Part yearbook, scrapbook, roll of honour and reunion, ‘Our Story’ means that the tale of the Harrogate Army Apprentices will never be lost – and a good thing too. Every page is filled with rich camaraderie and banter and is a genuine and heartfelt piece of nostalgia for a bygone age and a branch of the Army that turned callow inexperienced lads into men ready to serve.

The fun and japes were obviously an important aspect of life to balance the apprentice’s hardworking, no-nonsense existence. It says a great deal about the character of the lads involved that they were able to receive cross-words and kindness equally and unflinchingly.

What also comes across in these pages is the reward of opportunity. The apprentice’s seem to have grabbed it all with both hands and excelled at competitions in football and boxing in particular. Perhaps the strength of the lads’ unity is still on show here. All ranks are heard and clearly sing with one voice.
The book also contains a great gem from Colonel N.A.C Croft DSO, OBE, MA (Commanding Officer 1957 – 60) that could be written into every resettlement guide: “To all Apprentices I say ‘Go flat-out in all you do’ yours is the opportunity of a lifetime and yours is the age to learn.”

The New Dover Road campus will open its doors to wounded, injured and sick ex-Service personnel in the South East to help with their rehabilitation. They will be given the opportunity to gain qualifications that will make them more attractive to prospective civilian employers.

The scheme will be one of Canterbury College’s first contributions to the recently signed covenant that aims to foster closer relationships between soldiers, their families and the communities in which they live and work.

The idea was first discussed when Lieutenant Colonel Paul Meldon, Commanding Officer of the Personnel Recovery Unit, gave a presentation to College staff in February.

Lt Col Meldon spoke about his unit’s work resettling soldiers in Kent, and discussed the possibility of Canterbury College’s inclusion in its soldier rehabilitation programme. He explained that including Canterbury College’s courses into the Army’s rehabilitation programme would benefit ex-Service personnel by broadening the support systems available to them.

The talk was followed by a discussion that also included members of the Canterbury based 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, Unit Careers and Welfare representatives and the Commander of Medical Services for the Kent region.

Canterbury College hopes to begin providing courses for rehabilitating Army personnel in the near future.

The College made history in January this year by becoming the first further education college in the UK to sign an Armed Forces Community Covenant with the commanding officers of the Army regiments based in Canterbury.

A top maritime security company has been shortlisted for two prestigious business awards.

Eos Risk Management, is a finalist for the International Trade Award in the Sentinel Business Awards and the Queens Awards, which recognise achievements in international trade.

The double nominations are a boost for the company, which is already acknowledged as one of the top 10 global maritime security, consultancy and training firms. Eos is being recognised for its hard work and efforts both overseas and locally and the awards signify the company’s strength and growth.

Director David Johnson, who presented at a UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) meeting last week, said: “We are delighted to be finalists.

“The International Trade Award celebrates the fact that of Eos’s combined annual turnover, over three quarters of our business is overseas. We are proud of our achievements and our international work but also remain committed to the local community. In addition to the awards, it’s an exciting year for us with brand new training facilities being established, new courses planned and gaining increased market share.”

He said Eos was also going for several quality standards and process accreditations this year to run alongside its phenomenal growth.

The Sentinel Business Awards are sponsored by UKTI and the European Regional Development Fund. Winners will be announced on 27 March at Kings Hall in Stoke on Trent.

Winners for the Queens Awards for Enterprise, highly prestigious awards for outstanding achievement by UK businesses in the categories of Innovation, International Trade and Sustainable Development, will be announced on 21 April.

Eos is securing new contracts overseas on a weekly basis and also train more than 800 candidates each year. Founded six years ago to help ex-Military personnel make the transition into the security industry, the company diversified into supplying the services of fully-trained operatives as well.

Their new Vessel Protect Officer course, unique to industry and recently approved by the MoD, is set to see training take-up increase further and overall and they are predicting a 50% increase in business this year.

www.eosrisk.com

It’s now 30 years since the Falklands Conflict started. Do you try to forget what happened or do you try to keep it in your memory?

In all honesty, I don’t. It’s a case of ‘it happened’: it’s like a lot of things. It’s not what happens it’s what you do about it that counts. If you dwell on the past and if you dwell in the worst part of your life then that’s all you ever do: go back to the worst part of your life. That’s how depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder takes hold.

There’s an awful lot of accepting that things happen. The Americans sum it up in a simple little adage: ‘shit happens’. It’s blunt; it seems coarse but it encapsulates it all. It’s the way you’ve got to look at it. If something bad happens, it happens; don’t dwell on it forever, and that’s the way I look at it really. It was a terrible, terrible moment of my life but I don’t dwell on it. I don’t spend my whole time thinking ‘oh my goodness, why did this happen to me’? Why shouldn’t it happen to me? What makes me so special that it shouldn’t happen? There are accidents and incidents in life. You’re born with what you’re born with. For instance, you know that I was born with the God-given grace of being Welsh. It could have been so much worse: I could have been born English!

