Resettlement success

Forces: Ex-RAF

Nigel T - Engineering Officer

"My advice is to keep your networks current and use them. Whilst a nod from someone inside a company only helps get you past the first hurdle, it gives you the opportunity to sell yourself face-to-face”.

Background
Nigel served for 26 years as an RAF Engineering Officer covering a broad range of posts predominantly on Fast Jet platforms but touching on transport and rotary too. Nigel’s final tour was as Type Airworthiness Authority for fixed wing multi-engine training aircraft. This post consolidated the skills he had learnt over his Service career and proved a useful spring board for leaving the Service.

Resettlement
Nigel accepted voluntary redundancy in 2012 and completed the Career Transition Workshop and various courses on Business Star Up and Management Consultancy. “The advice given was excellent and in much need having not entered the job arena for 26 years”. Nigel applied for a variety of jobs across the length and breadth of the country mainly within the Defence and Aerospace Industries. “Importantly, I always found I had most success when I had a contact who I had worked with previously within the company. My advice is to keep your networks current and use them. Whilst a nod from someone inside a company only helps get you past the first hurdle, it gives you the opportunity to sell yourself face-to-face”.

Outcome
Nigel secured employment with Atkins Defence business as a Principal Air Safety Consultant and is still with the company. During the 2 years he has worked at Atkins, he has worked on a wide range of projects mainly associated with aircraft certification and safety. In addition, he has also worked hard to improve his commercial acumen by volunteering to write and manage proposals for new work and by acting as a Project Director for a number of smaller projects. He has also enjoyed assisting with the recruitment of safety engineers for Atkins. Nigel says that working at Atkins has a great atmosphere with many ex-Service personnel and that the company looks after its people. In addition he noted that Atkins places great importance on quality and timely delivery. “Naturally we need to cover our costs and make a profit; however, if the numbers aren’t adding up, delivery of a quality product is paramount”.

Nigel is now recruiting on behalf of Atkins and suggests Service leavers make the most of resettlement opportunities and apply the lessons taught intelligently. “Civilianising a CV is good advice but think about the recipient. If you’re applying to a defence company, the chances are some staff members will be ex-military. Don’t make your CV so vanilla that ex-military staff can’t understand what you’ve done. During resettlement, I ran a military and a civilian CV and tailored the appropriate CV for the company I was applying to”.
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