Attending job fairs and other resettlement activities

Someone from the Quest team attends most of the regional job fairs run throughout the year at great effort by people in the resettlement system. The organisers lay them on for the benefit of Service leavers. But few actually attend; most miss out on the national and regional knowledge about training and employment that is available. And they also miss out on the jobs that they could possibly fill that are on offer from organisations facing the skills shortages that exist in today's world.

The same is true for housing and financial briefings. They are available throughout the UK to provide advice and assistance to Service leavers, but few people go. Is this because they are all home-owners and do not need advice on this critical subject? The statistics tell us they are not. Or perhaps they all have expert financial advisers already. We doubt it.

Even attendance at Career Transition and Options Workshops is not 100 per cent; yet these are probably resettlement's most critical events. The number of people who claim 'they don't need them' is staggering - when some of them do not have a job to go to and all are likely to consider a career change in the future. For many this will be a great deal sooner than they think.

These are the same people who, quite rightly, regard reconnaissance as essential to operational success, would not want to venture into a minefield without clearing a path, and sit with their eyes glued to surveillance devices. They spend time examining and assessing potential enemies, and preparing their tactics and their weapons for possible operations.

Can it be that they do not understand that moving into civilian life after even a short period in the Forces demands planning and preparation? Do they just not want to think about it? Surely, they cannot imagine that employers will be falling over themselves to employ someone with their precise mix of personal qualities, skills and experience?

The world of work is changing fast. Companies are structured differently and operate differently to how they did even a few years ago. The skills required have changed, as have jobs and employment contracts. Work practices are new, as is employment law.

While a few Service leavers are heading for employment in more traditional sectors, most are due to enter the competitive maelstrom that is modern British business life. (And many traditional organisations are in the process of change.) The vast majority may be extremely flexible individuals and quick learners, who adapt fast to new circumstances, with some even claiming that they left the Services because they disliked what they saw as too rigid and hierarchical an environment. However, a surprising number miss the opportunity to find out what lies ahead even though, as military commanders, they will risk lives for such information.

Take job fairs, for example. Some knowledge about what types of jobs are available in a particular region can guide decisions about whether to move there, what accommodation to start with, the resettlement training courses to take, other learning required before leaving, financial provision and investment strategy, pension commutation and a host of other areas. And all this is quite apart from the chance of being offered a job.

Now consider housing and financial briefings. Are people really certain they have the best available accommodation for their needs and that they are paying for it in the best possible way? Could there perhaps not be a better pension plan, insurance policy or investment strategy for their requirements? Would it not be sensible to go and find out? If only to be reassured that what they are already doing is best for them.

When it comes to the workshops, and self-employment and business start-up courses, the argument is even simpler. Only a very few Service leavers, will have any really accurate knowledge of what is involved and for most of those this will be very out of date. The opportunity to pick the brains of experts who have 'been there and done that' is an opportunity that ought to be unmissable. Even the lucky few who already have jobs lined up will benefit enormously from exposure to the wider picture of the British workplace.

The current round of operational commitments, together with preparations for operations in the Middle East and getting the Green Goddesses ready for fire-fighters' strike duty, clearly make it more difficult to get away for these events. But people often tell us that they chose not to take full advantage of the system rather than that they wanted to but were prevented from doing so.

The old saying that 'time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted' holds just as true in the workplace as it does on the battlefield.

Companies are structured differently and operate differently to how they did even a few years ago

The opportunity to pick the brains of experts who have 'been there and done that' is an opportunity that ought to be unmissable

The old saying that 'time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted' holds true in the workplace