An Army veteran has urged businesses to be more aware of the skills that former military personnel can bring to a workplace as we approach Armed Forces Day on Saturday (29^th June).

Joshua Davis has praised award-winning recruitment consultancy Wills Consultants for their assistance and support in finding him the right role after leaving the Army.

The Kettering-based firm, who have recently signed the Armed Forces Covenant to publicly pledge their support to the military, helped Joshua to transition from a weapons engineer to deputy engineering manager at global engineering firm SSI Schaefer Group.

Joshua decided to leave the Armed Forces after 11 years’ service when he became a father. The dad-of-two said that the guidance he received from Wills Consultants as a veteran was second to none.

He recalls: “They were excellent. I had a Teams call with director Simon Wills and he went through the whole process step by step. They did a lot of preparation with me before the actual interview – a lot of recruiters don’t do that. They were really supportive, and I work with them now to do my own recruiting.

“We get a lot of really good candidates through them, and they are really good to work with. They get to know a candidate and their skillset. I found with a lot of recruiters they big you up, then you don’t really hear from them again, but Wills have great communication and feedback.”

Joshua, 33, passionately believes more companies need to consider that soldiers come with a wide variety of transferrable skills.

He said: “If I say to people that I was in the Army, people mostly assume that I was a soldier, they don’t know the logistics of it all, or the skills I have. My day-to-day job was fixing weapons and tanks so people might not know the qualifications I have got and the skills and experience that Army veterans can offer.

“It’s about companies having better awareness of that. A lot of people in the Army pick things up really quickly as they have to be adaptable and quick thinking. I know if you take a chance on ex-military personnel, you’ll see their skills are unreal.”

Wills Consultants’ cofounder and director Simon Wills said: “It has been a pleasure to work with Joshua and after helping him source his perfect position it has been fantastic to continue working together to help him build his team.

“Wills Consultants works with all military personnel to help them transition smoothly into civilian life. We understand that all-important first job after serving their country can be daunting to navigate and we offer as much support as a candidate requires to help them find the right role.”

For more about Wills Consultants, visit https://www.willsconsultants.com/ or speak to a recruitment expert by calling 01536 512202.