The Army targets women in recruitment campaign
24 July 2014
The Army has launched a recruitment campaign targeted at women who feel their current jobs lack excitement.
Thu, 24 Jul 2014 | By Nicola Sullivan
The Army has launched a recruitment campaign targeted at women who feel their current jobs lack excitement.
Managed by the Army Recruitment Group in conjunction with Capita, the campaign, designed to attract women into full and part-time regular and reserve roles, followed research carried out by OnePoll, which found that 25% said their current work was not challenging or exciting enough.
Of the survey’s 2,000 respondents, 31% said they would consider a part-time role beyond their day job. It also showed that 41% of women were unaware of the engineering and mechanical roles available, while 35% did not know about teaching opportunities.
The campaign features women from a diverse range of Army roles, including a tank mechanic, combat medic, airstrike co-ordinator and a logistics troop commander.
In a statement from Capita, Major General Ronald Munro, the Army’s Deputy Commander Land Forces (Reserves), said: “What we want is talent. We can offer a highly flexible career to women that are driven and keen to learn new skills and take on fresh challenges. The Army Reserve is a particularly flexible career path which you can add on to your existing job or do in your spare time.”
Graham Brown, managing director of the Forces Recruitment Services (FRS), told Recruiter: “There are so many trades (over 400) across the military and now women are being sent on operational duty as well. A lot of women serve in different trades as frontline medics, administration and there are obviously leaders and managers as well that have progressed through the ranks and into the hierarchy in the same way the men do.
However, Brown acknowledged there was still a lack of awareness about the varied jobs within the Army, especially among school leavers.
He added: “I think young girls of 16 to 18 would have their aspirations set elsewhere. They are not really in a position of understanding all the facts and understanding all the trades and the options across the Army. I wouldn’t say that was the case in the other two services [the RAF and the Navy].”
According to a statement from Capita more than 8,000 women currently make up nearly 9% of the Army. In the reserves there are 3,000 women comprising 15% of the total force.
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Defence brought forward a planned review, which will investigate opening up combat roles in the Armed Forces to women. Women are already significantly represented in Corps such as the Army Medical Corps, Royal Logistics Corps and Royal Military Police.
The Army has launched a recruitment campaign targeted at women who feel their current jobs lack excitement.
Managed by the Army Recruitment Group in conjunction with Capita, the campaign, designed to attract women into full and part-time regular and reserve roles, followed research carried out by OnePoll, which found that 25% said their current work was not challenging or exciting enough.
Of the survey’s 2,000 respondents, 31% said they would consider a part-time role beyond their day job. It also showed that 41% of women were unaware of the engineering and mechanical roles available, while 35% did not know about teaching opportunities.
The campaign features women from a diverse range of Army roles, including a tank mechanic, combat medic, airstrike co-ordinator and a logistics troop commander.
In a statement from Capita, Major General Ronald Munro, the Army’s Deputy Commander Land Forces (Reserves), said: “What we want is talent. We can offer a highly flexible career to women that are driven and keen to learn new skills and take on fresh challenges. The Army Reserve is a particularly flexible career path which you can add on to your existing job or do in your spare time.”
However, Brown acknowledged there was still a lack of awareness about the varied jobs within the Army, especially among school leavers.
He added: “I think young girls of 16 to 18 would have their aspirations set elsewhere. They are not really in a position of understanding all the facts and understanding all the trades and the options across the Army. I wouldn’t say that was the case in the other two services [the RAF and the Navy].”
According to a statement from Capita more than 8,000 women currently make up nearly 9% of the Army. In the reserves there are 3,000 women comprising 15% of the total force.
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Defence brought forward a planned review, which will investigate opening up combat roles in the Armed Forces to women. Women are already significantly represented in Corps such as the Army Medical Corps, Royal Logistics Corps and Royal Military Police.
