AN event designed to help former Armed Forces personnel successfully transition into civilian employment has been hailed a success by organisers.
The Veterans Careers Day, hosted by Landmarc Support Services, demonstrated how the cultural gap between military and civilian roles can be bridged.
Hosted at Rollestone Camp in Salisbury, the event brought together veterans, industry experts and military partners. The day was made up of of practical workshops, one-to-one advice and networking opportunities, helping attendees build the confidence and skills needed to succeed in their civilian careers.
Despite veterans possessing highly valued traits such as leadership, resilience and problem-solving skills, many still face challenges when entering the civilian job market.
Across the UK, 52.2 per cent of veterans had taken a job at a lower experience level than their last role in the UK Armed Forces, most commonly because there were no other jobs available and employers did not recognise their transferable military skills.
Landmarc Pathways veterans careers day at Rollestone Camp in Salisbury. Picture: Landmarc
Barriers faced by former Armed Forces personnel
A frequent barrier is translating military jargon and experiences into language that resonates with civilian employers. Military terminology often does not align with corporate job descriptions, making it difficult for veterans to effectively demonstrate their transferable skills.
To address this, Landmarc’s veteran employees delivered one-to-one employability sessions, offering advice on CV writing, interview techniques and career pathways into roles such as Project Managers, Soft FM Leaders in partnership with ESS, Engineers and Training Area and Range Management.
One veteran said: “So much of the day was valuable, from great CV and interview advice, to finding out more about different job roles during breakout groups.”
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Another attendee added: “One of the biggest takeaways from the event was gaining a clearer understanding of how my military background and project management experience align with Landmarc’s career pathways.”
The event was also supported by military partners’ SSAFA, The Armed Forces Charity and X-Forces Enterprise, giving veterans the opportunity to learn about self-employment, business start-up support and the SSAFA transitional mentoring service.
Veterans Careers Day success
As part of the event, Landmarc also surveyed attendees to better understand veterans’ confidence in transitioning to civilian employment and to measure the effectiveness of the event.
Landmarc Pathways veterans careers day at Rollestone Camp in Salisbury. Picture: Landmarc
The results showed that 85 per cent of attendees said they felt more confident about applying for civilian roles after attending the careers day, while 100 per cent said they were more likely to explore career opportunities with Landmarc.
As a Gold Award holder under the Ministry of Defence Employer Recognition Scheme, Landmarc’s support extends beyond recruitment. The business offers guaranteed interviews to members of the Armed Forces community, including spouses and partners, reservists, cadet force adult volunteers and graduates of the X-Forces Enterprise Cadets in Enterprise programme, subject to meeting the role criteria.
To find out more about careers with Landmarc, visit their website.
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