From REME to Speedy Training Services

Category: Success Stories Publish date: 04/10/2021

Ex WO2 (AQMS) Richard Mands REME

I spent 23 years in the REME as a recovery mechanic with postings to Germany, UK, Belize and exercises in Canada and Cyprus, complete with tours in NI, First Gulf, Bosnia and Iraq. When it was time to leave I went through the usual channels with Career Transition Partnership (CTP) but still couldn’t decide where or what career path I wanted to follow. I did some resettlement courses based around H&S, but had no clear direction at the point of leaving.

In my last year I randomly applied for roles looking at jobs around my salary and things that interested me, a bit scattergun and with no real plan. I was contacted by another ex-REME and he said there was a job at the Steelworks as a Training Coordinator which I applied for and got.

I spent 4 years with Corus, which was a real eye-opener into life in Civvie Street. I then moved to spent a year with Serco where my role increased to Training, H&S and Recruitment, followed by a self-employed venture into contracting which made good money but lacked job security.

I re-entered the job market with Lloyds British and joined their Training Team as an Instructor, before moving to Speedy. In my current role I’m responsible for the overall delivery of high-quality Access and Lifting Training for Speedy Training Services; including the direct management of a dedicated training team of 18 Instructors and over 30 sub-contractors. I also conduct site visits and provide consultation on bespoke training services to our clients.

My CV Tips

1. Avoid military jargon and abbreviations. Some recruiters may specialise in military recruitment and understand it, but 90% of employers will not know what most acronyms are. De-militarise your CV as much as possible, but don’t hide it and always be proud of your service.
2. Write a full description of what your role is, providing explanations of what it is you were responsible for. I was a Recovery Mechanic so I always say “I was an AA man for the Army, only instead of a little yellow van I had a 75ton tank and a 25ton truck.”
3. What have you done with the qualifications that you’ve carefully acquired throughout your career? It’s great to say you have NEBOSH or PRINCE2 but so what, what have you done with them?
   • Look at what it is you actually do
   • Do you conduct Health and Safety as part of your role? Writing risk assessments might seem straight forward to you and not worth mentioning, but a civilian employer may be looking for just that!
   • Do you plan for exercises/adventure training? Well that’s project management!
   • Anything that is measurable is a great advert for you, especially around saving time, money and resources – commodities that civilian employers really value.
   • Again, list it, condense it and put it in.
4. Tailor your CV for every role you apply for to ensure you stand out among the competition.
5. Think of the military ethos and apply them as keywords in your CV - honesty, integrity, and punctuality are three good ones. Employers like ex-military people because of our ethos, so never fail to show your qualities off on your CV.
6. Research the company and use some of the language around the company vision and values in your covering letter and CV.
7. Pitch yourself at the right level. You may be an SNCO or WO in the military, but that doesn’t necessarily put you in the senior management bracket. It may be difficult to judge where you fit into an organisation when you don’t work there, so don’t put too much impetus on your prospective ‘rank’ within the company.