Veterans into Rail

Introduction

For some of us, after spending many years (sometimes whole working lives) in the armed forces, it is easy to draw a blank on what to do next. Before going into the merits of the rail industry and why you should consider it as a potential next industry of choice, I will give you a quick take on how the armed forces and rail industries line up, and how well your skills and experience from the armed forces map across the divide between the military and civilian professions.

The rail industry is very similar to the armed forces in many ways; it is a system of systems that work together to produce an output.

Most people are likely to think of the rail industry as passengers travelling here and there across the country aboard trains of varying colours, however there is much much more to it than that. It is quite easy to think of the rail industry as just trains, with passenger vehicles being most prevalent in the mind's eye, however, rail freight, track maintenance and test equipment also use the track. The track itself forms part of what is known as the infrastructure, and the infrastructure itself could be described as a system of systems, with tracks, bridges, tunnels, overhead lines, third and fourth rail and signalling equipment. Signalling is a system, used in the control of vehicle movements and safety. Combined with the rail vehicles, these systems are needed to complete the task of moving vehicles around the network in a safe and efficient manner.

Just considering the services as land, sea and air capability, it is already easy to think of Her Majesty's Forces as a mega system of systems of around 200,000 personnel, designed to move troops, equipment and supplies around the world - the rail industry employs around 700,000 people, and is a land-based system of a similar function (just think of passengers as troops, and equipment and supplies as the same thing, just with different functions). I'm sure you will quickly see from that generalist statement (if you hadn't considered it this way already) why there are so many similarities between the armed forces and the rail industry, which stem from the requirement for similar skill sets, to achieve similar types of objectives in a safety led environment.

I identified rail very early on as the industry I wanted to work in. I then set about learning more about the industry and tailoring my CV and surrounding preparation accordingly to help increase my chances of landing a role.

Drawing comparisons

Start drawing comparisons with your intended roles and your CV early on - really break it down into what it is you can do now and what it is a potential new role will require of you. I think it can be surprising how some of your current skills and experiences, which initially may appear to be unrelated, can be paired between your military and future civilian ones.

In rail, the first and biggest comparison to draw is in safety. Safety is paramount in both industries, and drawing these comparisons in your CV, interview prep and execution is key.

The next is in the underlying achievement of objectives. Mission objectives and rail system objectives and the planning that goes into achieving them are so similar, that you could probably take some of the key words from the associated documents, text and vocabulary and interchange them with ease.

Objective: deploy troops in this area = transport passengers between stations

Reading the above statement back, it is quite easy to dig into the details of each side of the equation and obliterate that simple comparison, but I would imagine that most people would think of the objective to deploy troops in an area (especially in war time) as being more complex due to the greater potential for unknown and known variables affecting the plan.

We can use our veteran network to reframe "So what if I can do that? So can everyone else here" into "If they can do that, I can too"

From this, it is easy to see why we can sometimes oversimplify and underestimate our abilities as a member/veteran of the armed forces; we all go through very similar training (identical in some cases), which can create a certain air of "So what if I can do that? So can everyone else here". This can seriously undermine the confidence in our abilities and skills and prevent us from defining these key skills and experiences that are relevant to employers when job seeking. We can use our veteran network to reframe "So what if I can do that? So can everyone else here" into "If they can do that, I can too"

Equally, I'm not saying the sun shines out of us in a certain place, or that we should think of ourselves as being superior because of our training and experiences; what I am trying to say is that we have a lot to offer from our background of vocational and academic training, scenario-based planning and mission execution experiences, which is very similar to how many industries work in the civilian world.

Why join the rail industry?

The rail industry is a system of systems that contains many disciplines. This variety of disciplines makes it an ideal industry for veterans and forces leavers who also have a variety of disciplines.

Train operators - These are the most customer facing of companies, and they operate the vehicles on the network. The scope of their involvement is broad. Drivers, train guards, train dispatchers, operations planners, controllers, maintenance and service staff, engineering support, human resources, IT/digital/cybersecurity and more.

Rolling stock companies - These are the train manufacturers, involved in the design, building, testing, commissioning, project management, change management, maintenance and servicing, engineering support, human resources, IT/digital/cybersecurity and more.

