An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 27 can apply those skills to any other job. While you shouldn't underestimate your value to prospective employers, hon- esty is essential in declaring your competencies: you can either do the job or you can't. Everything is based on ability, so even if you step in at the bottom rung, people will see your skills and your reputation will grow…there is no ceiling as a civilian."Regarding prospective employers Danny cau- tions that IT skills are one thing that will be looked for in most types of job. One the biggest riddles facing soldiers transferring to civilian life is how to turn a lifetime of military experience into a CV that can be understood by civilians. Danny's best tip for this is "to civilianise the skill set": don't focus on the course you did, but on the skills and core competencies that you got from it. Explain the extensive training you received: while companies may not know what an NCO course is, they will understand if you explain that it involved over 20 weeks of leadership training that focused on problem- solving, delegation, teamwork and instruction in a high pressure environment. Likewise, a heavy machine gunner has shown himself or herself to be mechanically proficient. At the end of the day, we're all trained to be motivated and have a high level of initiative. Almost all NCOs are top-class instructors that can outperform the majority of their civil- ian counterparts because they are capable of delivering lessons on anything in a structured and focused manner, maximising the transfer of knowledge to the student. Finally, he suggested keeping the CV short, no more than a couple of pages and always make the effort to hand- deliver it, even if you're still required to complete one of the online or digital versions. Treat the delivery of your CV like a mini-interview; present yourself well and make a good impression. One course that is on offer to help with this and will be covered in a later issue, is the Pre-Retirement Course. It's a couple of days long and covers CV preparation, pen- sion and tax entitlements as well as how to maintain the all important social contacts through veteran organistaions. Run by the PSS, it brings in civilian experts to help with the transition process. Danny explained the intricate and multi-layered approach his company takes to providing security, how what consti- tutes a threat has evolved over the years to require special- ists in subjects that range from the physical to the digital. He said that many of these civilian experts are ex-soldiers who focused their energy on educating themselves in these specialist areas and are now gainfully employed. However he also admitted that nobody can be an expert in all these wide-ranging fields, which begged the question; "How do we identify our weaknesses in the civilian workplace?" It would have been all-too easy for others in a management position to claim they know it all and make the subsequent mistakes which would have cost their own employment or contracts. Danny's answer was simple; "The DF gives a rounded education but, there's a saying which can be summed up as 'always surround yourself with people who are smarter than you'…, so I always ask who can do that better than me." Danny's successful transition to the civilian jobs market has lessons in it that every member of the DF can apply to the next stage of their professional life. One overarching fact that emerged from speaking to Danny is that regard- less of his business experiences, he still has an attitude that is unique to the military. His extensive DF experience has created a core set of values that he uses and recognises on a daily basis to improve his life and business; "When ever I'm asked, I still introduce myself as a former soldier - I'm proud of it." If you have any tips or suggestions for serving person- nel who are about to enter the civilian jobs market, from CV tips to tax entitlements, email them to: magazine@ military.ie. We'll compile them on a monthly basis for the rest of the year and publish them on www.dfmaga- zine.ie as an exten- sion to this article. Remember that there is a com- munity of former DF members out there and many of them are more than willing to give advice, including Danny, whose door is always open. Danny on deployment in East Timor. The company has grown from strength to strength. Here are members of his team with the Taoiseach Enda Kenny in the Middle East. The instructional skills that the DF gave him are just one of many that he took with him when he left.

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