Professional horizons

In October 2017 a City of London livery company was asked by a unit of the British Military to put together an event on the theme of ‘through-life career planning and management’ for service personnel from the rank of Corporal and above. A pilot event was run in February 2018; from the feedback it was clear that this needed to be adjusted as the pitch was not clear enough on its objectives to resonate with the audience. With approval from both organisations, this project has undertaken rigorous research into what is required in a programme, whether it is required, whether it is possible to accomplish and if so, what form it should take.
The research took the form of a Case Study as this allowed for a complex research question to be looked at within variable environments i.e., using in-person and online interviews and an online questionnaire in a real-life context. Information was sought from Service Leavers, Service Personnel, livery company Coaches, the units’ training management via personal interview and an online questionnaire via an IT Service Provider. The results are detailed in this report; in summary these are: the universal level of dedication to the military of all the service personnel and service leavers; the different military experiences of commissioned and non-commissioned service personnel; the current ease/difficulty of through career planning; and the experiences of service leavers on their transition to a civilian career. All respondents observed that a programme of through-life career planning and management would have been of benefit to them in their military career.
This research has led to a recommendation for a new initiative that: is wider than the current programme and aims to include other industry bodies; encourages and enables retention for a full career with the military; encourages life long learning; brings wider IT knowledge to service personnel; and makes best use of technology to enable a long-term programme to be effective.