My year as a contractor in Defence Industry after 13 years in the Army
I thought I would share my experiences for those Defence members looking to career transition. Please provide any supporting/challenging commentary below.
Hopefully this helps.
The Defence Industry world certainly, opened my eyes – ?I had no prior exposure as an Infantryman. The abundance of opportunities are both Good and Bad. ?
Good in the sense that you have a world of options, growing supply of demand for your skills and you can really choose your own adventure.
Bad in the sense that you have a world of options and growing supply of demand for your skills. There are an abundance of opportunities/job offerings, and you won’t really know what you want to do, or what you will be doing until you are out on a job.
Realise you’ll likely take 6 – 12 months of time in discovering what you really want to do for a career – it takes some soul searching, but still a great experience. ?
领英推荐
Some advice:
Be honest with what you are passionate/interested in. In your interviews, you will be asked “what you want to do”, which is hard to say, but I offer the following guidance based off 2 different paths your career can take:
I recommend if you enjoy your Defence specialist work, vocalise that you would like to employ your skills in more of a specialist role. If you want project variety, want to develop your business/leadership skills, have a think about the Project management stream.
If there are any further thoughts, please share below. I wish I had access to honest information whilst I was serving – our soon to be Veterans will benefit. ?
HSE and Security
2 年Love it mate. I think open communication with your boss about what you are enjoying and what you want to try is critical. The first job, especially is you have a boss who understands where you’ve come from, is the opportunity to test and adjust before setting longer term career goals.
Fighting the good fight in cyberspace
2 年Great advice Sam! My personal addition would be that there is no shame in trying something and not enjoying it or the role not meeting your expectations. I think in post-uniformed life, a lot of us have a mentality to stick with something because we feel we have to, admitting that something isn't for you isn't a failing, especially with the industry being so vast. My advice is always - if you aren't enjoying it, speak with your employer first! If they aren't receptive to your feedback, then it's a big pond with plenty of organisations that will work with you to find your place in the industry.