Preparing for a successful transition from military to civilian life

From the training, excitement and the routine to the life-long friendships and camaraderie, army life can feel like a very difficult thing to move away from.

However, if you’ve decided that the time is approaching for you to make the break – whatever the reason – we’ve got a few tips to help you prepare.

1 . Research your options

Firstly, before you tell anyone you’re thinking about moving on, it’s wise to have some options for what you’ll do on civvy street. A great way to do this is to list your skills. Have you been on a leadership course? Have you got experience of working in logistics? What skills did you need for your role while in uniform? Make sure you add everything!

Once you’ve done this, take a look at some of the jobs available. You can do this via a simple internet search and pretty quickly you should have a good idea of the sorts of roles, employers and locations likely to be right for you.

2. Take advantage of transition training and resources

Our armed forces don’t want to let us just go out there unprepared and offer a wide range of training and reading material for anyone thinking of, or decided on, making the leap.

You’ll find ample guidance materials like this and online support from the MOD.

Talk to your superior or support services to find out what is available to you.

3. Create your CV

Once you know the sort of role you want and have a good idea of how your skills fit it, it’s time to start selling yourself to prospective employers. Your CV is the single most important toll in getting you to an interview so it’s vital that it makes the most of your unique skillset.

We’ve got some advice on how to craft the perfect CV and you should also be able to tap into support from transition services once you start going through the process of leaving.

4. Make sure you’re with the best specialist recruiters!

Ex-Mil Recruitment is run by ex-military, for ex-military. We’ve been through the process of leaving the forces ourselves and are uniquely placed both to offer you the best and most relevant advice, but also to best represent your skills and experience to employers to get you the best role.

If you want to start your search for the perfect post-service job, we’d love to hear from you.