Ex-armed forces

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Why house building

The house building industry has always been a popular choice of second career for ex-armed forces personnel. It’s hardly surprising when you see the similarities in skills required. All building sites require discipline, teamwork and a range of other talents that ex-armed forces have as standard.

The training and development offered in our industry build on the same skills you’ll have picked up, no matter how long you served for. There are far more opportunities in the industry than people often realise. House building has changed in the last 20 years and that means we need a wider variety of skills than ever before. You could be helping us survey land, plan a neighbourhood, run a site or fit a bathroom. Whatever it is, you’ll get paid to learn a trade and start a job that will always be needed.

It’s a fantastic time to join the industry. The sector is growing and you could be part of solving a much-discussed national issue: where will the next generation live? It’s rewarding work, it’s well paid and you will have control over your career. The variety of jobs and routes in can be confusing, this site has all the information you need to take the next step. 

Retraining opportunities

To find out more about different employment opportunities and retraining schemes, click on links below.

Home Builders offering transitional programmes:

• Barratt:
  • Armed Forces Programme
  • Barratt also offer a sponsored degree programme, info about the programme can be found here
• Persimmon

You could also visit:

• Building Heroes which provides skills training to Military Veterans and support into employment in the building trades.  
• BuildForce which is an alliance of construction employers, industry bodies and service charities supported by Government which connects service leavers and Veterans with job opportunities in construction and gives construction employers access to a unique pool of Armed forces talent.
• Careers Transition Partnership  (CTP). The CTP provides resettlement services for those leaving the Royal Navy, Army, Royal Air Force and Marines. Regardless of time served, all members of the Armed Forces can benefit from CTP support when leaving Service. They also operate as an intermediary service for employers wishing to hire Service leavers. 
• Frontfoot jobs supports and advises military personnel planning to leave service and veterans on professional training available. They also supply job opportunities and guidance throughout the recruitment process.