FRS Managing Director, Graham Brown, said “We are delighted to reach this milestone  -especially as many recruitment consultancies have struggled in the recent economic climate”. Brown went on to say “it is the perfect way to round off  our 10^th anniversary celebrations – which will also see the opening of further new offices and a new website too meet the needs of both clients and candidates as the most recent round of Military job-shedding starts to impact “.

The Cambridgeshire based Forces Recruitment Services network has bucked the trend – opening 10 new offices during  2011 to build a network of 24 U.K. wide locations with a further eight planned for 2012.

The 1,000th placement was made by Central London Regional Director, Jeff Prince, who sourced Neil Viveash, an Ex-Royal Engineers Staff Sergeant into a role as Group Facilities Manager for a Serviced Office Group client.

Starting his new career Neil  thanked Jeff, and all at Forces Recruitment Services, commenting that   ”the professionalism and understanding extended to me made me feel that he truly understood not only the job but also my needs – and worries – as an ex-Serviceman”  -  testament to the dedication of Forces Recruitment Services commitment as THE Recruiter of choice for ex forces personnel.

The placement came as part of a recruitment drive instigated to help and support ex-Servicemen and women through the MoD’s current redundancy phase – 4,200 job cuts in a second round of Armed Forces redundancies as part of the strategic defence and security review.

Forces Recruitment Services’ Director of Finance & Corporate Affairs, Alan Cawthorne, added: ” The long term commitment and investment of both ourselves and our network of franchised regional directors not only bucks the doom and gloom post- banking crisis trend for our own businesses but also demonstrates that commercial employers are increasingly waking up to the pool of transferrable ex-Military talent we have on tap”.

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teams from some of the country’s leading employers are set to battle it out to become the ‘apprentice team of year’ in a new two-month challenge launched at Dorney Lake yesterday.

The Brathay Apprentice Challenge will pit eight teams of apprentices against each other in a range of challenges designed to test young people’s business acumen, team work and even physical endurance.

On 29th March 2012, the British Forces Resettlement Services, known as BFRS, will hold their fifth Career Transition Event in Catterick. The second round of redundancies announced by the Ministry of Defence will result in 4,200 job cuts as a result of the 2010 government Strategic Defence and Security Review. This event is being held to help service leavers and those who will be leaving imminently find a new career on Civvy Street.

Jo Pickard, BFRS Events Manager, comments: “The event gives Service leavers a head-start in making the transition back to civilian life. BFRS aims to help those connected to the Forces understand their options, identify their skills and make themselves as attractive as possible for their next steps into civilian life.”

With National Grid as the event’s corporate sponsor the event is being supported by Hambleton and Richmondshire District Council. Local MP, Julian Smith has confirmed his attendance, and with the Northern Echo and BFBS Radio as media partners, it is anticipated that the event will be the most successful to date. Exhibitors include Civvy Street (Royal British Legion); Automatic Weapons Establishment, Makro, the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust and Pitman Training Group.

Additionally, the event includes free workshops on thinking of starting your own business, and what employers are looking for. There is also practical CV writing support. There will be training providers, recruitment firms, franchise opportunities, service providers and specialist advisers available at the event.

BFRS founder Harry Dean says: “Ex-Forces personnel possess a unique combination of highly developed skills and qualities. They go on to develop successful second careers, proving in the process to be tremendous assets to the organisations they join. However, the actual transition process from military to civilian life can be daunting. We are totally committed to ensuring that this transition process is effective, which is why we are investing in reaching Service leavers in a number of ways”.

Full details of the event and workshops are available at www.bfrsevents.co.uk

Most people believe in justice: in that wrongdoing must be punished and that good deeds should somehow be rewarded. So what happens to a person when that ‘cosmic’ law is  broken and the system collapses?

Bill Shaw’s account of his wrongful arrest is a record of his survival in three of  Afghanistan’s most notorious prisons whilst awaiting trial. What is incredible is that Shaw never even had the certainty of light at the end of the tunnel. Seemingly, never given a straight answer Shaw had little or no idea when his court case would be heard and whether it would be dealt with to anywhere near the professional standards of the British justice system.

SkillsActive, the sector skills council for active learning and leisure, is organising a special employment and training fair for veterans those looking to leave the Armed Services. The event offers much needed support to the Armed Forces as the Ministry of Defence has this week announced 4,200 job cuts in a second round of Armed Forces redundancies.

The Fair, to be held at Surrey Sports Park, in Guildford, Surrey, will be held on Thursday 8 March 2012, marking the start of SkillsActive’s Change Gear programme.

The Change Gear Programme is designed to offer specific career change support to ensure those leaving the Services are empowered to make informed decisions about the opportunities available to them in the sport, health and fitness, outdoors, play work, health and beauty, and caravans industries.

The job market is tough right now. In fact, it’s always been tough and it always will be. What you need is a reputable expert on the matter to help you to get through it. Recruitment Agencies can help.

You may well have spent the best part of your adult life in the Forces. This is no bad thing but it will mean, particularly if you joined up straight from school, that you have little or no experience of finding a job. Fortunately, recruitment agencies can help to give you the best possible chance in the job market, that even on a good day, can be tough.

