Forces: Army
Ben H. - Lt
“Know what you enjoy, know what you want to learn but don't worry if you do not know the answer to ‘where do you want to be in five-year’s time?’”
Former Lieutenant Colonel Ben Howard served for 23 years in the Army
with his latest role in the Defence Academy. He decided to leave the
service to pursue new career opportunities.
Whilst serving in
the Army, Ben valued his operational deployments giving him the
opportunity to travel abroad, attend training exercises and enjoy the
camaraderie that developed over the years.
As a Senior Officer,
Ben wanted to incorporate his team leadership, crisis management and
planning skills that he developed during his time in the Army into his
next career. Ben was introduced to the Career Transition Partnership to
assist him in his resettlement process.
During his resettlement,
Ben attended a Career Transition Workshop (CTW) where he learnt how to
translate his military experience career into a civilian appropriate CV.
Ben was also given advice on interview techniques, and then given the
opportunity to attend a CTP course on consulting.
In order to
further his civilian CV, Ben attended various courses in his spare time
allowing him to gain his PRINCE 2, Management of Risk, and MSP
qualifications.
Ben found plenty of support with his CTP Career
Consultant Karen, who kept in contact with him throughout the
resettlement process. Karen would regularly review his CV and offer
constructive networking advice, allowing Ben to be fully prepared when
applying for jobs. Through this support and advice, Ben was accepted
into the Lloyds Military Network Internship Programme for his Civilian
Work Attachment (CWA).
After his resettlement, Ben applied for
and was successfully offered a job at PPL, an independent consulting
company that promotes health, wellbeing and economic success across the
UK. After gaining some experience he transferred into his current role
as Technical and Change Manager.
During this time, Ben found
that people's cynicism at his lack of experience a challenge. He
successfully overcame this however, by diligently working hard and
falling back on his military leadership experience, further utilising
the knowledge he gained at his CWA.
Looking back at his
resettlement, Ben's advice to Service leavers would be to, “Know what
you enjoy, know what you want to learn but don't worry if you do not
know the answer to ‘where do you want to be in five-year’s time?’”
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