Supporting Service Leavers and Veterans find future employment


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Guest Writer
Dom Hill
Director of Employment at The White Ensign Association

 

5 minute read

 

The White Ensign Association is a Registered Charity administered by limited guarantee. The organisation is run by a small executive staff operating from offices on board HMS BELFAST in the Pool of London. The staff visits Royal Navy and Royal Marines establishments and units throughout the United Kingdom on a regular basis to provide support, guidance and advice in the form of presentations and personal interviews. Strategic direction of the work of The White Ensign Association is carried out by the Chairman and Council of Management. The staff work in close consultation with a panel of selected professional advisors.

 

Employment Services – One of the White Ensign Association’s charitable objectives is to help those who are leaving or who left, the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Royal Fleet Auxiliary, their Reserves, and dependents, into successful second careers outside the Service. The Association achieves this objective in a number of ways: through the provision of individually tailored advice to every Sailor, Royal Marine, or dependent in areas such as networking, job hunting, industry intelligence, CV writing, interview preparation, and package negotiation; by means of a network of commercial partnerships with organisations that either require the skills, experience, and behaviours that can be found in the Service or that wish to help our Veterans; and by promoting our Industry Partners within the Naval Service community. We also have a large network of advisors and mentors who provide further assistance.

 

 

Skills, Trades, Specialisms & Behaviours. There are skills, qualifications and experience to be found across the Royal Navy and Royal Marines communities that are in very high demand in the commercial job market. Some of these are similar to those found in the civilian world but others are unique in their nature – an example is that a great level of leadership responsibility is given to junior managers and leaders in the Service at a much younger age or earlier stage than would normally be found elsewhere. A newly commissioned Royal Marines Commando officer, for example, will often lead a Troop of up to 30 people, many of whom will be much older and more experienced than they are, at the age of 19 or 20 years. A Royal Navy Engineering Petty Officer (mid-level manager) may have responsibility for a team of up to 12 engineers, responsible for vital work on surface ships, aircraft, or submarines, in their mid-twenties. This early leadership experience and the associated ability to take responsibility and work under pressure make our people excellent prospects for any employer when the time comes for them to leave the Service.

Examples of the specialisms that can be found are:

  • Leadership
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Logistics
  • Medical Doctors
  • Management
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Supply Chain
  • Nurses
  • Strategists
  • Aircraft Engineering
  • Transport
  • Physiotherapists
  • Planners
  • Nuclear Engineering
  • Fuels
  • Remedial Therapists
  • Operations
  • Weapons Engineering
  • Warehousing
  • Dentists
  • Trainers
  • Software Engineering
  • Facilities Managers
  • HR
  • Engineering
  • Port Operators
  • Mental Health Professionals
  • Pilots
  • Accountants
  • Telecommunications
  • Payroll
  • IT
  • Cyber Security
  • Project Management
  • Learning & Development
  • Policing
  • Coaching & Mentoring
  • Welfare Workers
  • Carpenters
  • Metalsmiths

 

 

Who We Help – The WEA currently assists c1000 clients annually across the breadth of our charitable work. We give presentations at least three times annually in all Royal Navy and Royal Marines bases in the UK and overseas. Our Employment Services clients across the active network number in the thousands, with those seeking in-depth assistance at anywhere between 250 – 350 per year. There are usually between 200 – 250 active job seekers on our database, with a monthly turnover of between 25 and 40. We currently have more than 8700 followers on LinkedIN and our Industry Partners can advertise on our website jobs page, blog and quarterly Newsletter. For further information about Employment Services, or the WEA’s wider charitable work, please visit our website or contact the Director of Employment & Finance, Dom Hill on 07827885514 or at Dom.hill@whiteensign.co.uk