The Armed Forces and emergency services sectors include some of the largest employers within the UK job market and recruit a wide variety of graduates each year. Armed Forces recruitment is expanding. There is demand for skilled personnel, particularly in skill shortage areas such as medical services, logistics and engineering. Ads by Google Recruitment in the emergency services varies according to individual services' needs. Recent policy reform has had a great impact, introducing a range of new roles. What kind of work can I do?The Armed Forces of the United Kingdom include the Army, the Royal Navy (which includes the Royal Marines) and the Royal Air Force (RAF). Their prime task is to defend Britain, Britain's interests and Britain's dependencies. There are over 70 job types represented in the forces, including: - air crew and air traffic control;
- combat;
- engineering - including civil, marine, electrical, mechanical;
- HR, legal and finance - including administration, solicitors, chaplains, teachers and trainers;
- intelligence, IT and communications;
- logistics and support - including stores, catering and military police;
- medical -e.g., doctors, dentists, nurses, biomedical scientists, physiotherapists, environmental health officers.
- music and ceremonial.
The emergency services also cover a wide range of careers. Roles include: - ambulance technician, paramedic and emergency care practitioner;
- coastguard;
- emergency planner;
- emergency response operators;
- firefighter;
- forensic scientist;
- health and safety advisor;
- HR, administration and finance;
- media and public relations;
- photographer;
- police officer and police community support officer;
- scenes of crimes officer.
Emergency planning is a growing sub-sector of emergency services. Emergency planners liaise with all services and co-ordinate their actions in the event of an emergency. What’s it like working in the sector?- Conditions vary. You may work in a range of settings - outdoors, onboard a ship, or in a hospital, office, laboratory or warehouse.
- Depending on the role, working in this sector may involve long hours in challenging and often stressful and dangerous environments.
- In the Armed Forces, job rotation and relocation may be expected every two to three years.
- The majority of posts in the Armed Forces are now open to women, with female recruitment increasing, according to the MoD.
- The numbers of female and black and minority ethnic (BME) firefighters are increasing.
- Numbers of minority ethnic personnel in the police have increased slightly from 2007 to 2008, according to the Home Office.
How big is this sector?- 2008 figures from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) show that there are about 175,000 fully trained personnel in the Armed Forces.
- There are about 145,000 police officers in the UK, according to the Home Office.
- Fire and Rescue services employ around 50,000 people nationally.
- Figures from 2008 for NHS Ambulance Trusts in England and Wales show that there are about 17,000 qualified ambulance staff, including paramedics and ambulance technicians.
Where can I work?There are opportunities throughout the UK. There are also numerous opportunities abroad, in particular for the Armed Forces, who are deployed in various countries around the world. |
