Resettlement success
Forces: Royal Air Force
Adam E - SAC
“Don’t be afraid to apply for roles, you would be surprised how much of the military experience you’ve gained is transferable."
Ex-SAC(T) Adam Ellis served 4 and a half years with the Royal Air Force,
before deciding that he wanted to spend more time with his family.
Since February 2016 he works for the Metropolitan Police as a
Application Support Analyst.
Tell me about your time in the RAF?
“I
served in the RAF for 4 and a half years and really enjoyed being part
of the ‘RAF Family’ and the camaraderie that came with it. It was only
towards the last year serving that the deployment commitments and living
away from home affected me. I missed home and that was the key factor
in my leaving.”
What was your resettlement process like with CTP?
“Unfortunately
due to being on a state of ‘readiness to deploy’ leading up to my exit
date from the RAF I wasn’t able to attend the CTW or any courses. I was
assigned a Career Consultant throughout my transition, and I appreciated
their phone calls and emails to check up on me and continue their
support until I had found employment.”
Since you have transitioned into civilian life, what job do you do?
“I
work as an Application Support Analyst for the Metropolitan Police
Service. I got the job because one of my previous colleagues in the RAF
was working as a contractor for the Met Police and informed me of more
contract opportunities that were available. I applied and successfully
gained a contract as a Service Desk Analyst. While contracting,
permanent staff opportunities became available and I applied for the
role of Application Support Analyst. The interview process was
relatively straightforward. There was a comprehensive application form
to fill out, and the interview closely followed the areas detailed in
the form. In the interview I was asked for scenarios where I used my
technical knowledge. I was comfortable in this part of the process due
to wealth of experience that the military provided.
A large part
of my role as an Application Support Analyst is to understand the
applications the users use and solve any issues/problems users have. I
also assist in maintaining, updating the applications from the front and
back end (IIS etc.)
I gained vast amounts of IT experience from
my time in the RAF, especially when deployed. It was while I was
deployed that I fully utilised my knowledge of servers, networks and
customer service to help looking after a large user base in a high
pressure environment. My time in the RAF did provide me with some
valuable skills and experiences that have been easily transferable to
‘Civvie Street’.
What advice would you give to other Service leavers?
“Don’t
be afraid to apply for roles, you would be surprised how much of the
military experience you’ve gained is transferable. Also utilise the time
before leaving wisely by undertaking courses and enquiring about other
work, because some application processes for some jobs can take a few
months to complete.”
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