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Speed Networking Event Attracts RAF Leavers

Every year many servicemen leave the RAF bases at the end of their stint of duty.  Whilst some find new employment and opt to settle in Moray, many others leave the area to find their careers elsewhere.

In an effort to encourage more RAF leavers to stay in Moray, HIE Moray organised a speed networking event earlier this year.  12 local businesses took stand space at the event to promote available employment opportunities to around 50 RAF leavers, who came along.

FR Aviation Services was one of the businesses, which attended the event.  It employs 124 people at its Kinloss base and, in association with BAE Systems, provides the majority of scheduled maintenance for the RAF's Nimrod aircraft.  As a direct result of being there, the company recruited Andy Davies as a mechanic working on their fuel tank team.

Having spent 24 years with the RAF, Andy was uncertain what he would do when he left in April this year.

"I went along to the speed networking event not knowing what to expect, but it resulted in a great job with FR Aviation.  There was only a limited time for employers and potential employees to get to know each other so everyone had to be quite focussed.

"I was amazed at how many companies attended the event and I left speculative CVs with several of them.  Having all these businesses as a potential source of employment also saved me a lot of time and effort researching who might be in the market for the skills I had.

"It also opened my eyes to opportunities I could never have thought about myself.  For example, having completed my HGV and forklift competency certificates before I left the RAF, I approached a haulage company at the event to see if they had any openings for drivers.  To my surprise, they were more interested in taking me o n as a mechanic as they thought my existing mechanical skills would have been easily transferred."