project manager

engineer

security officer

analyst

commander

UK Ministry of Defence

The working day started at 8 am when the Royal Navy working day began or after my students ceremonial duties. At the beginning of courses it would begin with welcoming my students and introducing them to myself, the section, the subject I was to deliver and the health and safety requirements of the college while in a workshop. My introduction varied with the complexity of the course and the rank of my students, from Naval Ratings to Officer students. The day would be split into 3 periods of learning with training stopping at the end of the day, normally at 4.15 pm.
When I first started at HMS Sultan the learning curve for me was steep as I had no formal training in delivering my subject to military personnel or to military standards having come from a civilian industry background. However, I soon became accustomed to the military way of life, the ethos and professionalism and learned quickly about the expectations of my employers,my students, the needs of the Fleet and the level of professionalism expected of me as an Instructional Officer charged with a duty of care to my students and my colleagues.
The Ministry of Defence were renowned for the personal and professional development of their employees and in order to meet the competence framework for a Grade D (Equivalent to a Lieutenant) Officer there were several competence courses offered to me so that I could meet the challenging demands of my work. The first and foremost course was how to deliver training to military or DSAT requirements which was rigidly structured. To assist me to adapting to the military delivery style I was offered help and given advice from my colleagues in how to meet this vital requirement as without it I could not operate within the military training environment.
Throughout my time with the Ministry of Defence I learned a great deal about myself as a professional engineer and educator and gained an even greater understanding about my students, their way of life and their experiences. I made myself approachable when they were having difficulties in learning or having problems in their personal lives that were affecting their military obligations, in effect building my coaching, mentoring and guidance counselling skills as my career progressed. All of the skills and competences I learned led me to developing excellent communication skills, not only in the manner I delivered my day to day lessons but in communicating with management and senior service personnel, guiding a meeting such as discussion about how a course should be delivered with regard to content, time constraints and the degree of skills and knowledge that should be delivered to my students and all administrative aspects.
My co workers were a mixture of civilian and military personnel, the latter changing every two years due to their Naval obligations and their own career development but with each service person that came to my section I was given the task of mentoring them in the way the section worked. Always polite, friendly and professional in manner I always developed a great working relationship with my colleagues.
Management were always approachable and it was a duty to have a career/performance appraisal annually so we could discuss career progression, strengths and areas for improvement if any existed and these discussions were always constructive. My line manager was very helpful when I had personal difficulties myself and was very flexible and helpful during one difficult period. If I could comment on the hardest part of my job it would be adapting to the constant changes and challenges that Defence brings with the changing needs of the Fleet, training within budgetry needs, although these were not difficult nor particularly hard  to achieve given the level of support.
The enjoyable part of the job for me was getting to know and relating to the many different personalities within both the Royal Navy and Army even on the social front. I was very proud to be affiliated with the Royal Navy in particular and I am also very proud to have served with the Ministry of Defence but the most enjoyable moment was at the end of a course when a student would shake my hand after passing the course and saying thank you Phill, I enjoyed my time with you and learned a lot.

I always looked at my diary to look out for my shift hours and any other tasks that had to be accomplished for that day, week or month.
      If I was working early shifts, I would get up at 0500 in the morning to get ready for shift. First thing was to report to the guard room and sign out for the keys to the Mess then proceed to duty station and be ready for work by 0600hrs.
     Between 0600-0700 hours, I had to prepare breakfast for the troops. Set up the hot plate and monitor the hot plate and replenish each dish whenever stock levels went low.
     Monitor cooking temperatures and recording readings taken at different intervals.
     Between 0800-1000 hours, I would start making preparations for the soups, main course meals and all the vegetables to be used for the day.
    Between 1000-1200 hours, cooking of all dishes for the Lunch would commence.
    Get lunch ready by 1220 and service ready to start by 1230.
    When I was not working in the barracks, I would be working along side the troops out in the field exercise practising infantry skills in shooting and cleaning rifles.
     On operational duty in Afghanistan, I would do guard duties at different guard stations working along side other colleagues and monitoring movements around our location and report any thing suspicious to duty station/guard room.
     I always worked with a team of other chefs when performing chef duties and if doing field exercises, worked along side other troops.
     I always worked along side my station manager who would give briefs on tasks to be done for the day. If I was required some where else, he would coordinate my movements and where training was required, he would coordinate all my training needs.
     I enjoyed working with a diverse group of people from different backgrounds and ages and working along side each other really improved on my team working skills and communication skills.
    I must admit it was not easy working far away from home and working in far places like Afghanistan. I would miss home and my family but we always encouraged each other and did things together to keep morale high like doing team sports, and sharing things together like a family.
     The most enjoyable thing with this job was doing my basic training in England. Turning a civilian into a soldier is not easy but with hard work and determination, I passed all my training and progressed on to do my Chef training where I successfully completed my class 3 and Class 2 training.
    I miss Army life and would do it again and again as its so challenging and full of adventure.

