Some of My Most Memorable Placements
I started with Demob Job in 2008, very naive to the fact of what people ‘actually do’ in the military and how important every single person is to the operations and day to day running of each section, each regiment of the military is and how transferable their skills are to the civilian world. We specialise in ex-military engineering and technical recruitment so deal with all Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and British Army personnel within the engineering and technical sectors which ranges through to operations, health & safety, project management, facilities management, production & manufacturing, IT & Telecoms, Engineering Consultancy and many more.
I have now been in recruitment for over 11 years and there is nothing more rewarding than calling a candidate to let them know that they have a job offer, especially when you know how much they really want the job and how much of a change that this job will make to them. I really feel for people leaving, they are coming into the unknown, maybe left school and gone straight into the military, served a full career and never known anything else. It is a very daunting experience so I always ensure that I do everything I can to help people as this is the part of the role I most enjoy! Every candidate I have for an interview is coached by me so they know exactly what to expect for each stage of the process if it doesn’t progress I will look to find alternative roles or give advice where I can on what the candidate should do next.
So my most memorable placements – I can think of one straight away – He is an Ex RAF Aircraft Engineer – He went through a couple of stages for the interview process, I coached him every step of the way from what to expect through to interview tips, anything I could do to put him at ease, he had served 12 years in the Royal Air Force and joined straight from school so had never been in another job before. I called to let him know he had the job and he went silent, I heard a change in his tone of voice on the phone as he said, “thanks so much.” I asked him if he was emotional and he said: “Yes, you don’t know what this means to me and my family to know I can pay the bills.” This made me feel so good, to know that I had made such a difference in his life for his family and he didn’t need to worry about what was going to happen when he was coming out of the military!
Another memorable placement is one of my most recent candidates – He has just left the Army after serving 22 years in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) and he was the same, it is a very daunting time when you are not sure what goes on at the ‘other side’ of the fence. He had a few options but particularly liked my role because it was most suited to his Vehicle Mechanic background as it is working within the crane manufacturing industry. We went through a very lengthy process to get there but eventually ended up with the best result ever 3 days before Christmas, a job offer! This is another candidate in a long line of previous placements I have made where I know that I have really made a difference to him. He wanted to start work in January as that is when he needed an income to cover all his bills and we got there./
In summary, recruitment is a very hard beast to ride! Every candidate, client and vacancy are different. There is a lot of skill needed to make sure everything matches up, so it is like riding a roller coaster every day! One minute you are up and the next you are down but like anything in life you must take the rough with the smooth. I enjoy my job because every day is different and I love to help people, this is very much an opportunity to help everyone and to make a difference in people’s companies and in people’s lives.
If you are looking for help into your next role or are leaving the military in the next couple of months and need some assistance then please call me on 0333 344 5577 or email emma@demobjob.co.uk.
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Emma Saxton
Recruitment Consultant
