Supporting Marc Richardson on his resettlement journey
Category: Success Stories
Publish date: 05/01/2021
Marc Richardson left the Army, following a medical discharge, as a Corporal in 2020, having served for over 20 years. Marc then registered for resettlement support with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP).
"During my time in the Army I particularly enjoyed always knowing what was expected of me in advance, thanks to communication from my line manager."
Resettlement
Once registered with the CTP, Marc undertook a CTP Civilian Work Attachment (CWA), along with some vocational training courses to help him become more attractive to civilian employers:
"I used my learning credits to help secure the qualifications I needed for my new role. I also attended a 2 week CWA with Anglian Water which helped me secure a permanent position further down the line."
Marc also worked closely with his CTP Career Consultant, July, as well as his personal recovery officer Clark, and found their time and work together most valuable:
"July’s support was great, and her help and guidance with developing and improving my CV, as well as practising with the CTP’s online video interview resource was a huge benefit to me and my resettlement.
"I’d also like to thank Clark, who was so supportive throughout my transition from military to civilian life."
Successful Outcome
Marc is now a Restoration Technician for Anglian Water, a role he found and secured through networking with a friend:
"A friend told me about his own transition from the military to Anglian Water and it piqued my interest. He then helped secure my CWA, which was a great opportunity to try the job before committing to anything – something I’d recommend to any Service leaver.
"I did have to wait for a vacancy to open up after finishing my CWA, but since securing a full time role I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. Getting used to the corporate culture was quite challenging at first, but I’ve used my people skills to build relationships, while my military developed teamwork skills have helped me in my day-to-day responsibilities."
Advice
For his closing words of advice to fellow Service leavers, Marc goes on to say:
"Don’t let a challenging job market deter you. The first time I applied for the position I’m now in, I wasn’t successful; but still I kept trying and applied again – and the second time around I landed the job!
"So, my advice would be to stick with it and keep going. Don’t take any knockbacks personally and remember, you will find something eventually. I also found utilising the Army learning grants to be a big help towards paying for training costs."