Six reasons project controls is a great career for ex-military and those looking to leave hm forces
- Robert Sunderland
Hanging your boots up and leaving the military can be a daunting prospect. You’ll be asking yourself a whole host of questions, such as; What do I want to do next? What can I do in civvy street? Where do I want to work? Will I have to take a step down in my career? How can I best apply my skills learnt in the military? It’s all very exciting and daunting in equal measure and is understandably a lot to wrap your head around.
At Blueprint Project Solutions Ltd, we’re fortunate to have an incredible team, many of whom are ex-forces themselves, so we know full well the invaluable skills ex-military personnel can bring to Project Controls. If you’re considering taking the leap, or still unsure of what the right next step is for you, I’ve taken it upon myself to identify six key reasons why ex-military should consider Project Controls as a second career.
From the transferable skills, you already have, to the variety of the role and freedom to make a big impact, all while being at the heart of projects and travelling the world (if you want - yes you do get a choice) - Project Controls could be the perfect next step.
What is project controls?
If you’re currently serving, you’ll be well versed with the prospect of project management, whether you realise this or not, but that is a subject for a different time. It’s almost an expected career route for those leaving the forces but it's not the only one. The Association for Project Management (APM) defines someone working in Project Controls as being able to answer four fundamental questions: Where are we? What has it cost to get here? Where are we going? How can we correct any problems? The roles involved in answering these questions include Reporting, Performance management, Baseline management, Scheduling, Cost management, Quality control, Risk management, and Change control. Fundamentally, a project controller supports large to mega-scale projects by providing assurances that the project is on track and recommending proactive solutions on how it can be improved.
Project Controls are needed on every project; it’s part and parcel of a project manager’s role. But as a project gets larger the roles need to be split out. What marks out good project controllers is an analytical way of thinking and looking at the world. It’s about questioning how things work and wanting to know why it works that way. So why should you consider Project Controls as your next career?
You have 80% of what the job requires already
Depending on how long you served in the military, you’ll already have a whole host of softer skills that can be applied to a Project Controls role. When I joined my first role out of the military, I was overseeing a lot of risk management processes within a small team. I soon realised I had been doing this for a long time in the Royal Air Force (RAF), making sure people were doing the right thing at the right time and that they weren’t getting themselves or the RAF into trouble.
Ex-military often feel like they are taking a step back when they start their second career, but an employer will soon realise you have a lot to offer apart from just technical experience and that you are someone with the right attitude and aptitude who can impress a client very quickly.
As a project controls specialist you’ll be working closely with a project manager to identify areas of the project that need help but also opportunities. This requires a certain amount of self-assurance, and an ability to communicate what is needed from the project manager (or project team). Equally, workshop facilitation is a common aspect of working in Project Controls but hosting a professional, sometimes robust discussion where everyone feels included, all while delivering the required output, is a familiar task for most ex-military.
Ex-forces also tend to succeed in project controller positions because they have a natural curiosity and attention to detail. You can look at the information and pull out the important detail, all while questioning why it is that way. Perhaps you see something that just doesn’t look right or obviously needs to be fixed. A determination to sort this without being told, using your initiative, is something the military teaches you from day one.
As a project controller, you’ll also need to facilitate conversations in order to better the project, but not be fazed by the role or the senior position of a client or colleague. For those in leadership roles in the forces, you’ll know how to lead a team of people with a variety of specialisations whilst coaching and mentoring others around you as needed. If a challenging conversation is needed, you can put the facts forward and keep emotion out of it.
Companies are increasingly realising that while they can teach and train the technical aspects of any role, it’s difficult to teach attitude and an ability to learn quickly. In this way, ex-forces are perfect recruits for Project Controls’ positions.
