Making the most of yourself

Many Service people will quite happily run into a hail of bullets to rescue a wounded comrade, continue to defend a ship as the missiles strike the deck or fly at high speed and low altitude at night. They will do these incredibly brave things quite deliberately, knowing just what the dangers are. No civilian can really understand this, and it is a shared characteristic with only a few other professions – like the police and fire services.

It is curious that the same individuals will mumble their way through a conversation about such gallantry, and dismiss it with a quick ‘anyone would’ve done it’ out of the side of their mouths.

Even more curious is the way in which people can be so ready to advance the honour and glory of their ship/regiment/squadron that they will fight for it everywhere from the waterfront bar to the swamps of Sierra Leone and the skies over Falkland Sound. Yet these same people, who would not hesitate to tell an audience of thousands about the excellence of their unit, can be so reluctant to explain their own skills, competencies and experience at interview that they miss the perfect job.

‘Yes but,’ they will say in explanation, ‘we’re not given to talking about ourselves in the Forces. This is an unselfish profession in which the good of the team comes before benefit to the individual.’

OK. We understand that, and it probably does them great credit. But no one is being asked to lie or exaggerate. There is no question of not telling the truth, just telling more of it so that the picture that is painted is a complete one.

If an employer asks about management experience, you should point out the leadership you have displayed over the years and the effect it has had. Then explain about management – personnel, financial, logistics, whatever – that various sticky situations have required. Tell them about the training, both formal on courses and on the job, that you have had; and quantify how many people, how much money, what weight of equipment was involved. Then explain about the circumstances: the rain, the sand, the operational hazards and the urgency of the need.

First of all, you should describe what you did. Then you should tell people who probably have no experience of the type of situation you were facing how you did it. Finally, you must put it into terms that they will understand. ‘A company’s worth of ammunition’, ‘the crew of a submarine’ or ‘a forward operating base’ will mean nothing; 15 tons, 62 people, or a landing strip with four aircraft and 100 people, on the other hand, should get the point across nicely.

Try to use words that accurately describe what happened. Many people still believe that the Services function through harsh discipline, orders, shouting and the occasional use of fists to back up an argument. This is the stereotype that has been painted for years and it is still with us. National Service words and phrases like ‘squaddy’, ‘square-bashing’, ‘NAAFI’, ‘glasshouse’, ‘bull’ and even ‘civvy street’ are still used – even by Service people themselves in some instances. The image of hunchbacked conscripts peeling spuds or blancoing webbing round a coal fire in a Nissen hut is hard to shake.

You must use alternatives that accurately describe the way you behaved. Try to insert words such as ‘discussed’, learnt’, negotiated’, developed’, ‘managed’ and ‘ran’ into your job-finding vocabulary. Explain the mixed – military/civilian, male/female, ethnic/cultural – workforces you experienced. Tell them that, like anywhere else, emergencies require instant and firm action, and that the person in charge has to make decisions that may not be easy or popular. You should also explain that, when circumstances allow, personal initiative is encouraged, training is intellectually demanding and input to decisions is welcomed.

Now to touch on a trickier subject: remuneration. Many experts say that Service leavers should expect to start on what they are worth – in other words, their final military salary. Others advise that you should settle for less in order to get started, and that excellence will bring its own reward in terms of early promotion and salary increase. It is very difficult to generalise in this area.

The only certain thing is that you should find out what the going rate is for the job in the area in which you are going to be doing it and expect that your remuneration will be somewhere near that figure. What you should most definitely not accept is your employer to take your military pension into account and so offer you less. That money is yours.

So, although the salary may be a bit less than you are used to, make sure you tell the complete truth about your personal qualities, skills and experience. The opposition will be telling the best story it can; you must do the same.