Fran Bullock served with the Yorkshire Regiment for 16-years leaving with the rank of Major in 2024. Fran advised “my most recent role was in Operational Planning. This involved commanding and leadership, policy writing, information activities and capability acquisition. No two days were the same as a Company Commander but generally my day started with PT first thing, then meetings, MS Writing, visiting current training, ensuring all medicals were completed for my Company, G4 checks, then finally socialising in the Mess.
Some of the skills I gained while serving include:
I now work as a Senior Project Manager for Turner & Townsend. I got this position thanks to networking opportunities I gained through BuildForce. BuildForce were invaluable in helping with CV writing and interview skills. I benefitted from their Project Days and Insight Days, this enabled me to network and secure an interview with my current organisation.
The biggest challenge I faced during my transition, was balancing ongoing work commitments with my transition and ensuring I prioritised getting interviews and networking events.
I am now a Senior Project Manager for various defence projects. These are effectively planned, executed and completed with a defined timeline, scope and budget. I am responsible for overseeing an entire project lifecycle and ensuring resources are coordinated. This includes managing stakeholders to make sure their goals align with the organisation’s objectives.
My new role is extremely varied, with a mix of planning, communication, problem solving and monitoring. There are lots of parallels with my career in the military, such as, leading teams in high stress, complex situations, managing morale and maintaining discipline, delegating where required. Setting expectations to ensure that the team work cohesively. Also, strategic planning and decision making, assessing risks and making decisions without complete information, weighing the pros and cons of different courses of action and balancing objectives with personal safety, including the planning of training schedules, coordinating logistics and making quick decisions in response to evolving situations. Finally, communication and interpersonal skills in both written and active listening and verbally adapting the message for different audiences.
Networking is the key to getting a position; use BuildForce. My advice would be get out there and attend the careers fairs and the BuildForce Insight Days. Speak to your network on LinkedIn and arrange meetings with friends and colleagues in the organisation that you are interested in. Getting to know these people is key to them being interested in you and your skills.”