Rachel swaps her rank for the bank
RACHEL SCANDLINg spent 27 years in the Royal Navy and rose to the rank of Commander. During her career, the 49-year-old, from Portsmouth served on operational deployment to the gulf and Afghanistan.
But by 2015, she was ready for a fresh challenge and enrolled on the Barclays Armed Forces Transition, Employment and Resettlement ( AFTER) Programme. Since its inception in 2010, the scheme has supported more than 5,000 service leavers with their transition into the workforce.
Veterans involved in the scheme, which is entirely funded by the bank, learn how to convert their military expertise into skills that are relevant to commercial employers.
They benefit from work placements, direct employment opportunities, CV and interview coaching and money management sessions.
Rachel, a founding member of the Naval Servicewomen’s Network, says: ‘I exchanged my military career for one in financial services, and while these two sectors might seem poles apart, both require courage, tenacity, resilience and the ability to make things happen, get things done and deliver results.’
The mother-of-one met members of an AFTER team at a military careers fair and was connected with a VETS ( Veterans Employment Transition Support) mentor.
Following a tough series of interviews, she was offered a role as a project manager supporting structural reform with Barclays’ Investment Bank. Twelve months later, she moved to a new role in Operations as the Optimisation Lead within global Markets Operations.
She says: ‘In building my second career, I’ve really enjoyed the journey from servicewoman to civilian.
‘Not only have I’ve learned an awful lot about banking and its processes, but I have actively grown my wider network to increase my exposure and develop my portfolio.
‘ This focus on my continual professional development supported me in securing a new role in Operations after just 12 months, and more recently, my selection as a WeAreTheCity Rising Star 2017 winner in the Banking category.’ Rachel believes her career in the Royal Navy provided her with vital skills including the ability to lead and problem solve.
‘The difficulty faced by many service leavers, despite all the career transition programmes available, is being able to clearly articulate your skills set in a business context,’ she says.
‘The hardest part of my career shift was definitely creating my CV.
‘It took over six months to develop a document that I was confident not only articulated my skill sets in a relevant and coherent way but also made me a viable proposition for hiring managers.
‘This is where the support from my VETs mentor and the AFTER team was invaluable. They were able to work with me to refine my CV, highlighting the transferable and relatable skills from the military sector to the financial sector.’
For more information about AFTEr log on to www.home.barclays/ AFTErprogramme.html