Worked for the MOD for 30 years, doing various roles and within same geo-region. The CS has benefits but are dwindling constantly though often still better than the private industry. Hours are 37 pw but the last 10 years, I've always needed to work in excess due to unrealistic work loads and targets, and while so many around me both civilian and military are relaxed and barley working. Therefore the management from the most senior command just will not address the imbalance - it could be amazing to work for. However, the other siginificant issue is Government policy. It prevents you achieving the objectives and targets you are employed to do. What sense is that? Daily head-wall banging to my job and told you can't or you have you have to do XYZ first. Demoralising and senseless. Environment is relaxed and based mostly on community, but you get many who are conditioned, institutionalised and so set in their ways they are part of the obstruction issues and believe funding or authority is theirs and not the publics. You would not even believe the waste of public money in thre name of VfM and public interest. Our own policies and processes cost far, far in excess of what we try to save, excluding our own time and wages as staff who waste resources trying to mitigate the issues. Good Pension, good community (mostly), good hours (if you have the right job and LM), no weekends. No overtime in most CS roles but you can accrue flexi, though I just built so much above the allowance and struggles to take flexi and annual leave. Has been good balance of WFH and in-office though that is changing shortly to an increase in office. Its to reduce poor comms between staff and orgs and prevent those who are not so busy skyving at home! Wages are not bad in grand scheme, but not great either with freeze on pay increases or so low, lower than inflation and usually cost neutral so you lose something else as sacrifice. Would I recommend? Not really but I know many who are very happy so its luck of the draw on location, organisation and dept you work for. CS is being cut to death while the outputs remain the same or increase. What they are doing is reducing the CS but in the wrong way. Get rid of those who have low work output or boost their roles up and assess critical posts and ensure they remain recruited. (I have not had time to spell checked or grammer check this)!

I have worked in a variety of jobs since leaving school at 16. I spent 2 years as a Police Cadet in the city of Glasgow Police and attended Barmulloch and Paisley Colleges in regard to Law and social studies. I worked also within communities in England at residential care homes for teenage children, during my time with that police force.
I joined the army at 18 and volunteered for Parachute Selection and passed P Coy and was posted to the 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery. I was sent directly to Newry South Armagh in Northern Ireland. I later completed a subsequent 3 tours of N.I. in various capacities and roles as an Internal Security soldier. I travelled all over the world as part of 16 Independent Parachute Brigade. I did 3 tours of duty in Osnabruck West Germany, a short detached tour with the Regiment De L’Instruction Legion Etrangere in Castelnaudery as an instructor. In 1982 I was part of the artillery Forward Observation Officers Party attached to A Coy 2 Para.
I left the army in 1992 and became a civil servant working for the Ministry of Defence as a civilian security officer. I set up and established 2 dog units for the Ministry of Defence Guard Service in Bulford and Tidworth Garrisons. They were the only MOD established overt/ (aggressive patrolling outside the wire) units in the MOD using PAT dogs (Patrol Arm True). 
In 2010-11 in conjunction with Sarn’t major B. Hurcombe (M.I.) Personnel Rehabilitation and Recovery unit located at Tedworth House (Help 4 Heroes) established the roles and duties of the MGS detachment responsible for the security. I was the line manager and MOD point of contact for the static security element’s located and associated with Tedworth House. I maintained this role until I left to assume full responsibility for the static unarmed guarding of both Dstl Porton Down and the DNBRC (Defence Nuclear Biological Radiological and Chemical) establishment at Winterbourne Gunner.
  I took early release from the MOD due to personal reasons and am currently living unattached in Tidworth Wiltshire. I have 2 teenage children who live with their mother in Amesbury Wiltshire and visit me during the odd weekend and holidays. I currently spend my time writing poetry of which some have been published.

