Our Background
Here at AeroPM, we are well-versed in supporting veterans transition from Defence, and in supporting those veterans who are looking for follow-on work after testing the water in other areas. Having been recognised by the Prime Minister of Australia in 2020 as the Veteran Employer of the year Australia-wide, we know that our system and processes, coupled with our personal experiences, are capable of supporting all veterans seeking to transition into Defence Industry. For more information, please watch the video below:
This Guide
This guide was developed to provide veterans with some of the more unique insights to support you in your transition from Defence and to help grow your understanding of what being a consultant within the Defence Industry really means.
WHAT IS A DEFENCE CONSULTANT
Through the lens of AeroPM, a Defence consultant supports Defence acquire, transition, and sustain complex assets for use by the warfighter. If you have had experience within Defence of working within CASG (projects or sustainment) or within a HQ (Capability Management), then you will be aware that the types of roles that you can be exposed to are the same as you would be in Defence. If not, then the types of work that you will be exposed to are based in skill sets. The typical skill sets that AeroPM deploy to CASG or HQs include Project Managers, Engineers, Test and Evaluation specialists, Logisticians and Operators (with end-user experience). Defence Consultants have the second highest number of employees behind the Army and are used across CASG and HQs to provide specialist capabilities and to supplement the Defence and APS workforce.
Defence Member 'V' Defence Consultant
As a Defence consultant, you have greater choice over the type of jobs, the choice of project, your career trajectory, and the location of your role. These are typically the four reasons why people choose to leave Defence - to gain greater control of their employment. However, the biggest difference between being a Defence member and a Defence consultant is in your leadership style. Most Defence Members are outstanding leaders in their own right, but the true test of a leader (or of influencing outcomes) comes when you remove your rank and your positional power and are required to lead or support delivery of a complex asset through your personal leadership strengths and your own personal brand. This may seem daunting to a 30 year veteran, but in our experience most veterans achieve this with flying colours.
Defence Member 'V' Defence Consultant
As a Defence consultant, you have greater choice over the type of jobs, the choice of project, your career trajectory, and the location of your role. These are typically the four reasons why people choose to leave Defence - to gain greater control of their employment. However, the biggest difference between being a Defence member and a Defence consultant is in your leadership style. Most Defence Members are outstanding leaders in their own right, but the true test of a leader (or of influencing outcomes) comes when you remove your rank and your positional power and are required to lead or support delivery of a complex asset through your personal leadership strengths and your own personal brand. This may seem daunting to a 30 year veteran, but in our experience most veterans achieve this with flying colours.
WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR IN FUTURE AEROPM CONSULTANTS
As AeroPM consultants are recognised by our clients as being high-performers and problem solvers, we are looking for veterans who have experience in the Defence HQs, within CASG or as operators who use the end product delivered by CASG. Our preference is for certified experts (or those who can be certified) in their field and who can provide tactical and strategic support to a broad scope of capability acquisition and sustainment projects within Defence Industry. AeroPM offers a balanced work lifestyle with job security and a positive team culture to all our consultants.
We are always on the lookout for serving members or veterans with the following attributes:
- Security Clearances
- Degrees in their field of practice
- Have led or supported complex projects within Defence HQ or CASG, or have operated assets
- Have had management experience (O3-O6, EL1-EL2)
We are always on the lookout for serving members or veterans with the following attributes:
- Security Clearances
- Degrees in their field of practice
- Have led or supported complex projects within Defence HQ or CASG, or have operated assets
- Have had management experience (O3-O6, EL1-EL2)
SPECIFIC SKILL SETS
We are looking for experienced professionals to join our team across Australia in the following skill sets within all domains (Air, Land, Maritime, Joint and Infrastructure):
If you are a specialist and don’t have experience in one of the above skill sets then don’t hesitate to get in contact with us to find out what we can do for you!
- Engineering
- Project Management
- Test & Evaluation
- Integrated Logistics
- Commercial
- Capability Definition
- Operators (ie pilots and aircrew)
If you are a specialist and don’t have experience in one of the above skill sets then don’t hesitate to get in contact with us to find out what we can do for you!
ASSESSING YOUR SKILL SET
Skill Level Guide
The below skill levels are an indicative guide given by the DSS Panel only. There are both subjective and objective aspects to the guide that will support the initial placement of a consultant into a role. Remember, you will not be judged by the client or your peers on the skill level attributed to your role, rather your ability to provide guidance, advice and support to the client.
Please be aware that the level at which you are employed is not the only influencing factor regarding remuneration. Transition between levels is based on advancement of skills and confidence, both of which we seek to advance through employment with AeroPM, allowing you to develop as a professional. We advise not to get 'hung-up' on the level that you are consulting at, rather you focus your attention on the role. We have found that a senior level 3 role can have higher remuneration than a junior level 4 role - so again our advice is to focus on the role rather than the level.
