Flying around the underwater wreckage of helicopters, boats and pipelines, during a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) training exercise, led to Flt Sgt Price’s new, dream job as an ROV Pilot/Technician in Aberdeen. 

 

Steve Price, due to exit the RAF on 31 May, after completing 1 week short of 31yrs of service, is an Aircraft Engineering Technician by trade – employed at RAF Lossiemouth until June 2009. However, he is currently employed "Out of Trade" as the Mountain Rescue Team Leader with the Mountain Rescue Service - part of the RAF Search and Rescue Force, based at RAF Valley, Holyhead, Anglesey. He is currently on resettlement leave at home in Burghead, Elgin, Morayshire, before taking up his new job.

 

As part of his resettlement process, Steve recently underwent 2 weeks training with Maritime Training & Competence Solutions (MTCS), which is based in Windermere, Cumbria. 

 

MTCS Ltd is a fully accredited assessment and training centre providing a spectrum of operational, technical and supervisory training to the offshore industry. The majority of their courses focus on ROV’s as used in the oil & gas, nuclear and renewables industry. 

 

Commenting on his training,Price says: “I thoroughly enjoyed my ROV course and found their resettlement coordinator, Michelle Livesey and the rest of the team at MTCS to be very friendly, helpful and professional; the standard of training was excellent and was pitched at the right level.

 

“Being completely new to the offshore industry, I found the overview and background information very useful. The majority of the technical training took place in the classroom, including some of the practical sessions such as fiber optic terminations and faultfinding.”

 

MTCS is proud to boast its own forces sweetheart, with Re-settlement Coordinator, Michelle Livesey. She is the friendly voice at the end of the phone line and she also looks after all the forces resettlement trainees, whilst they’re doing their training at MTCS. Michelle says: “ I know what a big step it is to be leaving a long-term career in the forces and to start training in something, which is quite often completely new, so I like to make candidates like Steve feel welcome and re-assured, when they come to our training facility in Cumbria.”

 

Price added: “There’s a state-of-the-art ROV Simulator with a range of deepwater construction activitiesto gain hands-on experience, with a further practical session with an ROV operation at Capernwray - a local Cumbrian quarry. Deploying, flying and recovering the ROV at the Capernwray dive quarry was one of the most enjoyable parts of the course. It was here we learned to operate the ROV in close proximity to divers and fly around underwater wreckage, which included helicopters, boats and pipelines.

 

“I believe my training with MTCS gave me a distinct advantage as MTCS provided me with the skills and knowledge that my new employer, Integrated Subsea Services (ISS) were looking for - the ISS competency scheme appears to be based around the MTCS scheme.  During the interview, ISS were keen to establish where I had received my ROV training and how I financed it. MTCS gave me the knowledge and understanding to talk confidently about ROV and offshore related subjects, which was especially useful at interview - and I believe led to an employment offer following the interview.”

 

Stephen is due to start work at Aberdeen-based, Integrated Subsea Services (ISS) on 16 March, as a trainee ROV Pilot/Technician.

 

It is an unfortunate fact that a large proportion of civilian employers fail to recognise that many of the skills and attributes possessed by ex-HM Forces personnel are extremely valuable and transferable. This has always been a challenge facing ex-Services personnel, but in the face of the worst recession in living memory it has become even more acute.

 

So how should you go about maximising your chances of securing civilian employment?

 

It is clear that, in the present jobs climate, the competition is intense and, in general, there are more applicants than there are jobs – especially in the traditional redeployment career paths in general management, personnel management, security, HM Constabulary, etc. However, this is not the case in all sectors – there are still areas where there are severe skills shortages, as listed in the table below.

 

IT

Software development

Testing

Help desk support

Managed services

 

Telecoms

Mobile phones

Offshore and onshore oil and gas

 

Civil and structural construction

Infrastructure projects

Offshore and onshore oil and gas

Petrochemicals

 

Electrical and electronics

Telecoms manufacturing

Hardware manufacturing

 

Mechanical

Vehicle maintenance

Production plant maintenance

Offshore and onshore oil and gas construction and 

commissioning

 

Security

Marine security

Specialist security companies

Individual personal protection

Bomb disposal Unexploded ordnance clearance

 

Sports and leisure

Personal trainers

Fitness instructors

 

Whichever industries or sectors you decide to target, the key issue is to ensure that potential employers understand that your training and skills sets are transferable assets. It is also important to realise that civilian employers will be unfamiliar with HM Forces jargon and its use must be avoided. There are many aspects of your training and experience in the Forces that you take for granted but are important to highlight to prospective employers. For example:

It is also vital to understand the importance of a good CV and the necessity of a strategic approach to marketing yourself. You have to stand out from the crowd in order to get interviewed and secure a job.

This is where PrimeCandidate can help you. It offers a highly professional, bespoke online CV writing and posting service. Your CV is the most powerful sales and marketing tool at your disposal when searching for a new job, and should therefore be taken very seriously. PrimeCandidate will give your CV the edge it needs to get noticed. It comprises ex-recruitment and industry professionals with hiring manager status, and is in the best possible position to produce professional CVs and recommend CV posting locations. Social networking sites are fast becoming the resourcing tool of choice for many employers around the world. We can set you up on professional/social networking sites by creating a ‘fit for purpose’ profile page, attach your CV, generate connections and make suggestions for suitable groups to join. In short, we prime today’s job hunters into Prime Candidates for interview and selection!

 

You can order most of our services online at www.primecandidateuk.com or to speak to us in person about your requirements please call on +44 01423 563750.

 

See the advertisement on page 74.

After serving 12 years in the Royal Marines Mark Packham decided it was time to change career so he could spend more time with his family. To support his new life, three years ago, he started his own business which supplies home services to domestic customers. To ensure his business was able to meet the market’s increasingly demand for renewable energy technologies he enrolled on a Renewable Energy MSc at CATCentre for Alternative Technology.

 

As more and more institutions gear up to provide training in renewable energy and sustainable technologies it can be very difficult to know which one to chose and where enhanced learning credits can be used to ease the cost.

 

Mark shared with us why he chose the course at CAT; ‘The quality of the instruction is exceptional and CAT offers an ideal environment for learning.

 

The institutions credibility is underpinned by the tutors, many of which are professionals working in the industry. Food and accommodation are included as part of the course fee I was able to use my enhanced learning credits to reduce the cost.

 

The time I have spent on the Renewable Energy MSc has been full of positive experiences.  I would recommend it to anyone that has a serious interest in sustainability and engineering and is looking to start a new career in a dynamic and challenging area.’

 

CAT was established in 1973 and can boast more than 35 year’s practical and unbiased experience in the field, which is fed directly into their programmes. Their courses offer theoretical and practical, hands-on training in renewable energy,  sustainable technologies and the environment in which they can be built.