OK, so I enjoyed my time there and loved my job. I was stretched, learned new skills, challenged and I got to make a difference. But, the moment I lost my temper with a manager who had been passively agreesively bullying me and harrassing me, and swore at her, I was fired for "gross misconduct". My bullying and harrassment acusation was conveniently lost and my mitigating circumstances dismissed off hand at appeal. You see, if you are entering the MOD at anything below D-band, get ready for a rough ride. In particular, as an industrial, the minute you question a manager's decision, you are in the firing line. You have to shut up and put up and the culture of "me first" and the sycophantic ways operated at management level and higher up in the management chain puts anybody below D-band into a "minion" category. 
There is no respect, humanity or understanding from the higher ups. They just don't care about you.
Ignorance and arrogance is rife at the upper levels and they positively do not give a toss about anyone but themselves. I challenge any former employee to prove me wrong. And if you have any military in your management chain, pray that they like you because the green vs yellow clique that the MOD has cultivated at various camps - my experience at Kineton - will put you on the back foot the minute you try and make a difference or question the status quo.
The work atmosphere is casual in many ways and relaxed IF you surround yourself with the like minded. But be frugal with your trust as the knives are always out and NEVER trust the management because my experience, they are all liars and trust thieves and the dishonour grows the further up you go - including senior management and senior civil servants, who will nod and say they understand, but then forget what you said two minutes later. The further up the ladder they get, the closer to politicians they resemble.
Thankyou to the wonderful decision managers and military officers for not knowing squat about me, and yet assuming they can judge me for airing the frustrations they caused - the epitome of passive aggression.
Shame.

Every day brings new challenges. Though the core business of communicating official announcements online for our internal and external audiences remains constant, the requirements for the delivery of each one are varied. One morning I could be simply pasting a colleague's press release into a content management system, or I could be off to interview a brigadier about the challenges he will face during his next tour of Afghanistan before returning to the office to write up my copy to a tight deadline. In both scenarios, I would also source appropriate and interesting accompanying imagery.

Working alongside an interesting and diverse community of civilian and military colleagues has been great, and certainly one of the perks of the job.

I have developed a range of transferable communications skills, from copywriting and subediting to using digital technologies such as social media, multimedia production and editing, and working with various content management systems.

In an organisation as large and diverse as the Ministry of Defence, managers can vary, and personalities can clash, as in every other walk of life. I have been fortunate to have had a number of great managers, who have given me support and opportunities to grow and develop my range of skills. It's no surprise, but government work is bureaucratic. This can slow down processes and be frustrating for those who aren't used to working in such a risk-averse environment. It's an important consideration to take into account when deciding whether or not to take that public sector post.

As a civil servant working for a huge, high profile government department such as the MOD, professionalism is imperative. Both ministers and the general public expect a high quality service, and accuracy and attention to detail are critical for a government communicator. The busy, high profile nature of the role is one of its biggest challenges but also makes it all the more rewarding when you deliver a great piece of work.

