Rivva Fear served in the Royal Engineers, for seven years and eleven months, attaining the rank of Lance Corporal, leaving in 2022. Rivva spent most of his career in enabling roles, including time as an Assistant Project Manager, Survey Engineer Manager, White Fleet Manager, Technical Storeman & Orderly Corporal. Rivva’s primary trade was a Survey Engineer (Class 1), this role involved conducting topographical surveys, setting out works, designing roads & managing a team of surveyors.
A typical day for Rivva whilst serving included surveying, managing junior soldiers CDP & providing support . Rivva was still serving during lockdown and worked from home remotely organising manpower and providing J2 updates, whilst also assisting with projects tasked to other teams around the station.
During his time in the Royal Engineers, the soft skills he developed such as time management, decision-making & logical thinking, are invaluable in his new career. “As someone from a military background, you‘ll be amazed at how many of your skills translate into the built environment.” At BuildForce, we aim to give you the insight and confidence to move into industry and work with you to build a wider understanding of how these skills fit into the construction industry as a whole.
On leaving the armed forces, Rivva secured a role as a Junior Project Manager at Lysander Associates. “BuildForce has been an amazing support in assisting me reaching out into the civilian sector and affirming confidence in my ability & career prospects”. Rivva’s new role involves managing multiple large-scale projects across the UK, providing project, cost and site management.
One of the aspects that Rivva really enjoys is delivering the entire project and also the aftercare process, from procuring and tendering for works, overseeing the construction and following into the handover to the clients. “One of the most rewarding aspects of my job is seeing the project develop and getting to see the end result.” A typical day in this role includes managing progress/delays and updating plans, as things are constantly evolving, progressing tenders into contracts, and tying this into the larger programme and remaining flexible to adhere to client requests throughout the project life cycle. Rivva also manages the contractors on sites, produces reports and resolves and troubleshoots any issues as they arise.
Whilst transitioning Rivva’s wife was his greatest support, as ex-Army herself, she showed him how to use his ELCs effectively, and helped him connect with transition resources. Rivva notes “BuildForce has been exceptional with connecting me to the industry I wish to work in. A big part of the process is sitting down, talking it through with ‘you’ and what you can offer and how you can better express that by steering you into courses, connecting you with the right people at the right level and providing the support through the journey – because leaving the military for most, is a daunting undertaking, regardless of how well you’ve prepared”.
Rivva’s advice to someone leaving the Armed Forces and seeking a career in construction, would be, “Be keen, explore all your avenues, send that email/ message/ text that you are on the fence with. Your trade/ role in the military isn’t always what you’re destined to do… KNOW YOUR WORTH, you’re more than a rank/ PayScale/ trade/ number on a spreadsheet… The world needs proactive, exceptional people – your career in the military has shaped you for this better than any other”.