David Cooper's Success Story
Category: Success Stories
Publish date: 01/02/2021
David Cooper left the RAF as an Air Vice Marshal in 2020 after serving for 32 years. Having reached the end of his service, David decided to engage in resettlement support with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP).
"I enjoyed the variety of locations and working environments, with this lifestyle providing a range of rewards and pressures.
What I miss the most: the variety and nature of the demands on my leadership, teamwork and followership skills."
Resettlement
Once registered with the CTP, David attended a 3-day Career Transition Workshop (CTW), and undertook some CTP follow-on workshops to boost his employability:
"The CTW demystified the exit process and allowed me to create a framework to work from throughout my transition. It was also a huge benefit to meet other people in the same position and share ideas. I gained huge value from the CTW and would highly recommend it.
"I also completed the CTP Self-employment and Interview workshops, both of which were well worth the attendance and offered great practical and theoretical advice."
David also undertook a Civilian Work Attachment (CWA) and worked closely with his CTP Career Consultant, Graham; finding both to be extremely valuable:
"Throughout my transition I’ve had two Career Consultants, both of whom offered excellent guidance and advice at all times. I would highly recommend that any Service leaver forges an interactive and trusting relationship with their Consultant.
"I also attended a 3-day CWA with the NHS which gave me an excellent insight into the civilian work environment and gave me an invaluable opportunity to talk through my plans with a variety of ‘front-line’ staff. So, if you have a specific plan for your next career step, I would highly recommend a CWA."
Successful Outcome
David is now a Defence Capability Programme Manager for Nova Systems:
"I’m responsible for running 10-15 projects within the Defence sector. I didn’t face any major challenges when settling into my new role, although I did need to adjust to working in a smaller organisation."
Advice
And as his closing words of advice to fellow Service leavers, David goes on to say:
"Plan early and understand your financial position as soon as possible. Initially, decide what you don’t want to do, and then keep a broad perspective when considering your next steps.
"Make the most of your CTP Career Consultant and take every opportunity to practise interviews. Finally - network, network network. Your network will expand quickly and is an extremely powerful tool in opening up doors for you, but only if you put in the work."