CivvyStreet Guide to CTP Employment Fairs
Anybody that attended the recent CTP Employment Fair in Edinburgh will have seen that it was a roaring success. Wall-to-wall companies and organisations, plenty of household names and brands all turned out with one objective: to meet Service-leavers.
If you haven’t been to a CTP Employment Fair before it’s definitely worth looking up when the next one near you is taking place. That is, on the assumption that you’re interested in developing a new career with big hitters such as Zurich, Sky, Sodexo, Rolls-Royce or Barclays, who were all in attendance – or for that matter, have ambitions to work in sectors such as: IT (Cerco, Amazon), retail (Farmfoods, Aldi), aerospace (Boeing, Airbus) or logistics (DHL, Yodel). We could go on – and on, and on…
OK, so when you walk into a CTP Employment Fair it can be quite daunting; there are lots of stands, and other Service leavers buzzing around – and you might feel as if you’re slightly outside of your comfort zone – but the rewards of getting stuck into it could be huge.
Networking
CTP Employment Fairs offer you a networking opportunity that’s second-to-none. Even if you’re not quite prepared to apply for job vacancies and are still in your research stage, to be able to speak with people who are able to give
you targeted advice about your existing transferable skills – and where you might fit in, is a valuable thing. If you’ve been worrying about your employability prospects post Services, the chance to meet employers who already recognise the skills and experience Service-leavers can offer could prove to be a real head start.
As a Service-leaver you already have valuable skills and attributes so all you’ve really got to do before you turn up is a little research; look at which companies interest you, and identify those seeking someone with your skills. (Employers with stands are listed on the CTP website.) After that, it’s just a matter of pressing the flesh, having a chat and being yourself.
To be frank, you can’t lose. Even if you’ve got no idea about what you want to do next after the Forces, local CTP career consultants are also in attendance and of course are able to share their huge knowledge of the jobs marketplace with you and give you a helping hand in refining your choices.
CTP events can be found at: www.ctp.org.uk/events CTP Employment Fairs really got to do before you turn up.
