FROM THE REME TO STANTEC WITH BFRS!
We are delighted to share another BFRS success story! Meet Neil Hulme who attended our Tidworth BFRS careers Fair in 2022 and secured a role with Stantec in February 2023.
Neil had a great British Army career in the REME and was attached to 32 Regiment Royal Artillery until leaving in January 2023.
During
the initial stages of his resettlement in 2019, Neil saw an advertisement for the BFRS 2020 Tidworth event at the local resettlement office. This was then changed to
a virtual event due to the COVID pandemic. Over the following years Neil received emails about other events.
Neil's main focus was to find out about the different companies and job roles on offer and what training options there would be, if any he may need to successfully transition.
Neil said "The virtual event was suitable during the pandemic to find out some options that were available, especially as this was at the initial stage of my resettlement so I was really just seeing what was out there. The BFRS 2021 & 2022 Tidworth Careers Fairs had a very good selection of organisations to speak to and network with, across a broad range of sectors. Some of these gave me different options to follow, many of which I hadn’t previously considered."
When attending the 2021 event Neil was there for a ‘fact finding’ mission and to explore how his military skills would transfer into a civilian career path.
At the 2022 event, Neil said as he was in his final 6 months of military service he was very much more focused on finding his next
career path and securing a position.
Neil said "In 2022 I attended the BFRS Careers Fair and as I was now in my final 6 months of military service I was more
focused on finding my next career path. It was at this event that I found out about Stantec,
this led to a job interview and subsequently a job offer."
"I have been with Stantec now since February 2023 and am really enjoying my new career!"
We asked Neil what resettlement advice he would give other member of the Armed Forces Community going through their own transitions.
Here is what he said:
- Don’t leave it all until the end of your
career to do resettlement. Use your SLC’s & ELC’s throughout your
military service to develop yourself ready for your next career. During your
resettlement, you can then tailor the training to the career you are aiming
for. The contract funded courses available through ELCAS, CTP offer very good value for
money, so make the most of these.
- Don’t put all your eggs in one basket - have a
backup plan in case you don’t get into the industry you were aiming for. I
did a couple of Health & Safety courses during my resettlement. I wasn’t
aiming at going into a full time H&S role when I left the Army, but I
thought it was a good back up option to have.
- Make use of career fairs such as BFRS and
speak to a good mixture of organisation's – you may just find one that you may
not have considered that could be a good next career for you.
Neil also said "My experience of BFRS
has been an enjoyable one. I was fortunate that I was able to attend several of
their events during my transition from the military, each event was well
represented by organisations from all over the UK.
BFRS offered great
opportunities for Service Leavers, whether that be in industries similar to a
role they did whilst serving or a different career path entirely.
At the 2022 event I
spoke to the representative at the Stantec stand. I had not previously heard
of this organisation, but they sounded like an interesting opportunity.
I
left a copy of my CV with them and they followed up a few days later. This
led to an interview, which was a generic one to see if I would be a good fit rather
than for a specific job role.
The interview went well and over the course of
a few weeks I was kept informed of the progress until I received a phone call
where I was offered the role as a Consultant.
For me, it was really was a case of ‘right time right place’ that came about from a BFRS Careers Fair!
By attending that particular event I chatted to
an organisation that resulted in my new career. I can use my engineering
knowledge and management skills with Stantec and am developing new skills in
asset management.
I’m happy to say that
my transition went well, I have been with Stantec for around 11 months now
and they are a good company to work for. They have a wide range of clients
that they work with, there is plenty of opportunities to develop and the work
is varied and enjoyable.
I’ll be back
at the Tidworth event in January 2024, only this time I’ll be the other side
of the stand as the Stantec representative." I am really looking forward to be able to give my first hand advice to other members of the Armed Forces Community that are exploring new career paths.
Neil says "BFRS provide an excellent service for Service Leavers." Below is a timeline of Neil's success with British Forces Resettlement Services.
2020 – Virtual event attendee
2021 – Attendee (Tidworth event) - Fact Finding
2022 – Attendee (Tidworth event) - Interview Secured - Job Offered
2024 – Will be attending as
an Exhibitor (Tidworth event)
My Stantec story with Graham Moralee
If you are interested to find out more about Stantec and Neil's journey make sure you register for our next Tidworth Careers Fair in January 25th!
Register Here
At BFRS we are proud of our achievements in helping the Armed Forces Community
To find out more about Stantec and the roles on offer - click here
To start YOUR successful transition into a civilian career and to register for a BFRS event - click here
