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13th June 2023
Transitioning after a 35+ year military career
As I write this, I am still in my transition period having finally embarked on my new career with Vodafone, all whilst finishing off my last few weeks of Military service.
I joined The Royal Air Force (RAF) as a fresh faced 16-year-old wanting a career in computing. The RAF at that time had only just started to invest in computer technology, and I was encouraged to enter the communications operator trade. I am sure this resonates with most veterans, the trade at that time had nothing to do with computers, but they needed bums on seats to fill quotas! And I don’t consider using a computer application – working on computers! 😊 Fortunately for me, the trade evolved as computing technology started to dominate and replace legacy communication systems. It wasn’t however, till October 1999 that I finally got my opportunity to get my dream job as a computer systems administrator and get some real hands under the hood! Working on a deployable command and control network. I elevated myself to being one of the militaries top subject matter experts (SME) resulting in being frequently deployed into the field across a 3-year period. As a result of these deployments, I was fortunate to be recognised and awarded an MBE by the late Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in Feb 2004. Whilst being presented my award, I recall making the Queen laugh with a cheesy comment that “Some people go to war with guns and bullets, me I go with my keyboard and mouse!”, the rest of the conversation is still to this day a bit of a blur.
I have joined Vodafone Business Security Enhanced (VBSE) as a Security Specialist at the start of May ‘23, and I bring a vast amount of leadership, experience, technical skills and have settled in very quickly. The thing that I am most surprised with, is the familiarity and feel of the working environment and the people who have made me so welcome. I can already see from my early engagements across the business, I have a lot to offer in many different roles other than my own. I am excited about the prospect of career progression, development and training opportunities.
Like most military veterans preparing to leave their service, anxiety, stress and the fear of the unknown can be debilitating, and I am no exception. I agonised about what was coming, knowing I had no control and spent many sleepless nights pondering. I had no idea what role I wanted to do, other than working in the same field, but with such a diverse career spanning multiple roles, which one to focus on? I spent hours on search engines, job sites and even attended a job fair talking to many recruiters from the major employers, all of which did nothing to help me in identifying suitable roles. My main stumbling block was getting past “I know what I know and what I have done” but how is that translatable to civilian job titles and descriptions which often use language that seems foreign.
So how did I end up at Vodafone? Well, fortunately my new boss happens to be an old boss from my military days, and I was reconnected by another mutual colleague. Whilst the first role I had been signposted to had been filled, she eventually reached out a few months later with another opportunity. A catch-up meeting at Vodafone HQ in Newbury over a coffee with her and her boss, convinced me that Vodafone was the right move for me. The benefit of networking with former colleagues has definitively been of huge benefit and I cannot overstate just how important it is to reach out, you may well find opportunities there that you would never have otherwise known about. I went through the recruitment process at two companies both with former military bosses, they knew me and what I could bring to their companies and made me feel wanted, the hardest part was turning one of them down. But I know I made the correct choice for me, my family and future career aspirations.
I can say that my experience of leaving the service and joining Vodafone has been smooth and not as scary as I had imagined during all those sleepless nights. The recruiter and new bosses from the start understood my situation and what skills I would bring to the company and encouraged me throughout the process. They put me at ease, meaning I didn’t have to worry about what I didn’t know, only focus on what I do know and will bring that to the party.
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