Infrastructure - The companies that are involved in everything - track maintenance and safety of the line, track works, stations, operations control, signalling, power distribution, design and build of systems and equipment, project management, change management, civil engineering, support engineering, human resources, IT/digital/cybersecurity and more.

The outline above is just a portion of roles available and is in no way comprehensive. What you may see, is that there are lots of similar roles across the three sections that the industry has been split into, and this shows that the systems are dependent upon each other and that the integration of these systems requires people with similar skillsets.

For me, it is all about aligning your skills, knowledge, experience and as much of what you enjoy from your armed forces background, with the roles available to you in the rail industry - of which there are many. I think there are so many opportunities and types of role within the rail industry that it is worthy of your time and effort. A focused approach is good for increasing your chances but putting all your eggs in one basket is risky; if you focus on an industry with broad and overlapping roles, you can focus on learning and preparing for interviews and future work within that industry that span across multiple roles, while still keeping your options relatively open.

The other good thing about the rail industry is that it is well spread throughout the country, and with many veterans already working in rail your opportunities and network can also have a good geographical spread. Lots of companies in the rail industry rank highly for pay (if you Google average salaries in the rail industry you will see numbers in the range of ￡45,000) and benefits (private health care and pension for example), so the transition is relatively smooth/positive financially.

Now you want in - Identify with a role and match your skills and experience

To help you find roles, connect with people from companies like Shorterm, Ford & Stanley, Ganymede, Clemtech, ATA, TXM. Check out companies like Network Rail, Siemens, Hitachi, Alstom, CAF, Ricardo Rail, Jacob's, AECOM, Arup, and all the various train operating companies across the network - to name just a few. For technical information and insight into the rail industry, take a look at the following website - Railway Techncial

After defining what kind of role you would like, identify any close matches (job adverts are the normal way of doing this, however, I would suggest using LinkedIn and your network to help in this process - what are others of similar backgrounds doing? What content/people/roles do you find interesting?) then start aligning yourself with those roles.

Align by breaking down the role you want, and the role you have, into key skills and experiences. Some will naturally map across, and those skills and experiences will need to feature in your CV.

For those skills and experiences in the job advert that you can't map across, I suggest you:

• Break the key skills and experiences down from the role you would like into a list of what you think would be required to carry that skill/experience out
• Look at your skills/experiences and break them down into what you know is required to carry them out
• Take the two lists and match them together. If you can now map all the skills and experiences, adjust your CV to show your skills and experiences match. If you are not quite able to match them all, but can match the majority, make your CV as close as possible and apply anyway. If you can't match some of your skills and experiences, and you think they are non-negotiable (you can again lean on your network, the job advertiser and any other sources to aid you in this, they may not be as non-negotiable as you think) see if you can identify any courses (check out this course by NTAR here for example of a rolling stock course and here for a signalling type course) you could complete to increase your chances. Even if you get on a course and worry about the lack of experience practicing the skills in your working life, it shows that you are willing, committed and able to meet the fundamentals of the skill at the very least, and I would suggest and encourage you to apply for the role - this doesn't always guarantee success, but you won't get the job if you don't apply anyway.

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Networking

Reach out to others - if you are polite and courteous in your approach, most people will give you the same in return at the very least.

As you are reading this article, you are very likely part of my network. Instead of me sending you off with a vague instruction that you must network with people and a list of reasons why, I will say this instead - contact me and I will help. At the very least, I can point you in the direction of someone who can help further.

Reach out to others - if you are polite and courteous in your approach, most people will give you the same in return at the very least. If they don't, you have only lost the time taken to type the message, which is a worthy gamble if you ask me.

Lee Paine and Lewis Matthews, who lead the Armed Forces Engagement Initiative for the Young Rail Professionals, are great advocates of veterans networking for careers in the rail industry and are ideal role models of how to network and how it can benefit you as a service leaver.

The Forces Transition Group and John Stephenson are a fantastic source (for rail and non-rail alike) for career and CV advice, seeking a mentor (I'm one of the mentors available as part of this initiative for example, but there are many others) and networking; you can't get much better than them.

Finally, thanks for reading and good luck with your transition and beyond. The rail industry is a big place, with many opportunities which could be perfect for your next career.

Image - By Ministry of Defence - Based on File:Ministry of Defence from the Thames.jpgThis vector image includes elements that have been taken or adapted from this file: MinistryofDefence.svg (by Geord0)., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=110108360