REPRESENTATIVES from over 80 leading British businesses met with more than 275 ex-military personnel at a national Employment Fair hosted by the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) in Edinburgh.
With more than 14,000 people leaving the UK Armed Forces every year, employers, Service leavers and veterans came together to network and plan for their futures. There were in excess of 1,000 job opportunities and career pathways available on the day and the one-day event gave exhibitors the chance to promote their brand and showcase the careers they offer.
Employers attending the Edinburgh event represented a wide range of sectors including construction and engineering, healthcare, finance, transport and logistics, energy and renewables, and many others. In attendance wereSub Sea 7, Scottish Government, British Gas, Centrica, Ocean Winds, Barclays, BAE Systems, DXC Technology and many others.
Many of those who leave the Armed Forces are highly driven and ‘work-ready’ but need support in weighing up their options to find the next suitable career pathway. Service leavers and veterans typically offer businesses exceptional technical skills and also power skills such as communication, commitment and teamwork.
Susie Hamilton, Scottish Veterans Commissioner, attending, said: “Service leavers bring so much to the workplace; many have valuable technical skills and qualifications, but all have amazing teamwork, leadership and communications skills that are second to none. We all recognise that our Service people are some of the best employees in the country and when they transition from the military to become veterans, they take those qualities with them into the civilian workplace and make absolutely brilliant employees.
“Our Service leavers deserve the opportunity to reach their full potential in the civilian world and events like the CTP Employment Fair are a great way to help facilitate this.”
The CTP resettlement programme has a high success rate in matching up Service leavers with new opportunities. Over 96% of the UK Service leavers transitioning via the CTP and seeking employment are settled into a new civilian job role within six months of leaving the services.
Adrian Peters, Operations Director, CTP, said: “The UK employment market currently offers a high number of job vacancies across all sectors, but many businesses struggle to find the right skills to match their roles. These are favourable conditions for Service leavers who offer extensive transferable skills but can often find leaving the forces to be a daunting experience; and so, they appreciate any support and guidance that can be offered by employers to ascertain their next move.
“Support structures like the CTP enable veterans to showcase their skills to employers and seek suitable opportunities, whether that’s through training, career transitioning, or redeployment. It’s reaffirming to see that so many Service leavers and employers attended our Edinburgh event. We hope to hear of many success stories in follow-up to the event and for those who couldn’t make it, there will be similar employment fairs taking place across the country throughout the year.”
CTP is a partnering agreement between the Ministry of Defence and Right Management. Ltd, the global career and talent development expert within ManpowerGroup. It provides resettlement services for those leaving the Royal Navy, Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Marines regardless of time served. CTP has been the official provider of Armed Forces resettlement for 25 years, helping 250,000 Service leavers make their move into civilian life.
Subsea 7, one of the employers present at the Edinburgh event, said: “This was a well organised event and we met with many interesting Service leavers with a wide range of backgrounds and skill sets. We have a number of veterans already in our organisation so we know the benefit hiring from this talent pool brings.”
The next CTP Employment Fair will take place on 18th May in Salford, Greater Manchester. To find out more or for further employment fair dates in other UK regions throughout the year visit the CTP website.
