BT recruits ex-armed forces personnel to help deploy broadband
BT’s Openreach division is looking to recruit around 200 ex-armed forces personnel to help deliver super-fast fibre broadband. The ex-armed forces men and women are due to start their new jobs in May this year. They will be part of a mobile engineering workforce which will help to deploy super-fast broadband to homes and businesses across the UK.
BT’s deployment of fibre broadband is one of the UK’s largest infrastructure projects with the technology being delivered at much faster speed than in other countries. Two thirds of UK premises will have access by the end of 2015 with close to three thousand full time engineers currently devoted to the project.
Openreach has been working with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP), an arrangement between the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Right Management, a global talent and career management expert. The CTP provides career guidance along with training and employment support to those leaving the armed forces.
Olivia Garfield, CEO Openreach said: “It’s fantastic that we’ve been able to recruit so many ex-armed services personnel. These people have served their country well and so deserve the chance of full-time employment with a generous reward package. They are highly skilled, motivated and disciplined and have experience of complex engineering tasks in challenging environments.
“Our “fast-track” recruitment programme should see the majority of them join us by the end of May and given their experience, we will be able to train them up quickly and get them straight out where we need them.”
David Duffy, Managing Director, Career Transition Partnership charity (CTP), said: “We have had an amazing success rate with this project, and have received tremendous feedback about the high calibre of the Service leavers who have applied for the roles on offer.
“The CTP offers a no cost recruitment solution, supporting organisations with their workforce strategy by understanding their recruitment needs and matching the transferable skills of Service leavers. To date, Openreach have carried out 202 interviews specifically for Service leavers with 181 subsequently being offered positions. This converts to a 90% success rate at interview and reflects the highly sought after skill-sets, abilities and attitude of those leaving the Armed Forces.”
The MoD is committed to providing a robust and effective system of resettlement and career transition support, with all Service leavers receiving some help, for up to two years either side of their discharge date.
The types of benefits Service leavers can access include: grants, allowances, travel warrants, resettlement leave, transition workshops, one-to-one career guidance support, subsidised vocational training support, housing advice, financial briefs and employment support.
Lt Cdr Mark Walker, from MoD’s Training, Education, Skills and Resettlement staff said: “We are delighted that Openreach has recognized the talent, skills and versatility of our Service leavers, especially targeting them for recruitment. We strongly welcome this initiative, and its promise of rewarding employment and career opportunities for many former Armed Forces personnel.”