From REME Vehicle Mechanic to Fleet Engineer

I joined the REME straight from school as a Vehicle Mechanic and spent 12 years keeping Land Rovers, MAN trucks and Jackals roadworthy in some of the worst conditions imaginable. By the time I decided to leave I was a Corporal with Class 1 trade qualifications, a supervisory role and an IRTC course under my belt. **What I expected to be easy — and it was** The technical knowledge transferred almost one-for-one. I walked into the interview able to talk about fault diagnosis, preventive maintenance scheduling and managing a small team under pressure. My civilian interviewers had never heard of REME but they understood "responsible for the operational readiness of 40 vehicles worth £2 million" immediately. **What was genuinely hard** The culture shock was real. In the Army, you are told what to do and you do it. In a civilian fleet depot, nobody tells you what to do — and if you wait to be told, nothing happens and your manager notices. It took me about six months to stop waiting for orders and start proactively identifying problems and fixing them before anyone asked. Pay was also a shock, but in the wrong direction. My first civilian salary looked good on paper until I worked out what I was paying for accommodation, food and a car. My take-home was about the same as a Corporal's net pay with SFA. That improved once I moved into a Fleet Manager role after 18 months. The paperwork side caught me out. In the Army, someone else deals with HR admin. Suddenly I was sorting my own pension, my own National Insurance gaps, my own tax return for expenses. CTP helped, but I wished I'd done more of the MOD financial briefings before I left. **What actually got me the job** My REME trade training was equivalent to an NVQ Level 3 in Vehicle Maintenance — once I got an employer to look at the equivalence, it put me at the same level as their graduates. My security clearance (I held SC) was a genuine differentiator; two of the sites I was considered for needed cleared staff. And the ability to demonstrate I'd supervised a shift and held people accountable — not just fixed vehicles — is what got me the step up to Fleet Engineer rather than just Technician. **Tips for others** - Do the CTP IRTC resettlement course and stay for all of it, not just the CV session. - Get your trade qualifications formally translated to civilian equivalents via the MOD's equivalence letters before you leave — ask your unit education officer. - Apply for jobs a grade above what you think you deserve. Civilian employers underestimate military experience; you need to self-advocate. - Give yourself a full year before you decide whether a job is right. The first six months of any civilian job are disorienting for ex-forces regardless of the role.