Students explore army careers
13th October 2022 – Tags: Uniformed Services
The Army Outreach team were at Easton College and City College Norwich this week, talking to students about the wide range of career pathways within the British Army.
Students from a range of different courses - including Uniformed Services, Construction, Sport, and Equine - heard about the different job roles available within the army.
As well as combat roles, the students were given an insight into the career opportunities available in areas as varied as engineering, logistics, medical support, intelligence and communications, HR and finance, and music.
Uniformed Services students at City College Norwich were set challenges designed to test their teamwork and communication skills, while at Easton College students from a mix of different courses participated in a practical cybersecurity exercise and a Virtual Reality driving experience.
Uniformed Services student Lauren Williams commented:
I found it helpful because I wanted to join the army, but the prospect scared me a bit. It feels a lot less like an impossible task now. I’m interested in training to become a combat medical technician.”
Babatunde Gomes, who is also on the Uniformed Services course, added:
It was interesting learning about the different roles within the army. I didn’t know there were roles in logistics, finance, and medical, and there are a lot more engineering roles than I thought. Listening to that presentation has made me want to do some more research into how I can expand my career choices.”
The colleges’ Uniformed Services courses give students insights into the skills required for the full range of uniformed services, including the police, fire and rescue, military, prison and probation service, and border force.
The courses also give students valuable opportunities to meet and learn from employers. Recent examples include a visit to HMP Wayland to see how dogs are used in the Prison Service, and emergency call handling training with Norfolk Constabulary.
Sarah Craig, Lecturer in Uniformed Services at City College Norwich, said:
The students have discovered there are a huge range of job roles within the army that they probably haven’t considered before – things like bioscience, geographic technicians, farriers, all sorts of different trades. They have also met army personnel who have worked in very different non-combat roles, a Postal and Courier Operative from the Royal Logistics Corp, a Combat Medic, and a Signaller from the Royal Corps of Signals.
The activities have consolidated the students’ teamwork and leadership skills and they have heard first-hand from an employer how important these attributes are. These are key transferable skills which are vital to working in any of the uniformed services.”