Financial Services isn’t what you’d expect: the view from a former Royal Marine
- I was done with it after nearly 9 years in the Royal Marines. Suddenly the cons outweighed the pros quite heavily. The question was what next? I had no idea. I had a degree in a field I didn’t want to pursue and studied for an MBA through Cranfield while serving, which also didn’t help me decide. I put my chit in and hoped I’d figure it out.
- I had a very short list of priorities; be home to see my family, earn at least what I was on in the military and do something interesting. I looked at all the typical options but quickly discounted most due to location, pay or culture.
- The key here was networking. I found a Veteran in each organisation to speak candidly to. Advice here to any service leaver is to attend all the events you can, ideally in person. I didn’t want to work in finance, it sounded boring. Networking I quickly discovered this is a well-trodden path for Service Leavers so worth investigating. It ticked that box with a good potential to grow.
- While most of the big banks have headquarters in London all have other large offices. Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, and Glasgow all have big financial sectors. I found Barclays had a huge campus not far from my home, so continued to network there. I found the working routine was good. A typical 9-5 office hours job with flexible working. Post-pandemic this is better, with even more flexibility and 40-60% office time.
- I joined the Military Talent Scheme (a 12-week placement during resettlement leave) knowing I wanted to be at Barclays and was lucky enough to be offered roles at the site. I didn’t know what the role was that I accepted, it’s impossible to get a good idea new to the sector. I jumped in and learned on the job, not too different from moving postings in the military. I learned an incredible amount very quickly.
- However, it wasn’t a great fit for me, I wasn’t fulfilled in the role. Saying you work for a bank is like someone saying they’re in the military. It doesn’t tell you anything about what they do. It’s the same in financial services; I moved to a completely different role managing programmes for technology start-ups. This was a good fit for someone with a military background; planning, leading, and negotiating, a more generalist position than a specialist. It was a genuinely fascinating role where I learned a lot, again with a great team.
- I moved again. This time for career progression and because I’d had what I wanted from the role. This time at a higher grade, arguably less interesting, but more challenging developing a different set of skills. I was also in a leadership role which I’d missed. I know once this position has run its course I can again look to move internally or, with a better CV, externally.
- I see my family a lot, I earn more than I ever could have in the military. I’ve done some interesting work with some great people. So, for me, financial services have been ideal. It isn’t perfect of course. It’s sometimes slow and frustrating, work can be tedious. I joined the Barclays military network, for some time leading it, to help my transition and support others on the same path.
- Of course, I miss the Royal Marines too. The people mainly, but also the travel and experiences. I don’t miss being sent away from my family with little say, the poor pay and conditions, and randomly being seen off!
- I started Vets Hub to advise service leavers by pointing to quality qualifications and accreditation, ideally with discounts for the defence community, to help get jobs which utilise their valuable skills and experience.
- Visit Vets Hub here: https://vetshub.co.uk/ Follow here: www.linkedin.com/company/vets-hub