The below skill levels are an indicative guide given by the DSS Panel only. There are both subjective and objective aspects to the guide that will support the initial placement of a consultant into a role. Remember, you will not be judged by the client or your peers on the skill level attributed to your role, rather your ability to provide guidance, advice and support to the client.
Please be aware that the level at which you are employed is not the only influencing factor regarding remuneration. Transition between levels is based on advancement of skills and confidence, both of which we seek to advance through employment with AeroPM, allowing you to develop as a professional. We advise not to get 'hung-up' on the level that you are consulting at, rather you focus your attention on the role. We have found that a senior level 3 role can have higher remuneration than a junior level 4 role - so again our advice is to focus on the role rather than the level.
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Level 1: Entry Level-O2
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Level 2: O3-O4 / APS6
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Level 3: O4-O6 / EL1-EL2
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Level 4: O5+ / EL2+
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A Level 1 (associate/entry level) professional will have the below minimum mandatory criteria:
- Vocational education and training
- Ability to work under general direction and use discretion in identifying and responding to routine
- Has working level contact with customers, suppliers, and partners
- Performs a range of routine work and applies methodical approach to issue definition and resolution
- Initiates and identifies opportunities to identify and negotiate personal development opportunities
- Contributes to the work of teams and can communicate effectively
- Plans, schedules, and monitors own work competently within limited deadlines and according to relevant legislation, standards, and procedures
- Appreciates how their role relates to other roles and the business of their employer and clients
A Level 2 (practitioner) professional will have the below minimum mandatory criteria:
- Higher education sector accreditation at a minimum advanced diploma level
- Works under general direction and exercises a substantial amount of personal responsibility and autonomy to meet given objectives and processes
- Influences customers, suppliers, and partners at account level
- Participates in external activities related to own specialism and makes decisions which influence the success of projects and the team objectives
- Work is inclusive of complex technical or professional work in a variety of contexts and can investigate, define, and resolve complex issues
- Communicates fluently orally and in writing with the ability to present complex information to both technical and non-technical audiences
- Facilitates collaboration between stakeholders who share common objectives
- Maintains awareness of developing technology and their application while taking responsibility for driving development
A Level 3 (advanced practitioner) professional will have the below minimum mandatory criteria:
- A qualified practitioner with higher degree qualifications or relevant industry experience of more than 8 years
- Works under broad direction and is fully responsible for meeting allocated technical and/or project/supervisory objectives
- Establishes milestones and has significant role in the assignments of tasks
- Exercises influence on organisation, customers, suppliers, partners, and peers and the allocation and management of resources to assignments
- Builds appropriate and effective business relationships and makes decisions which impact the success of assigned work
- Performs an extensive range of complex technical or professional work activities and undertakes work which requires the application of fundamental principles
- Understands the relationship between own specialism and wider requirements
- Advises on the available standards, methods, tools, and applications relevant to own specialism and can make appropriate choices from alternatives
- Facilitates collaboration between stakeholders who have diverse objectives
- Takes all requirements into account when making proposals
- Maintains awareness of developments in the industry and takes initiative to keep skills up to date
- Analyses requirements and advises on scope and options for continuous operational improvement
- Demonstrates creativity, innovation, and ethical thinking in applying solutions for the benefit of the customer/stakeholder
A Level 4 (expert) professional will have the below minimum criteria:
- A qualified practitioner with specific qualifications or industry training (Bachelors or above) or relevant industry experience of more than 12 years
- Has defined authority and accountability of actions and decisions within a significant area of work
- Establishes organisational objectives and assigns level of responsibility
- Initiates influential relationships with internal and external customers, suppliers and partners at senior management level including industry leaders
- Makes decisions which impact the work of employing organisations, achievement of organisational objectives and financial performance
- Has a broad business understanding and deep understanding of own specialism(s)
- Performs highly complex work, covering technical, financial, and quality aspects and contributes to the implementation of policy and strategy
- Absorbs complex information and communicates effectively at all levels to both technical and non-technical audiences
- Demonstrates clear leadership and can understand and communicate industry developments
- Promotes compliance with legislation and take initiative to keep both own and colleagues’ skills up to date
AEROPM BENEFITS
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Professional Support
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Reward & Recognition
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Health & Wellbeing
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- Preferred Role Selection: We work with all of our employees to find the right role for their professional goals and to suit their personal lifestyle
- Professional Guidance Program: A tailored avenue for enhancing skills and expertise through one on one mentoring
- Masterclass Series: Masterclass covering a range of different consulting aspects