Recruitment agencies literally represent you in the job market. Normally a candidate would approach them with his or her CV for an initial assessment and some idea of the type of jobs or sectors they’d like to work in or feel that they would be best suited to. After the agent has had a little time to reflect and collect a few rough ideas together they will usually invite you in to their office for a chat along similar lines. It’s worth making every effort during this time to look and act professionally. The agency has a reputation to protect and will be reluctant to put forward a candidate that might jeopardise that by embarrassing them. The face to face meeting is literally a chance for them to measure you up and to some extent work out how you’d ‘present’ at interview.

Selecting an agent

It won’t be too high pressure, particularly since they’ll realise your position as an ex Serviceperson. In fact, it’s a much more equal partnership than you might think. If you don’t like the agency or the way you’re treated you could choose to appoint another agency to represent you. Although there are (relatively) few jobs and (relatively) many candidates, agencies like to play a numbers game and can’t afford to lose a good candidate with the skills they know your military background will have given you.

At the end of your face to face meeting the agent will usually register your details and ask you about any specific jobs and sectors you’d like to try as well as equally those you’d prefer to avoid. This is a good time to mention any issues, problems or barriers that you know of regarding specific choices. If you have a phobia towards clipboards for example, don’t become a warehouse manager. Your agent will also be able to advise you on the availability of jobs in your ideal sector or if you’re struggling to make a decision advise you on jobs they think your skills and experience make you suitable for.

Recruitment agencies that have established themselves in a sector or geographical area will be able to give you the inside track on what’s happening in their part of the job market. Similarly, businesses will probably already know who they are, how they operate and the types of candidates that they put forward. Their brand, in effect could serve to get your foot in the door, assuming they’ve put forward good candidates in the past (especially if they’ve gone on to become effective employees).

Generalist versus specialist

Although the big high street agencies will usually have a generalist viewpoint they may well have industry experts embedded within their offices (usually in areas like sales, factory work or construction). Other agencies that might be smaller in size may have a specialist angle. They will generally have fewer clients but because of their bespoke services be potentially more respected by their clients (the employers) who you want to get in front of. The nature of the agency you approach will become evident when you meet with them. It’s also worth mentioning that you shouldn’t have to sign up to any exclusive registration and remain free to use other agencies. It is worth mentioning to agencies which organisations your CV has been put in front of because it prevents frustrating duplication of effort.

If you’re certain that you’d like to pursue a career in a particular sector a specialist agent might be your best option. Because of their more intimate knowledge of the clients they’ll be able to match your skills more effectively to the vacancies they have. They’ll also be able to give you the best possible preparation for interview. They might even be on personal terms with the person that arranges to interview you, giving an obvious head start.

It’s true that the best agents will sometimes go to extraordinary efforts on your behalf perhaps raising an expectation of some exorbitant fee that you’ll require for their expert consultation. Actually, recruitment agencies don’t charge their candidates. They sell their services to their clients. All of the pre interview work that the agency does for you is also helpful to their clients from the perspective of filtering good candidates through to the correct sectors, jobs, even specific organisations. This saves employers many valuable man hours in selection interviewing. The only things a reputable recruitment agency might ask you to pay for would be other professional services such as CV building or personality testing (to help you make an informed decision about which sectors you might be effective in).

Options

Not all jobs are full time appointments and some are managed on a temporary basis. Some agencies may be able to put you in touch with organisations offering these types of opportunities. ‘Temping’ is a great way of getting work experience under your belt and really finding out if the job is for you. The only downside is that you’ll be an employee of your agency (and not awarded the rights and privileges of co-workers that have contracts from the actual employer) and you won’t receive pay for holidays or sick days.

Whether you choose to get into temporary, part time or full time employment, recruitment agencies provide an ideal service for anyone who has been away from the job market for any amount of time. They have specialist knowledge and up to date information to share with you. They can also be utilised before resettlement and could potentially arrange a contract to be waiting for you on your return home.

Getting the Best from Your Recruitment Agent

CV

Your recruitment agency won’t know anything about you, at least initially. Try to have a rough idea of some of the sectors, job types and maybe organisations that you’d like to work with. Make sure you target your CV towards these areas through highlighting the more appropriate skills and experiences you’ve acquired.

Be open

Recruitment agencies have knowledge about the job market that you don’t. Listen and learn in order to get the inside track on what’s going on.

Be honest

Let the agency know in advance if there are any specific things they need to know about you that could affect your employability in certain areas, ie: scared of heights, injured back or allergic to Velcro etc.

Be nice

Good candidates and bad candidates both circulate in the job market. The bad candidates get in the way of agencies doing their job and suffer the elbow as a consequence. Being a good candidate starts with treating your agent like a trusted professional and being comfortable to work with. This will surely encourage more effort on their part for you.

Be persistent

There is nothing wrong in following up with an agency, especially if they have given a date by which to do so. Following up on the phone and in person when you ‘happen to be passing’ shows interest and keeps you at the top of their mind when talking about vacancies.