Alternative Jobs for Ex Military
Leaving the military to embark on a new career path can leave you unsure of what to do next. We understand that this can be a confusing and daunting time, but with the skills you acquired during your years of service, there are so many opportunities and jobs for ex military to consider.
If you’ve reached the time in your life when you’re looking for a career change, and you’re not sure where to start, don’t worry. We’ve outlined 5 roles where you can not only use your valuable skills but make a difference in your community.
Jobs for ex military
Leaving the military isn’t easy for many people. Whether your time in service has come to an end, or you’ve had to cut your service short due to health issues or any other circumstance, returning to a civilian career can be a big adjustment and a key concern for many ex military personnel.
Depending on your role, you might have gained skills in logistics, IT, transport, engineering, intelligence, construction, or medicine.
It can almost feel like you’re starting your life all over again. Transitioning to a brand new career with different responsibilities, structures, and teams, but there are so many careers where you can use the skills you’ve developed to not only thrive but make a difference.
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Ex military transferable skills
If you served in the Armed Forces, it’s likely you’ll possess an abundance of transferable skills to help you succeed in several different careers, especially a strong work ethic, resilience, and self-discipline.
Let’s have a closer look at some of the top skills you might have developed during your service, and how they can help you find a fulfilling and exciting new role.
- Dedication - you dedicate your time and energy even under difficult circumstances.
- Communication - you’re able to communicate and engage with a wide range of people, including taking orders and following them through.
- Teamwork - whether leading or being part of a team, you understand the importance of teamwork and the value of working together.
- Work well under pressure - you’ve worked under high-pressure situations and are able to keep your cool.
- Critical thinking - you’re able to look at situations from different angles and resolve problems while thinking about the best outcome for all concerned.
- Leadership - you might have been in charge of a team of people and are able to convey orders while remaining caring and compassionate.
- Problem-solving - you’ve dealt with difficult situations and have worked out ways to overcome them.
- Training - you’re used to taking part in various training exercises to strengthen your skills.
- Competitive - you have drive and are able to take care of tasks under pressure.
- Organisation and time management - you’re used to sticking with a strict schedule while maintaining order.
- Flexibility - you can deal with change in a dynamic environment and understand the importance of remaining calm even with unexpected changes and challenges.
Many of the valuable skills, such as the ones listed above, you would have picked up during your service. These could all be transferred to fostering skills for a career in fostering, as well as a variety of other jobs.
What jobs are good for ex military?
Engineering
Engineering roles, such as electrical engineers and automation engineers, are in-demand jobs that you might have the skill set to excel in.
If you were a military engineer, you will possess a wide range of technical skills that will transfer well into civilian engineering jobs, many of which come with excellent salaries and benefits.
Education
Like military jobs, teaching or working in education is so much more than a salary. It’s a chance to shape, mould, and mentor young minds, to be a leader, and show compassion, drive, passion, and determination. It’s a mission-driven career with rules, regulations, schedules, and planning.
You’ll work as part of a team, plan lessons, stay on top of the latest curriculum and statutes, and be the best role model you can be to impressionable young minds.
Foster carer
Being a foster carer is a rewarding and life-changing career that comes with a great many joys and challenges. You are choosing to be a safe place for vulnerable children and give them a better and brighter future.
If you choose to foster, not only will you be able to utilise the skills you gained during your years of service and give a child a secure and caring home, you’ll benefit from ongoing training, 24/7 professional support, opportunities to meet with other local foster families, and excellent financial rewards and incentives. Giving you the opportunity to make a difference in your foster child’s life, use your skills, and enjoy every minute of it.
Police force
Working in the police force is probably as close to being in the military as a civilian-sector career can get. Being a police officer is a mission-oriented job where you work as part of a team to protect and serve your community. Like in the military, you can use your skills and rise through the ranks. It also offers a similar lifestyle that might suit you, as well as a plethora of benefits.
Paramedic
If you worked as a combat medical technician, training as a paramedic could be the perfect job for you. As a paramedic, you need to be able to work under pressure, have excellent people and communication skills, be a team player while still demonstrating leadership skills, and be dedicated and disciplined. All of these are key skills you would have picked up during your time in service and can be easily transferred to a new career as a paramedic.
Why fostering is one of the best jobs for ex military
The skills to foster can come easily to ex military personnel because many of the skills you picked up in your years of training and service are transferable. You need to be caring, understanding, empathetic, able to stay calm under pressure, organised, thick-skinned, flexible, compassionate, resilient, patient, and compassionate.
Children need foster care for a variety of reasons. It might be due to abuse or neglect, family dysfunction, or the child might be awaiting adoption. And while the objective is always to return the child to their parents, in some cases, that might never happen. This is why we need dedicated, caring, and skilled people, like you, to open their hearts and homes and help change the lives of these children.
You don’t even need to have experience working with children or be a parent to foster. Our ongoing training and 24/7 support will help prepare you for any situation you might find yourself in. The skills you acquired through your military service, as well as your natural abilities, will help you be the best foster parent to a child in need of a safe and loving home.
When you foster, you’ll earn generous fostering allowances, discounts, and rewards, so you can not only earn a competitive salary but use your allowances to further support and enhance your foster child’s life. The amount you receive depends on the age of the child, how many children you foster at once, the nature of the placement, and your location, but you can expect to receive between £17,555 and £28,078 per child, per year.
It can take four to six months to go through the application and approval stages to become a foster parent, including a standard six-stage fostering process. This includes your initial enquiry, a home visit, a foster care application form, an assessment, fostering panel and approval, and finally matching foster placements.
We understand that the process is in-depth and might feel overwhelming at times, but your team of social workers will be with you every step of the way and are always on hand to answer any questions you might have and support you.
Looking for great jobs for ex military? Fostering could be perfect for you
When you become a foster carer with Fosterplus, you’ll have the opportunity to use your skills to make a lasting and positive difference in vulnerable children’s lives. Together with our 24/7 support and comprehensive ongoing training, your exciting and life-changing new career can start right now.
If you would like to know more about fostering with Fosterplus, get in touch with our friendly team who would love to answer any questions you might have.
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