Armed Forces Week: Ex-Military Career Stories

FDM’s Ex-Forces Programme launched to support ex-service personnel and assist them throughout their transition to a successful civilian career. We recognise former service personnel have transferable skills that are crucial to a successful career in the corporate world.  Below are some stories about our fantastic Ex-Forces consultants.

Alex Rennie

Alex has been with FDM for nearly five years and is currently placed as an IT Programme Manager and Product Line Manager with a major oil industry organisation in London.  He’s responsible for delivering Salesforce applications that are used globally by the company’s lubricants Sales teams.

Alex has been involved in the Army Reserves since he left regular service and is a Warrant Officer Class 2 working for 38 Brigade Headquarters in Northern Ireland. His role, the Brigade Reinforcement Team Warrant Officer, requires him to work as a watchkeeper in the operations room and act as a Military Liaison Officer supporting UK resilience Operations. Alex is also the secretary of the United Kingdom Armed Forces Association of Cricket Officials and senior military cricket umpire.



“FDM and the client have been amazing in supporting my reserve activity by providing 10 days of leave so that I can conduct my duties.”

Amanda Scott

Amanda is a Sergeant currently serving in 154 (Scottish) Regiment RLC.  She joined the FDM Ex-Forces Programme in July 2018 where she learnt how to transfer her military skills into the civilian environment and put this into practice on client site.  With FDM’s support, the skills Amanda gained from being a Reservist have helped her progress in the IT industry and equally the skills she is learning on client site have been helpful in some aspects of her Reserve career.



“FDM has been supportive of my Army Reserves career, allowing me the time to complete my annual training. Having the support of FDM makes it easier to balance both civilian work life and my military work life. I enjoy the community feel that FDM has, it is almost like a family in the same way that you get in the military.”

Andrew Lawson

Andy joined the Army Reserve in 2019 after a 20-year career in the Regular Army, while also joining the FDM Advanced Course, which allowed him to get placed with a large organisation specialising in construction products.



“Both organisations were exceptionally supportive of my Army Reserve service. During my first year with 4YORKS, I completed numerous training exercises commanding various offensive and defensive infantry skills as well as range work conducting live firing of the Army’s most up to date weapon systems.”



As the COVID-19 situation started to escalate through March and April 2020, Andy was mobilised back into full time service with the Army to provide whatever support was needed to assist the NHS. The Battalion was allocated the task of coordinating the military contribution to COVID testing and supporting the NHS and local authorities throughout Yorkshire and the North East. He was given command of 65 soldiers whom he split into four operating platoons; each then became an individual Mobile Testing Unit (MTU). Over the remainder of his three-month mobilised service, he continued to coordinate the MTUs activities and set up mobile testing sites along the East coast from the Humber up to the Scottish border.



“It was certainly a different operation from ones I had deployed on previously to Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan but it was nonetheless incredibly satisfying to be able to add real value to the national effort.”

Sangam Rai

Before joining FDM in 2017, Sangam was working for an undersea cabling company as a Fibre Optics Technician and he was looking for opportunities that would be relevant to his degree in Computer Systems.

With FDM, he was able to secure a role with one of the UK’s leading Telecommunication and Media provider as a Software Tester. The professional and technical training acquired from the programme helped him through this process.



“I was able to manage my civilian career as a Software Testing Consultant alongside my Reservist role. It’s like working two jobs which are both different, but skills and knowledge are mostly transferable. I am able to take and additional two weeks of annual leave for the Annual Training Camp. Due to this flexibility, I have travelled overseas and trained with regular counterparts and will hopefully continue to do so in the future.”

Hiren Patel

“When I left University in 2019 with a degree in Computer Science and Maths, I knew two things; the first one was that I  wanted to pursue a career in Software Development and the second was that  I wanted to have a fulfilling Army Reserve career in the Intelligence Corps.”



Hiren has been a member of the Int Corps for about a year and his challenge was finding a company which would provide him with the opportunity to pursue a career while supporting him with his commitments in the Reserves. His role was starting to expand, and more responsibilities were being allocated to him, meaning he had to balance his Reserve commitments and his role with FDM.



“The client was briefed about my Reserve commitment and was accommodating to the demands of being a Reservist and what this entails. I am thankful that FDM has a dedicated Ex-Forces team and have offered me guidance and support throughout.”

We would like to extend our thanks to all the Veterans and currently active members of the Armed Forces. The FDM community recognises your invaluable contribution to this country and  we are all incredibly grateful.

 



Thank you,



The FDM TEAM