Mindset of a Forces Leaver

In a previous blog post I mentioned a guy I was working with during my resettlement period; he had re-joined the RAF as he couldn’t get a job in ‘civvy street’. I strongly believe his biggest problem was his own thought processes; they were based around ‘What can the world offer me’ as opposed to ‘What can I offer the world’.

If you relate to the former, then you have two options. Work on changing your mentality to the latter or quite simply, stay in the forces. If you leave with the belief the world is there for you, waiting to offer you everything you desire you’re fucked!

My advice would be to be look at your skillset, not just formal qualifications but mindset, attitude, common-sense etc. These are all things you can offer the world and in return the world will reward you for it…that’s how it works.

Personally, I found the transition from forces to civvy street liberating. I wanted the freedom to do what I wanted without being tied to large organisation that looked after you with one hand but ruled over you with the other. And this is my point…

Once you leave the forces you can do whatever you want but this comes at the cost of losing the safety blanket that a large government organisation offers. This is both liberating and shit scary at the same time!

For me, a key part was to focus on my mindset. I strongly believe that the ‘What can I offer the world’ mindset is where you want to be. Personally, I don’t care what my job description says, to me it’s simple…make your bosses/customers life easier, not more difficult. Providing you’re not endangering yourself or others, just do as you are told without whinging or moaning about it.

Don’t get me wrong, employment is a two-way relationship, it works both ways. If you’re not getting what you feel you deserve, then explain how you feel to your boss (the art of negotiation) and together come up with a plan to improve things. If your employer can’t - or won’t - change then (unlike the military) you have the freedom to go somewhere that will.

My point here is that these benefits are earnt, not given to you. You only get out what you put in. If you’re not pulling your weight, then why would you be promoted, given a pay rise or be invited on the company away day?

I’ve seen this first hand with people who I would describe as over entitled. They hide behind their job descriptions and employment terms to get out of doing work. They drag out tasks (in some cases request others to do the same) so that managers think tasks take longer to complete. This is a great example of a ‘what can the world offer me’ mindset and ultimately these people go nowhere. They’re not prepared to sacrifice anything without instant gratification. They go out of their way to make their managers life more difficult; so guess who’s first on the list when redundancies come around?

So as a forces leaver you get to choose your civilian mindset; I urge you to pick ‘What can I offer the world’; just try it and see how you get on. Commit to it for 2-years and everyone else will be wondering why you’re getting the perks or being promoted over them. In extreme cases you may find that colleges complain to managers or trade unions about it, deeming it unfair (trust me, I have first-hand experience of this!). My advice…Fuck um’ let them moan! Focus on yourself and progress under your own merit, it’ll all be worth it in the long run. This I promise you!

If you’re leaving the forces and thinking about a job in the railway please get in touch with me, I’m more than happy to answer any of your questions. Just send me a direct message on LinkedIn.

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