If you couldn’t make Pathways into Tech 2024 (PIT24) at Google Academy, London, grab the top takeaways in this must-read article. The day’s event will be revealed, providing help and advice if you are looking towards the tech sector for your next career.
This event welcomed over 120 delegates from the whole Armed Forces Community, including Service leavers, veterans, reservists and family members! The room was full of great energy and had many questions for our SME panels throughout the day!
We hosted the following themed discussions:
- Cyber security
- Data roles
- IT Infrastructure
- Software development and programming
- Tech-enabled careers
In this article, we distil what top tips and experiences each of our 29 speakers had to say. Many as veterans themselves. As well as unveiling what a typical day was for them in each sector, our panellists gave their own experiences of leaving the Armed Forces; some having left only months prior… and how they translated their military skills into ones that businesses need and want.
Opening speeches at PIT24
In the opening speeches, we heard that many roles are not deep tech, but all industries rely on data and tech enablers to make decisions.
Mark Wrightson, Vice President of Global Security and Resilience Operations at Google
A veteran himself, Mark provided the official welcome to PIT24 as host at the Google Academy, London. He welcomed everyone from an organisation who employs many staff members who are veterans and military family members and with a great network to support that.
Mark shared that the tech industry welcomes the skills that come from life in the Armed Forces which translate so well into business. He reminded the 120 present in person and on livestream, that they bring the following appealing attributes with them to roles and to keep this in mind as the day unfolds:
- Creativity
- Resilience
- The ability to handle and manage change (and the ability to adapt quickly)
To summarise, Mark left with the line to be confident in your skills, be patient and make absolute use of, and build your networks!
General Sir Richard Barrons KCB CBE ADC Gen
Sir Richard spoke about data transformation driving prosperity and growth at pace and scale. “Tech is in every element of our lives. It’s a growing sector with extraordinary opportunities. The commercial world works differently to the military. Being part of the Armed Forces shows commitment and is a powerful advantage. Bring your discipline with your head in the game. You understand how teams work and you understand how to adapt to a changing plan. All are natural advantages.”
Alex Burton, Co-Founder of Alchem Technologies Ltd
Alex described a ‘hop, skip and jump’ to find a role as it is not always a straightforward journey. “Bringing something other than leadership to the party; human insight is key. Curiosity coupled with your skills will help you stand out. Don’t pigeon-hole yourself. Think of all the roles in the industry. Look at what your core skillsets are and add that to your personal interest in tech.”
Key insights from PIT24
Here’s a collection of the key tips shared throughout the day:
General
- You don’t need to be a tech expert – just understand the background. Stakeholder management and communications skills were common strengths of our panellists.
- Network! Massively repeated throughout the day. We all hate it but it gets easier. Keep it current too and continue to keep conversations going.
- Every company/organisation ‘do’ their tech differently – find the theme/approach that works for you. Same for cultures – all are different and so find one that works for you (again, networking!).
- Imposter syndrome, that feeling of fear is completely normal… and doesn’t change necessarily either. You just learn to deal with it better.
- Use LinkedIn! Connect with people in your key areas of interest. Ask them questions. If they are veterans themselves too – they will be happy to help you!
- Sell yourself. Do your homework, get your elevator pitch ready, demonstrate what you can do with a bias for action.
- It’s important to have a plan. Practice your pitch and know what you bring to the party.
- Don’t let people tell you what you can’t do.
CV specific
- Need to market yourself/find your gaps? Go and pick 10 JDs of jobs you like/want. Highlight the top skills, crib those top points into your CV. Keep it clean and simple.
- Make sure you use the key words in the JD/essential criteria in your CV/applications as some filter using AI before your CV even gets to a human.
- Get someone you trust to help you with a 360 degree summary on your key skills.
- Use the CTP/Forces Employment Charity advisors to help ‘translate’ your skills to mainstream industry in your CV! Many have travelled the same path as you and get it.
- Make sure you add what makes you stand out differently. Add your top task in each job/project that you’ve worked on and use those to promote yourself.
Help with JD translation
- You need to try and make your fit clear with your employer. Be clear in examples of ‘how’ you can achieve the bulleted list on the JD to make it easy for an employer to know you can do the job.
- Don’t take the JD as ‘the’ list – add what you can do to add value to that role as sometimes the employers ‘think’ they know what they need and could value additional insight.
And remember — you don’t have to land perfectly in your first job! Many of our speakers spoke of getting two or three jobs before they found their most current, dream job. You never know what one role can lead to. Keep the networking going and stay curious.
Forces Employment Charity Chief Executive, Alistair Halliday adds his reflections from PIT24:
“What a fabulous event! I was struck by the quality of the speakers and panellists – all real experts and all keen to impart their knowledge of the sector – and the enthusiasm of all the Service leavers, veterans and spouses who got so much out of the day. Tech is an exciting sector, evolving all the time, and it is clear that it will suit so many of our clients who have the skills and experience to really thrive in it. Huge thanks to Google and our partners for helping us put this on”.
Employers at PIT24
We also had 11 employers there on the day. All promoted their intent in the ‘marketplace’ to employ members of the military community. Delegates had an informal opportunity to explore organisational cultures, ask those burning key questions, and gain greater insights into roles available and entry requirements—all under one roof!
- Google (as our host)
- Vantage Data Centers (our silver sponsor)
- Bank of America
- Amazon
- Expedia Group
- Royal Mail
- Roke
- Xero
- NHS Step into Health
Our employment pathway events are part of Op PROSPER funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust and designed to support the military community at all levels across the four nations. UK companies, dedicated to helping veterans overcome the challenges of transitioning to civilian life, make these initiatives possible.
Your top 5 reasons to attend a Forces Employment Charity pathway event:
- Explore the wide range of roles available in each themed event and sector – including those areas you may not have considered. This includes if it is to rule a particular part of industry out!
- Hear from hiring managers and military pathway leads and build valuable connections – understand the value that your transferrable skills bring to employers
- Find out the difference between each organisation, the timelines for each of their programmes (if they have one), and which suits you best
- Hear from those already in civvy street careers and what their learning points have been
- Know what to do next – be clear on your next steps and how to make use of our career consultants at the Forces Employment Charity to spring yourself forward!
Who can attend our employment pathway events
- Veterans
- Service leavers
- Reservists
- Military families (spouses/partners and young people)
Missed London’s event? Living in Wales, or the South West?
We are holding a regional employer marketplace and networking evening from 1800-2000 hrs on 28 November 2024 in Newport, Wales where we are working in partnership with Vantage who will be hosting the event.
Register to join in person where you will be able to explore roles available with up to 12 different employers from the tech sector. All of which have a presence in Wales or South West of England.
