Virgin Mentorship – Laura’s Story

Introduction

The RFS Career Academy Coaching and Mentoring Programme is free to join and provides military spouses and the Armed Forces Community with the confidence, focus, and clarity of direction to achieve personal working goals and create a sustainable future.

The programme recognises that every candidate is at different stages of their journey to finding career satisfaction; by applying a bespoke, person-centred approach, we offer the best possible service to our candidates.

The programme currently has 70 active coaches who generously volunteer their time. Demand for a place on the programme is high— in January 2023, we received over 40 enquiries, with 21 candidates being ‘matched’ with coaches/mentors.

We are now actively recruiting for new coaches/mentors to support the programme and reduce our waiting list times!

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Background & Challenge

Laura is a military spouse. She has been married to David (Army) for over 6 years. They have a son aged 4 years. Since they have been together, the family have been posted to five different locations including Germany. The family are currently based in Wiltshire and living in private accommodation. David is currently deployed in Estonia. Laura registered for a place on the Virgin Mentoring Programme in September 2023, after she discovered that she was being made redundant from Vodafone. At the time, Laura felt vulnerable, the redundancy had knocked her confidence and she needed to secure a remote role with flexibility to align with her military lifestyle - she knew her husband was going to be deployed imminently for next 12 months. Laura also felt that she had hit a wall in her career and needed support to take the next steps and advance up the career ladder. Laura was matched with a Virgin mentor with experience in project and programme delivery. The mentors skillset aligned with her professional background creating a common ground in the mentoring relationship. During the course of the programme, the mentor met with Laura weekly for 6 months and supported her to build confidence, particularly focusing on self-belief. They also worked on skills transferability and leadership.

The whole experience has been great. I remain in contact with my mentor now; his time and support has been invaluable. I can’t thank him enough. He made me realize I don’t need to change myself to do well in a role. The organisation needs to change.

Laura

Outcome

The programme gave Laura the opportunity to build confidence and access support. The mentor supported with job applications, assessing skills transferability and building her confidence to acknowledge that her military spouse status is an asset not a disadvantage. Laura has secured employment as a Change Management Consultant.

I have loved being a volunteer coach and partnering women - moving from where they are when I first meet them, to where they want to be. There is something really special about being a part of that persons life for a short time and helping them to help themselves and move forwards with their goals at their own pace and in their own way.

Coach

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Purpose

The Coaching and Mentoring Programme is often utilised by candidates who are unemployed due to the transient nature of their partner's employment status in the Armed Forces. Mobility affects not only their employability but also their confidence and mental wellbeing.

Candidates seek support through the programme to evaluate their situation and regain the inner strength needed to achieve their career ambitions.