It’s all about finding opportunity
People automatically associate being a Risk Manager with ‘doom and gloom’ but this is misleading. Identifying risk as a Risk Manager is not about auditing the project management and saying ‘this hasn’t been done properly’. Instead, it’s about identifying a way of helping the project work more efficiently. If you think about it, for every risk you have, it’s an opportunity for someone else - whether that’s a competitor or client versus a contractor. If you approach the project with an opportunity mindset - focused on how you are going to make it better - you spin the whole attitude around risk management of the project on its head and you have the potential to make a really positive impact.
You work at the heart of a project and can make a big difference quickly
When I get asked what I enjoy most about my role, I always tell them that it’s the ability to join a project and make a big difference quickly. You can for instance deliver a significant impact on the project's financial needs very quickly, or longer-term, you can also help change the culture of an organisation.
It’s relatively common for organisations to ‘avoid’ threats by writing them down on a register and then tucking them away in a drawer, but by changing the way your project delivery team thinks about risk, you can change their whole approach - encouraging them to search for opportunities in their project that would otherwise be missed.
For me one of the most important aspects of being in the military was the strong sense of purpose, of doing something that mattered and making change happen. As a project controller, you’re at the heart of a project, making sure it is on track and exceeding delivery (hopefully). I find my role provides a similar sense of purpose and it’s really rewarding when you get it right.
It’s a varied and global career
When it comes to the potential of a career in Project Controls, the world is your oyster. There is an unprecedented growth in the number of large to mega-scale projects active globally. This means you can work anywhere in the world, bringing your subject matter expertise to a new industry or country. Some in our industry will specialise in a specific sector as they understand in detail what the project is delivering, some of us prefer to be generalists and work across different sectors. Equally, you can branch out into various organisations - consultancy, construction companies, contacting and so on.
There’s lots of room for progression
Project Controls is also a great starting point for your first role after the military. As ex-military, employers will see the value you offer straight away. You really can go wherever you like and pursue whatever you want. For example, you can be a subject matter expert specialising in one aspect of project controls or work towards leading a project controls team on a large project. If you are looking to further your career then you can progress to a leadership or business development role. Both geographically and professionally, it’s a very varied role.
There are many training options and routes in
My best advice to ex-military considering Project Controls as their next step is to get out there and start exploring. Talk with people, understand the roles more, and realise what you bring to them (you’ll be surprised how much). When I was leaving the military, I had a general idea of what I wanted to do but needed to experience different roles after I left to focus on what I wanted to do as a career.
If you do know that Project Management or Project Controls is the second career you want to pursue, have a look at what the ‘industry standard’ is for the tools the specialisation you are interested in and what qualifications are generally accepted. You can then use your resettlement ELCAS credits to book onto these.
If you have enough time during your resettlement, look at internships. Once you get your foot in the door, employers will instantly see how much you can offer them and may even offer you training on the job. In a nutshell, my best advice is to apply yourself, get out there, talk to as many people as you can and give it a go. You won’t regret it.
As a second careerist and ex-RAF myself, I cannot stress enough what a great career Project Controls can offer. I’ve had a fantastic career for the last seven years and feel grateful that I still find every day interesting. Even if one of the above reasons encouraged you to consider Project Controls as your next career move, I’d recommend that you dedicate some more time to exploring it. Plus, I’m always available to answer any questions so please drop me an email if you’d like to know more about what roles we offer at Blueprint.
Robert’s background
Bob joined the military soon after realising his computer science degree wasn’t for him. He headed to the careers office at his university (then a Polytechnic!), saw a poster from the RAF and immediately applied. His first role was working in a bunker in North East Scotland patiently waiting for the Russians to come over. Luckily they didn't. Later he applied to be an aircrew on RAF helicopters, responsible for almost everything behind the pilot and sometimes an odd pilot or two. He left the military in May 2015 as a Master Aircrew with only a general idea of what his second career would be. He worked for a leading aviation company, eventually working in project management/project controls including risk management and later moved to a consultancy as a Project Control Manager specialising in risk. Bob is now Associate Director and technical discipline lead for Risk Management at Blueprint Project Solutions Ltd.