look at a career within Defence. It’s a highly skilled and rewarding career path, offering lots of variation and opportunities at different levels of the organisation. There really is something for everyone.”