The MoD has two type of employees - the self-motivated industrious and the downright bone idle. There are a number of talented individuals within the organisation but be prepared to experience the not so quite industrious - a typical day for them is: arrive, flash computer up, eat breakfast in work time, bit of paper shuffling, bit of internet, gossip about nothing then eat the same lunch, at the same time every day. stretch the lunchbreak out, bit more internet, last paper shuffle and then go home. As for teams go, you could be working at one grade working your socks off while the same grade is doing what is not dissimilar to that described above, so pick your team well depending upon your character. Most of them have been there all there lives, are set in their ways and will probably turn the lights out when its all over. Job security is good - you can even be useless at your job and won't get fired (in fact you'll probably get promoted to move you on). Sick leave is generous - you're on full pay for 6 months so you can have 5 months 30 days off go back for 1 day and sign off again. Annual leave is good. You can work from home as well - especially when you are hungover). good facilities on site - costa coffee so you can spin dits about your colleagues without them overhearing. Smoke breaks plentiful although you will get the shirkers whingeing at you, the same people who gossip for an hour and then complain about your 5 minute smoke break). Flexible working is awesome - you can get smashed the night before turn up at 1300 and go home at 1800 (minimum 5 hour day). you can work till 7pm when every one has gone home and sit on the internet clocking up the hours. All in all give it a try. You will work with some good people and professional forces personnel. Travel is also good if you like that kind of thing - you get a top notch hotel, free food and youi can have several pints to wash it down with at the taxpayers expense. I even went to the US for a week on some irrelevant training course which was a right laugh. happy days

As part of the MOD Guard Service you will be an officer in His Majesty's Civil Service and will have access to all the benefits that come with it. Including discount schemes, Civil Service Club, Civil Service Sports Council and more. 

The uniform is smart but can be difficult for some individuals to maintain, it is expected that boots are kept polished, shirts are ironed properly and peaked caps are worn when outdoors. If this is difficult to picture think MET Police uniform 1995, with blue NATO jumper and all.

The training standards are poor. There's little in the way of Personal Safety Training and I dare say they MGS depends on your previous knowledge and experience to actually function as an effective officer. Don't be put off though because it's normal to be paired up with an individual that is armed from the MOD Police or MPGS. 

I've noticed some people in this website say the job is 'slow' but it can be hectic and for me personally it's opened up so many pathways and given me experiences I wouldn't have even thought were possible prior to joining. Things such as working with UK Space Command and US Space Force attending meetings with both, working in central London and having a bit of public engagement during remembrance services in the local towns. 
 
You may work very closely with the Police particularly if you're stationed with them. There's currently a two tier workforce in place where new officers work more hours for essentially less wages. This has created animosity and the turnover is quite high for new individuals. 

1% pay freezes since late 2000s have turned an ok salary into an unaffordable way to live (between 2006 and 2021 my salary became around 5k per year less if inflation alone considered). This is a shame as the job satisfaction was great and the work highly interesting. I witnessed the most competent leave because they couldn’t afford to stay, with employee standard of living continuing to drop through the floor year on year, I saw with too many EOs taking on weekend and evening jobs to get by. Multiple forced changes to the pension scheme meant paying more and more into a pension that has less of a payout and a higher retirement age that looked more and more unreachable, whilst other benefits were taken away slowly but consistently. Constant cost saving post cuts seem to skim from the bottom and protect the top, meaning you do all your own support work, piling on the pressure alongside your core, often specialist job. Specialist pay is talked about but never seen, causing knowledge bleeds to the private sector who offer far more for the same skills with significantly less stress, responsibility and expectations. I am highly unlikely to return unless the pay made it worthwhile. 

From the first day to the last there was never a 'typical day'. That is one of the many reasons that I loved the job, each day was different. even when you thought you knew what the day ahead would bring, something or other cam up and the day would change. 
I learned many skills during my time in the MOD, many are not much use in the 'real world' but some are, they include, team work, how to organise at speed, thinking on the hoof with a clear plan, hard work, how to get on with other people from many different backgrounds, first aid, health and safety, physical and mental robustness, how to give to others, administration and clerical skills, and more to boot.
Due to the nature of the job, I came across many different managers of differing abilities, approachability an work ethic at all levels of the organisation. each had one brought something to the table to learn from and have all made me the person that I am today. 
In each place that I worked there was an instant connection with pretty much all colleagues that I worked with. Although we all had our good and bad points, we all knew that and worked off each other to get the job done. 
Some of the hardest parts of the job was being away from friends, family and home, but that can also be some of the best parts of the job also. I loved travelling the world, being with really great friends/colleagues and experiencing life as many do not get the chance to do.

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