Fast Jet Performance

My response...

Warrior,   Thanks for your email, I’m here to help you so let’s get to it and I’ll start off by answering your questions then we’ll move onto some further advice.   1. You experienced hardship when applying for the RAF & RN, with similar motivations to myself, how did you cope with this?

1. How did you motivate yourself and stay positive? 

  When we are young we don’t always think that things have a result which will be equal to our actions. We think that some things we win and some we lose so, for me, I just thought that some guys get to fly military aircraft and some don’t. It was only many years later that I realised that what we do everyday has a direct result on our future. So, in short, I didn’t think about it that much. I thought that I was just a bit unlucky or that it was my poor grades that were letting me down. When I failed at AIB I just went and did what they told me to do to improve for the next time which was to do some team sports, show some leadership potential and improve my self-esteem - so I did just that. At the moment, the FJP community are talking about positivity on Facebook so find Fast Jet Performance on FB and get involved - I want to see your name in the comments of my posts, *NAME*! #inittoWINit   2. If you were in my position, what would you do?   I would make yourself so good that you cannot be ignored by the military. Basically, look at what the essence of a military Officer is. For the RAF, the ethos is Respect, Integrity, Service and Excellence. And for the Royal Navy, it is based on inclusive leadership, teamwork, morale, humility and honesty. These principles complement the core values of commitment, courage, discipline, respect for others, integrity and loyalty. (Incidentally the British Army has Courage, Discipline, Respect for Others, Integrity, Loyalty and Selfless Commitment. Note that they are all quite similar for a reason, because to be in the military you must display these principles - they are at the core of all public service. You have demonstrated some of these already with your work with the ATC and sacrificing your own time to help others with your voluntary work which is excellent of you, by the way. You need to be able to highlight areas of your life where you can demonstrate potential that encompasses these traits. All serving members of the military will have these principles at their core and they firmly believe in them as they know that this is the only way to work as a team especially when the chance of death is high. Officers, on the other hand, not only hold these principles but have to demonstrate and encourage them on a daily basis - you must do the same.   3. From an external perspective: what would you recommend doing?   OK - join my programme that I’m running called the ‘Year of the Awesome Warrior!’ where each month I will lead you through a different event that is designed to help you understand who you are and how you can improve yourself incrementally so that you embrace the traits of a military combat pilot. January is about 'Positivity', February is about ‘Lead Turning’ your day, March is about finding your ‘Sanctuary’ so that you can get some rest when needed. These are all terms used in air combat and have a true Warrior pedigree. This will improve you significantly and it’s all being taught FOR FREE by a 20 year veteran Royal Navy and Royal Air Force Fast Jet flying instructor.   Me.   Also, I would get a job as this would help your self-esteem hugely. Now, I read in your email that you have tried hard to find a job and nobody is hiring you, you mention that this might be because you can’t drive or afford lessons yet. I am thinking that your approach might be a little off here and I’m looking to recalibrate it. The email you wrote to me was lengthy - so lengthy that I haven’t republished it on the site. But when I read it, I couldn’t believe that you couldn’t find a job with the history you have. Yes, you have had a few knocks academically and I doubt you’d get onto the Goldman Sachs Graduate Programme just yet but plenty of your generation (half of them) don’t have degrees, either.   I suggest you look to intern at a company. I worked for ASDA pushing trolleys for a month with no pay when I was looking for a job and worked at a factory making women’s perfume in a poorly paid role overnight. Someone from ASDA eventually came and asked me what I was doing and I said that I really wanted a job with them as I respected the brand and was happy to work for free until I got one.    They gave me a job THE SAME DAY.   I worked for ASDA for the next 2 years on and off and went from trolleys to the deli counter and eventually packed all the produce on the meat counter. I then went and bought a small yellow Mini for £350 which was the car I drove to Dartmouth in after passing the AIB with my story about how I now played rugby for Portsmouth, was leading people in a small local charity and had improved my self-esteem through hard work and sacrifice by getting a job after pushing trolleys for free at a local supermarket.   I’m 43 and when I leave the RAF in June this year I’m going to look to intern with a professional speaker - hell, I’ll even pay them if I have to! I respect what they have and recognise that I need to learn. I’m not asking to be employed by them, I’m asking to contribute and learn.   Build your foundations slowly, forget about the get rich quick ‘get a great job in your 20s’ and just look to gain some experience. YOU ARE 90% of the way there and you have an impressive history.   So, here’s what I would do.   Offer to intern for a local company in the hope that you’ll get a job at the end - you probably will. Go to OASC as you said you are going to do and drive yourself towards a commission - start to believe in yourself! Read EVERYTHING I have ever written on FJP - it will help you. Your 6 month gap WILL NOT MATTER - I had a year gap - you just need to be able to justify it.   Let me know how you get on,  

Tim Davies