Forces: Ex-RAF
Roger B - Sergeant
"There is lots of help and advice available so use it to your advantage. Know where you want to be and want to end up and get settled there prior to leaving. Don’t expect someone to do everything for you; it’s up to you to achieve your aims."
Ex-Sergeant Roger B completed a varied career in the RAF with over 30 years of Service, gaining several GCSEs plus IOSH Managing Safely and First Aid qualifications along with way. Roger says that some of the most useful skills he took away from his military career were ‘a good work ethos and having aims and goals to achieve’ along with ‘dealing with people and being calm under pressure’.
Almost two years prior to his discharge date, and already thinking about his options within the civilian workplace, Roger attended a Career Transition Workshop (CTW) at RRC Cottesmore. He says, ‘the CTW helped me to go firm on decisions I made and pointed me in the right direction for training and courses.’ Roger met with his Career Consultant to discuss his goals, and together they identified the training that would help Roger start a new career as an electrician.
Roger advises other Service leavers entering the resettlement process: ‘Try and decide what you want to do after you leave the Service and do whatever you can to prepare yourself for it. Try to have a clear idea prior to attending the CTW and then the staff there can help you achieve it.’
Roger used his IRTC Grant to attend a number of different courses at the Resettlement Training Centre in Aldershot, which gave him all the qualifications he needed to embark upon his new career. Although he didn’t attend a formal Civilian Work Attachment, Roger also spent some time with local builders, from which he gained useful experience in the industry.
Roger initially started working as a self-employed electrician in order to gain experience and give himself time to find the right role. He worked as a sole trader for several months before applying online for a job at the University of Cambridge, was successful at interview and has now been in the role of Building Services Technician for nine months.
Roger was proactive in his job search and had also identified particular companies in which he’d like to work, so was very focussed in his approach to the market. He stresses the importance of maintaining an up-to-date CV as part of the job searching process: ‘Be proactive and keep adapting your CV. Ensure your referees are good and are aware that they are an important part of your package.’
Roger’s position at the Biochemistry Institute within the University of Cambridge is very varied and involves maintaining all the services to enable the department to function. He says, ‘I am in charge of a building full of scientists and laboratories and even though I am the electrician, I am adaptable and do almost anything here from fixing a -80 degree freezer, building shelves or tables and managing contractors’.
Roger says he initially faced challenges due to his lack of experience in building management, but has now settled into the role now and is very happy in the position. His final advice to other Service leavers is, ‘there is lots of help and advice available so use it to your advantage. Know where you want to be and want to end up and get settled there prior to leaving. Don’t expect someone to do everything for you; it’s up to you to achieve your aims.’
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