Today Paddy Butler, Deputy Head Of Membership shares his Resettlement tips and experience…
“I left the Army in April 2018 after 30 years’ service. I knew I would have to have a job, not necessarily a second career, to tide me over until the big “R”; I felt I was too young to retire and wanted to add value to my next employer. This is my first job since leaving. I applied for four positions and was offered positions at three.
As a former clerk, I was well aware of my entitlements and engaged with the resettlement process as early as 2008. This was very helpful, opened networks to tap into and gave me accredited professional recognition for my skill set.
The activities that I initially undertook were the transferring of my leadership skills. Then I went for courses that appealed to my interests. I became a TEFL 120 English teacher, after teaching Czech Republic Officer Cadets whilst on Loan Service. I also did Facilities Management, as a lot of military skills and experience transfer into this arena.
I was only 3 years into AFPS 15 and the online Pension Calculator was sufficient to calculate my entitlements. However, I did get the Forces Pension Society to perform an audit on my Award Letter post discharge. I was glad to see that all was in order.
The one piece of advice that I would give service personnel entering the resettlement phase of their service is to have a goal, evolve the plan to achieve that goal, and engage as early as possible”.
Paddy Butler, Deputy Head of Membership
Tomorrow you can hear from David Roberts, Roadshow Manager
