From the Fort to Finance, The transition from 3 SCOTS (The Black Watch) to Barclays

At Barclays there are a few of my colleagues who have utilised the Military Talent Scheme (MTS) as I am now doing, week 10 of a 12-week programme. Not all have the same background, Army, Navy, RAF, different branches within each arm of the Military, Infantry, Warfare, Submariner, Intelligence to name a few. But what is similar, is the unique skill set we can bring to enhance an already talented workforce.

James Copeland, Marketing Governance and Control Manager at Barclays

I joined the Army at 22 after not really enjoying a civilian job I was employed as, a De-Bug Technician at a now defunct computer company (Apricot Computers). I joined The Black Watch, situated at “Sunny” Fort George, after doing my basic training and was lucky enough to complete 23 years and 11 months service, travelling the world, deploying to many different countries/environments, serving with some talented and skilled people who helped me achieve the rank of Warrant Officer Class 2.

I decided to start early on preparing myself for the transition into civilian life and it was 2 years out from my termination date when I did my first Career Transition Partnership workshop, with a possible career in Finance not on the radar whatsoever. I had initially looked at turning my hand at Counter-Explosive (CEO) and trying to get a job with a de-mining company/charity, Safe Lane, or HALO.

My head was turned when I sat on a Financial Services Talk whilst on day 3 of the 5-day career workshop and it was like a light had turned on inside my head. The presentation was being given by an ex Naval guy and it resonated with me as all the things he was talking about I could relate to as I was already doing it, just in a military context within my job. He was talking about how his role within the “Company” revolved around key skills, ones that I, not unlike many others from the Military, have acquired over the years and in some cases, we pay lip service to or think we don’t have until someone points them out to you!

Leadership: The first thing that is instilled in you during training as serving military personnel are part of the Core Values. This is honed when attending promotional courses and as you progress up the ranks. Key in the Financial services to taking the lead on projects and problems with a “Lets get this sorted” attitude

Management: This goes hand in glove with Leadership because as you progress up the ranks gaining more responsibility, you are inevitably put in charge of managing people. From the 4 men in your Fire-Team moving to 12 in your section and so on and so forth as you progress. You develop your management style very early in your military career and it changes as you progress, learn new skills, styles and at the end of your military career, you have gone through most management styles from Autocratic, Servant, Laissez-faire, Transactional to the Visionary, Democratic, Transformational and Coaching. Providing you a well-rounded style that fits well, or should, in the Financial Services.

Stakeholder Engagement: From day one, as a trainee to your final day in the military are involved in stakeholder engagement. Be it talking to your training Corporal to ask the simplest of direction on who is doing the Block-Jobs to being involved in Battalion Headquarters planning of Pre-Deployment training for the Unit. This allowed me to hone the “Soft Skills” required to deal with stakeholders at all levels, some easier to get along with than others!

Communication: Good communication is an essential tool in achieving productivity and maintaining strong working relationships at all levels of an organisation – and this has been particularly important since the COVID-19 outbreak forced many people to work remotely. “Every man is a link man” is what was drummed into me from my training Corporal and that is just as important in the Financial Services as is the Military. It is essential for Team Building with collaboration together and to implement effective strategies. It gives everyone a voice in the Team which will foster employee satisfaction. It encourages innovation so the organisation is constantly improving. Most importantly it will encourage Team Building which is ultimately about people talking to each other to create an effective Team to get the job done. Never has “It’s good to talk” rung so true for me!

With years of experience and the realisation that I do have the transferable skills to move into the Financial Services there were still several hurdles to overcome. For me, the initial “Shock of Capture”, on the first day at the Barclays campus like a deer firmly caught in the headlights gave me the “Fear” like day one at High School. Where do I go? Who do I speak to? What do I do? How do I do it? This can/could be one of the challenges that face a service leaver. However, a good support network will negate this quickly. The British Military Resource Group which is in place at Barclays is a key example of Military people mixed with non-military members to aid and assist Military personnel leaving the service having tremendously successful results.

The transition from Military to civilian can be daunting with a new environment to navigate but having to essentially re-learn a new organisation can be a massive challenge. What is the Bank? What is the business? What does it break down into? What frameworks does it use? Where do I find them? Why are there so many?! It can be overwhelming, but again can be negated by using support systems that are already in place, but I found that Networking was key to the success in breaking the Bank down. I found that reaching out to people within certain areas could give you SME knowledge within their area within the bank, give a break down on their function, what products they deal with and ultimately build a network for yourself that you can nurture for future information, help, opportunities and social interactions.

Networking was a word I was familiar with prior to me coming on the MTS but I hadn’t really done any. Yes, I had friends and colleagues that worked in different areas within my unit, trade, branch of the military but not to the extent that I have utilised networking within Barclays. It is key. It is key to reaching out to ex-forces personnel within the Bank to smooth the path to transition and have a friendly face to talk to, someone who has been through what you are about to do. It is key to reaching out to non-Military members of the bank to gaining that knowledge of the Bank from SME’s as alluded to previously. Networking is key to breaking down the jargon of the Bank and what I mean from that is: All the acronyms, the code that a job description can be on the Internal Jobs Board, what a job entails and what you do on a day-to-day basis! I also used Networking as a sounding board to reach out to people on jobs, offers, and gain advice on what I could/should be doing next: short term/mid-term and long term.

I have had to put the work in to learn about the many areas of the bank but that has been so much easier by reaching out to people with a mix of ‘Face to Face’ conversations and having “Virtual Coffees”. I have utilised the Banks’ Learning Lab to give an overview of the areas; what they do, what policies and standards they use, what frameworks they use and what processes they use. This has been enhanced by using a variety of media channels to build my knowledge to understand the Bank as well as the world of Finance in general, CNBC, Bloomberg, CNN Business, Forbes, Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist as well documentaries on the Financial Industry, Inside Job, Breaking the Bank, The Ascent of Money, which my partner assured me that she “Loved them” but I am dubious of!

I have had an amazing experience on the MTS with Barclays and at the time of writing I have secured several roles so have a difficult decision to make on what one I will decide on. I would always advise anyone leaving the Military to explore every avenue on what they want to pursue after leaving and do not count out another career in Financial Services. You may not think you have transferrable skills, but I can attest to it that you most certainly do and the Companies within Finance prize what you can bring to their Organisation.

James Copeland, Military Talent Scheme