AN ARMY veteran has urged businesses to be more aware of the skills that former military personnel can bring to a workplace.
Joshua Davis entered civilian life after 11 years in the Armed Forces when he became a father. He now works at global engineering firm SSI Schaefer Group, whose corporate office is at Pury Hill Business Park near Towcester.
Joshua (pictured above), 33, says that more companies need to consider that soldiers come with a wide variety of transferrable skills.
“If I say to people that I was in the Army, people mostly assume that I was a soldier – they do not know the logistics of it all or the skills I have,” he said. “My day-to-day job was fixing weapons and tanks so people might not know the qualifications I have got and the skills and experience that Army veterans can offer.
“It is about companies having better awareness of that. A lot of people in the Army pick things up really quickly as they have to be adaptable and quick-thinking. I know if you take a chance on ex-military personnel, you will see their skills are unreal.”
Joshua’s transition from a weapons engineer in the Army to deputy engineering manager at SSI Schaefer was aided by recruitment consultancy Wills Consultants, which has signed up to the Armed Forces Covenant pledging to support service personnel when they leave the forces. Now, after securing employment with Wills Consultants’ help, Joshua uses the Kettering-based company for his own recruiting.
“They were excellent,” he said. “They did a lot of preparation with me before the actual interview – a lot of recruiters do not do that. They were really supportive.
“We get a lot of really good candidates through them and they are really good to work with. They get to know a candidate and their skillset. I found with a lot of recruiters that they big you up then you do not really hear from them again but Wills have great communication and feedback.”
Wills Consultants’ co-founder and director Simon Wills said: “After helping him source his perfect position, it has been fantastic to continue working together to help him build his team.
“Wills Consultants works with all military personnel to help them transition smoothly into civilian life. We understand that the all-important first job after serving their country can be daunting to navigate and we offer as much support as a candidate requires to help them find the right role.”
