Leaving the military? What would I do differently in my last year?

I have now been out of the forces for two and half years and in that time I've started a new career and moved far away from anything I was doing previously, But looking back what would I have done differently in the final year?

To give context to those of you that have not been in the military or have any understanding of the procedures. You are required to give 1 years notice when leaving the military in the UK. This year is then known as resettlement designed to get you back into the civilian world and out of the military lifestyle. Depending on the time you have served you are eligible for certain grants and added leave in order to attend interviews, Job fairs or attend courses. As I had done 12 years my resettlement package was very good. I was granted an additional 20 days leave, I had a grant of around £500 that could be used for courses for pretty much anything as long as you could show how it would benefit you in some form of work on top of my Enhanced learning credits which I believe is 3 courses at a maximum of £2500 each these are now able to be used up to 10 years after you leave. I was also granted 4 travel warrants allowing the cost of either my train fare or the cost of my fuel to be reimbursed when travelling to any course or viewing potential accommodation. To add to all this You also have a yearly education allowance which is vastly underused in my 12 years I didn't use the allowance once nor do I know anyone that did. So the options and availability for learning in the military are vast. Each unit will also have a designated education centre they can visit for guidance and advice.

During my year I was still relatively busy with military work so I ended up pushing most of my resettlement into 2 months towards the end. This suited me as it allowed me to put a cap on the military work and then focus directly on the new path, but looking back I would have spaced this out over probably a 6 month period and used my time off for work purposes rather than just extra time off, as I was pretty set on what I was going to do and the route I wanted to take so ended up just going home and using it as an extra holiday. Great at the time but in hindsight was a wasted opportunity.

So what education would I have done and what courses. Outside of any job-specific courses as that varies for each person leaving and the chosen route. As a generic something that I wish I had done especially moving into the self-employed area is basic bookkeeping and finances. Allowing me to have a better understanding of Tax laws and what can and can’t be offset and the best ways to operate in a tax-efficient manner whilst still maintaining accurate earnings reporting so that mortgages and borrow do not become an issue. Coming from the military world you get paid what you get and the tax is all taken for you under PAYE, so I had very little understanding of the UK tax system as it wasn't required.

The next course would be on EXCEL. Something I have realised since being out is the power of EXCEL and how it could have saved me so much time had I understood how to use the vast amount of formulas and features. Since leaving it is something I have used daily and have undertaken further education to learn to use it effectively. I have also come to find this can make you an asset to a team as you can save people a huge amount of work just by knowing a few simple formulas. It is also very good for automating regular workloads and account of contacts, credentials and balances. I now use excel for my day to day tracking of personal expenses and allows me to quickly and easily see where excess funds are going. (Mainly Deliveroo or Dominoes)

For the self-employed specifically or anyone who wants to work on advertising themselves or brand, Knowing how to use Adobe software such as Photoshop, Lightroom, Premiere Pro and After Effects as well as free software such as CANVA. These allow anyone to now make highly professional content and marketing materials themselves. With more and more advertising moving to Social media this is a skill and almost a requirement for everyone to have this age as it allows to stand out or in some cases now even just fit in. This is key now to make yourself or your business stand out and it's not as hard to do as your first think. Plenty of free content to learn from your university of YouTube

The final thing I would have done personally as my writing ability is pretty weak is I would have done some further educational causes in creative writing, grammar and basic English. With things like Grammarly and spellcheck being as good as they are this isn't so much of an issue with writing documents or articles such as this, However, I would struggle without them.

This clearly doesn't take into account the particular role or career you are deciding on after leaving. These are more just general courses that can be used in many different areas and businesses. With more and more people going the self-employed and entrepreneurial route be it, Personal Trainers, Business owners, Creating a brand or joining a company full time as an employee. Having the ability to use such software as EXCEL and Adobe products effectively can make your life a lot easier and I think it's something that a lot of military personal take for granted. If I was doing it all again I would make sure I used every single penny of the grants and every single opportunity to better myself in a vast array of areas. To easy in military life to finish at 1700 then just waste your evenings.