By Charlotte Roberts, Recruitment Consultant, Engineering Trades at Escape Recruitment Services
Get in touch: forces@escaperecruitment.com
Read part 1 here
This week I attended a Scottish Engineering event with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers army reserves aka “the REMEs”. These are individuals who work in civilian roles full time whilst also attending regular training with the army and could be called up to serve for active duty.
Having recently attended an event with the Royal Army looking at the skills and experience ex-forces members have to offer I was particularly keen to broaden my knowledge further to better understand the role of army reservists and what they could bring to the employers I work with.
Here are my three key takeaways from the event:
What does it mean to employ a reservist in the UK?
- If you employ an army reservist they will work their employment contract with you and attend reservist training every week (evenings and weekends).
- As an employer you would give them leave to go train for one two week period a year, typically run during summer.
- And you would be asked to sign a covenant to pledge to release that employee if they are called up for active duty.
What training do army reservists receive?
- Army reservist trade training covers how to repair, service and inspect the Army’s vehicles, trailers and generators.
- Training is mostly done at the Army Reserve unit (evenings and weekends) with key parts of the course delivered at the Defence School of Electronic and Mechanical Engineering at MOD Lyneham, Wiltshire.
- After completing military Class 1 trade training, army reservists are eligible for professional accreditation as an IMechE Engineering Technician as well as:
- o Level 2 Award in Enhanced Employability Skills - City and Guilds
- o Levels 3 to 6 Awards in Leadership and Management
- Reservists may also gain category B and C+E driving licences depending on their exact role.
What are the benefits of employing a reservist?
- REME’s training is broad. For example on vehicles training includes everything from electrics to tires so their experience creates a broad skill set and understanding of electric and mechanical engineering.
- They are trained to do their work in a battle zone, receiving the same training as full-time members of the armed forces and so the range of soft skills they develop are also broad and comprehensive.
- A mechanic in the army for example would automatically develop leadership skills as part of their training. Communication, decision making, prioritisation, team working, these and many more become key parts of their skill-set and what they can bring to their civilian work.
If you are looking to hire or indeed are a reservist or ex-forces engineer get in touch with me at forces@escaperecruitment.com and I’d be happy to talk with you more about how we can support you with your recruitment or career search.
Get in touch: forces@escaperecruitment.com
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