There are few places an applicant can be faced with so many potential career choices as joining the Army. Then there are the prospects when you leave the army. Getting paid to achieve qualifications and gain experience is something quite rare. Very high levels of attainment can be had in an Army career, from engineering degrees to becoming a general, it is up to you what you make of it. Here are a few.
Medicine
British Army medics are amongst the best trained and equipped in the world, the training you would receive would boost your knowledge and skill set to make you extremely employable (not to mention helpful!).
Doctors, paramedics, EMT staff, surgeons, pharmacists, dentists, nutritionists, and radiologists are only some of the options available. If you have existing training in these fields, it can be worth looking at the financial incentives to take your training further.
Bursary schemes are available for those still in training or university, providing a monetary incentive to complete training and spend at least three years in service afterwards. Given the cost of medical school, this can be a fantastic way of having a much reduced or non-existent debt, unequalled training and massive experience at a younger age than any of your peers.
Training and serving with the British Army as a medic opens doors to any number of careers, from specialist surgery to nutrition to disaster relief and humanitarian response.
Pay is equivalent to that in civilian life but with much reduced living costs; substantial bonuses are available and rewards galore.
Engineering
The British Army has a well-deserved reputation for engineering ingenuity and excellence. The Corps of Royal Engineers (known as Sappers) goes back to 1716 and has supported combat troops ever since. In conflict and disaster relief, the engineers build bridges and roads, secure water and electricity supplies, build communication networks, bomb defusal, diving, the list goes on (they get to blow stuff up sometimes as well).
They are the backbone of a successful Army operation, keeping logistics and supplies running. Without the engineers, nothing would work. Trained as soldiers as well as mechanics and engineers, they are multi-role experts who can handle complicated and difficult tasks in the middle of the worst conditions possible.
A substantial number of skills can be learned in the Engineers, starting with combat training and moving to explosives handling, bridge building, fortification and even driving speed boats. The potential for future employment could hardly be higher. A richly rewarding and challenging career, a spell with the Engineers will gain you a trade, no matter where you are.
Infantry
A chance to see the world and get paid for it, while learning valuable skills that will set you up for the rest of your life? The British Army infantry are currently based all over the world in combat, peacekeeping, and disaster relief. Renowned as some of the best fighters on Earth with some of the best technology to hand, the modern British infantryman or woman is a formidable foe but an even better friend. The camaraderie of the Army is hard to beat, and friends made here will be made for life.
Specialisation in a range of fields can be undertaken alongside your ordinary training, all of which open doors to further promotion and careers after you leave the army. Pay is reasonable and costs are low, travel is usually free.
Officer’s Corps
If you have a good set of A-levels or equivalent qualifications, how about considering becoming an officer? Training at Sandhurst, one of the world’s most famous (and rightly famous) officer training schools, you’ll get the skills and qualifications to lead and organise soldiers and staff in any number of challenging situations.
An opportunity to travel the world, see beautiful places, gain respect from the men and women in your command, prove yourself and challenge yourself. Where else do you get the opportunity to do that?
The potential for promotion goes right up to general, so you could end up commanding entire armies or advising the government on strategy. If that is not for you, there are endless opportunities to use your hard-earned management and leadership skills in Civvy Street. A career as an officer in the British Army is one of the most impressive and sought after qualifications on a job application form, and officers have gone on to scientific research, government, humanitarian causes, teaching and more. The sense of confidence and capability that Sandhurst and the Army will give you is impossible to attain any other way.
Support Roles
If you can do it in Civvy Street, the Army can find a use for you. From logistics to statistics, Army support roles give you combat training, qualifications and enormous satisfaction at a job well done. When your job literally means the difference between life and death, nothing compares to the feeling of getting it right. Gain qualifications and confidence, not to mention new skills, and make yourself incredibly employable in a few years of well-paid work.