Life Experience etc
Lots of good information and opinion from people who are old enough and experienced enough to know their stuff and who don’ ‘sugar coat’ their opinions with fancy language.
Interesting to note that life experience does matter in some places, unfortunately life experience is incredibly subjective and hard to define, what MJ calls life experience will be different from what I call life experience.
I’m ex military avionics engineer with multiple operational tours of Bosnia and Iraq, I squeezed out a BEng degree over 5 years day release while working full time and becoming a father (I assume that he’s mine) in the middle of the degree. Is that life experience? I think so but my opinion doesn’t matter, the opinion that matters belongs to the people that are recruiting and interviewing. For example I might be fortunate enough to get to an interview and be interviewed by someone who has served in the military (regular or reserves) who appreciates the life experience and transferable skills that ex mil staff bring. Equally I might be interviewed by someone who has no experience of ex mil and doesn’t give a fat rats arse about military service or I might be interviewed by someone whose missus ran off with a serviceman and is now screwing them for maintenance and who thinks all ex mil are rogues who cannot be trusted.
As a footnote, I am working as a contract engineer within the MoD at the moment and I get to look at the various military resettlement magazines that offer help and advice to those leaving the forces. I noticed in the July edition of one of the magazines (Pathfinder I think) a full page advert for a well known regional TP outfit offering mentored/ tagged part financed zero to hero course. Applications are limited to those that have recently left the forces or are in the process of leaving or those that have spent time in one of the cadet forces. While it’s too late for me and I am acutely aware that no-one owes any of us a living, I do find it gratifying that there are operators offering priority to those that have served and younger people that have got off their backsides and joined the cadets.
Last edited by magicmick; 17th Oct 2012 at 09:04.