Career in the Forces? (IT Related)

scorza said:
Haven't seen much mention of the Navy. Ships these days are jam packed with computers and associated paraphernalia. Plus, watching that programme on C5 about HMS Illustrious it almost seems like one big holiday cruise ;)
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Not watched that programme, but I can assure the OP that some of the navy tour of dutys are somewhat brilliant, especially when you go along to HK, singapore, seychelles(spelling? Google isnt working!)
The new ships are very cushy, with a good quality of life onboard, and then you have your fun when you get into port.
Though theres no guarantee you will be on a decent ship, norr is there a guarantee that you will be getting a decent tour, or even getting out of plymouth/portsmouth tbh.
 
peetee said:
Not watched that programme
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It was quite interesting comparing it with a similar one on board one of the big US Navy aircraft carriers. There you have some senior officer telling the cameras that the deck of an aircraft carrier is the most dangerous place in the world and no-one goes on deck without his permission. On "lusty", the senior officers put on a BBQ for the ratings on the deck, and the flight ramp was used for spectators to watch the pilots vs ship officers hockey match - on the flight deck!
 
Dont be under any illusion....that programme is attempting to show what 'life in the Navy' is all about. I promise you it shows edited clips of the best bits. It is not all BBQ's and water sports days' when on tour- did they show people lay on the floor with helmet & body armour on listening to rockets and mortars getting closer? I doubt it. Those weapons on the deck are not for fun! Dont forget that now is a tricky time for recruitment in the Military sphere- and retention is even harder- why do you suppose that is? Why are so many experienced people leaving the mob? Hmm. Food for thought.

Standard notice to leave is 12 months, but certain jobs attract 'ROS' (Return of Service for training) which often has to be completed before you can give notice.

Immediate pension is payable to people (who joined the new pension scheme)....at 18 years service and 40 years old. The old scheme was after 22 years service, but starting from age 18 years.
 
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Ive always thought of joining the raf, not sure why it seems to be a controversial career choice when you talk to people... weird.

Choosing what to be is pretty difficult, always thought of the intelligence part of raf sounds appealing, or air traffic control...

Anyone in that area?
 
pattojones said:
Dont be under any illusion....that programme is attempting to show what 'life in the Navy' is all about. I promise you it shows edited clips of the best bits. It is not all BBQ's and water sports days' when on tour- did they show people lay on the floor with helmet & body armour on listening to rockets and mortars getting closer? I doubt it. Those weapons on the deck are not for fun! Dont forget that now is a tricky time for recruitment in the Military sphere- and retention is even harder- why do you suppose that is? Why are so many experienced people leaving the mob? Hmm. Food for thought.
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with both my siblings in the navy I can assure you that its not an illusion, they do that stuff all the time, my sister used to put a deck chair out and sunbathe on the deck of the ship she was on whilst on tour etc.
Ofcourse its not all BBQs etc, but what is? Rockets and mortars??? Thats not something that happens too much when it comes to RN ships I assure you..
Its not really THAT tricky to recruite people, theres still massive backlogs and waiting lists for a lot of things in the RN, I know because iv been interviewed recently and have been deciding on career.
 
I got very close to joining both the RAF and the Navy to do aircraft engineering. The best thing I ever did was turning it down. The training is now nowhere near good enough and everyone that leaves after doing there training is practically useless on civvy street or needs re-training.

The best blokes are the ones that did 5 or 6 years, saw places in the world that they still go to and got the hell out.

The older guys that had RAF training used to be the best we employeed. The newer guys seem to have lost the ability to think for themselves.
 
Hmm. You're entitled to your opinion. I respect that.
People need to remember that the Service's recruit people to meet the Service's requirements not to suit individuals.
If your 'requirements' match those of the Service....Bob on!
If they dont match, or cease to a few years down the line...well, you leave (or get made redundant- which happens in these days of draw-down in the UK Military.....41K in todays RAF).
 
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DampCat said:
MrLOL -

Anyone who thinks they're going to join the army and come out with the knowledge to work in private sector IT is deluding themselves in the first place. It's a foundation. You dont get an A Level then know everything about an industry.

2 years in the forces is enough for an employer to attribute someone with discipline, punctuation and hard graft. That's a bigger head start than a lot of people could hope for.
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sorry but thats just not true

To get into IT, its quite common for them to start at the bottom, getting an IT juniors job, or 1st line helpdesk job (call logging basically) earning about 11k a year. You do that for a year, and then move on to something that pays better. Either internally or changing jobs. You do another job as an experienced 1st line, earning about 13-14k (actually solving problems and making a contribution to the technical workload) Then after 2 years you can progress onto something else with more experience

Trouble is, after 2 years in the forces you're still going to be on the 1st line helpdesk with about 13k a year because you've got no relevant experience. You cant go straight into server support and networks etc.. that earn the big money ( ~20k) unless you've got like 2 years experience and a proven background. These sort of jobs usually expect you to hit the ground running, and will have a long list of pre requisite technologies you must have proven experience of.

My mate left the signals with exactly this problem, and had 10 years experience in the forces, but was doing the same job as me that i'd got after a years experience.
 
I applied for ICT Specialist today. I'm booked in for the Airman Selection Test on Wednesday.

If all goes well I should be in training within 4 months.

I haven't been this excited in a long, long time (that's what she said lololololol).
 
I explained my situation regarding a previous interest in applying for a commission, that situation being that I feel that I am capable/have the aptitude to be a commissioned officer, however I do not have enough experience in management and leadership to make up for my lack of academic achievements so far in my life. I decided that even if I could pass selection, I'd prefer to be strong and competitive throughout my career, instead of being at the bottom of a huge pile of graduates/leadership experts. For those (and a few other) reasons I concluded that non-commissioned was the better choice.

I'd pretty much made my mind up on ICT Specialist anyway, however the chat really helped confirm all my thoughts and I filled out an application form there and then. Can't wait to just get started now, the waiting game is going to drive me crazy.
 
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