Forces: Army
Carl L - WO2
"You need to sell yourself; Service personnel have a lot to offer on Civvy Street, and don’t settle for less just because you’ve been in the military; your transferable skills are valuable."
After 22 years in the Army, former Warrant Officer (WO2) Carl Lewin left
the Forces in December 2016. During his transition he undertook a
Civilian Work Attachment (CWA) with Dorset Healthcare and is now
employed full-time as a Leadership Performance Coach.
Recounting
his days in the Armed Forces, Carl said, “Out of the 22 years of my
Service, I enjoyed the life experiences I gained from working all over
the world in many different environments, and with a team of great
people.
“Being a Warrant Officer, I already had experience
leading and managing teams, so I decided to go ahead and get my ILM
Level 7 Executive Coaching qualification whilst still in the Army, and
this really helped me in Civvy Street.”
By the time Carl reached
his end of Service, he had decided a change of industry was needed. Carl
utilised the support and guidance of his CTP Career Consultant and
attended a Career Transition Workshop (CTW) where he learnt how to
civilianise his military CV, build up his social media skills and gained
valuable interview techniques.
Resettlement
As part of
his career transition, Carl completed a one week Civilian Work
Attachment (CWA) with Dorset Healthcare. He commented, “It was when I
was on my CWA that I was advised by my line manager to go for a job role
that had just opened up, which I did. During the interview I was
required to deliver a 20 minute presentation on leadership. With my
experience from the forces and qualifications I had achieved, I felt I
was a strong candidate for the role. I was overjoyed to know I had been
successful.”
Carl started his new role as a Leadership
Performance Coach in Auust 2016. His role entails the design,
implementation and delivery of leadership and team development
programmes for 6,000 personnel at Dorset Healthcare.
When asked what advice he would give to Service leavers, Carl says:
You
need to sell yourself; Service personnel have a lot to offer on Civvy
Street, and don’t settle for less just because you’ve been in the
military; your transferable skills are valuable. "Don’t
forget that most people outside of the Armed Forces don’t know what the
ranks in the military mean, so you will need to learn how to
civilianise your experiences - using the CTP will help you do this.”
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