- Professionalisation funding: Access to training funding to further develop and professionalise (subject to conditions)
- Mentoring Program: Formal mentoring program available to all employees
- Learning Together Program: Sharing valuable knowledge across niche skillsets
- Performance Feedback: Quarterly client performance feedback to support professional growth
- AeroPM Network: Reach back to subject matter experts across the AeroPM team
- Competitive Salary: Low overheads to reward high quality staff
- Engineers Australia Credentialing Program: Partnership providing membership and a streamlined pathway to Chartered Status, Engineering Executive, and Fellow
- Anniversary Reward Program
- Achievement Awards for Excellence: Highlighting outstanding contributions
- Employee Referral Program
- Company Rallies: Bringing our workforce together, providing employees opportunities to connect
- MJ Bale Corporate Discount: 20% discount on full priced items
- Access to our Employee Assistance Program (Medical, Mental Health, Wellbeing and Safety support)
- Paid Parental Leave: Eligible to up to 12 weeks for permanent and fixed-term employees (subject to conditions)
- Reserve Service Leave
- Navy Health Partnership: 5% off and a competitive rate
- Flexible Work Arrangements: Ensuring a health work life balance
- Social Activities and Family Functions: Allowing the team to remain connected
- Annual Flu Shot: Reimbursement of up to $40 for permanent or fixed-term employees
HOW WE FIND YOU THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY
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Our Opportunities
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Opportunity Knocks
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Building a Response
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Roles
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At AeroPM, our aim is to find you the most interesting role, complimenting your qualifications, skills, experiences, and values. We are efficient and are completely open with the scores of opportunities that are available to you at the time. We take the time to learn more about you, your ideal role, areas in which you'd like to grow and any possible areas for which you may be conflicted. If we do not have access to your dream role, we tailor an engagement strategy through a list of over 150 roles to see which of our current opportunities might be of interest to you.
As the requests for AeroPM resources roll in, our team reviews these opportunities twice daily. Having already reviewed your drivers, ambitions, and preferred roles, we will push those to you that we expect you would be interested to know more. You will be emailed separately for each opportunity where we will outline all the things you need to know about the role - more than just the job description. We will also provide some of our knowledge about particular clients and, with prior approval, offer you the opportunity to reach out to our team who are engaged with that particular capability. You don't need to accept the first opportunity you see; there will be plenty more - but if you are interested, we will commence our work in building a bid for you to win the role.
We want to make our response, your response. We have become very good at showcasing to the client just how talented you are. We will harvest some of your contributions from throughout the recruitment process and work with you to address the specific recruitment criteria. We want to make sure that our response for a given opportunity is accurate, comprehensive, reflective of your abilities, and above all, demonstrates the capability benefit that the client stands to benefit from through having you on the team. Consequently, we take great care to ensure that our response, is your response, not a generic, cookie cutter model.
When you're in need of a role that doesn't yet exist per se, we work with our extensive networks and clients to advertise your specific capabilities and interests. We can do this discreetly in a de-identified sense, or with some more targeted conversations. Efforts alike to this are not reserved for our new team members, but true of any of our team who are in search of a new challenge.
CV TIPS & TEMPLATES
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CV Template
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CV Tips
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AeroPM CV | |
File Size: | 1111 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Defence language - always!
Most importantly, use your Defence language - do not let a CV writer transpose your Defence skills into civilian narrative - they usually get this wrong! Be yourself - tell the true story! Of note, if you are trying to find a role in Defence Industry then it is highly likely that another veteran who knows you works for that company and they will be asked if they know you! Furthermore, do not over-complicate your CV. Keep it simple!
Developing your CV
Responsible to <Leader> for achieving <Single Statement of Greatness> to ensure <Fantastic Outcome>.
<Past Tense Verb> <Describe a Function> <Outcome of Function>.
Most importantly, use your Defence language - do not let a CV writer transpose your Defence skills into civilian narrative - they usually get this wrong! Be yourself - tell the true story! Of note, if you are trying to find a role in Defence Industry then it is highly likely that another veteran who knows you works for that company and they will be asked if they know you! Furthermore, do not over-complicate your CV. Keep it simple!
Developing your CV
- Everyone has a different idea of how to craft the perfect CV; and we're just another commentator that thinks our way is the best way!
- A single statement for each bullet point, each with a full stop.
- Make your past tense verb punch.. 'Capitalised', 'Formulated', 'Strategised', 'Commanded', 'Grew', 'Fostered', Engendered', etc.
- Consider the function that you describe at a more strategic level.
- Three dot points per role that are more strategic in nature is preferred over five dot points that deal in the minute.
- Use the outcome element.
- Be truthful. Colourful and confident yes, but truthful always.
- Everyone does 'stakeholder engagement' making it difficult to seperate yourself, but if everyone was as good at stakeholder engagement as they claim, Defence would have a lot less problems.
Responsible to <Leader> for achieving <Single Statement of Greatness> to ensure <Fantastic Outcome>.
<Past Tense Verb> <Describe a Function> <Outcome of Function>.
VETERAN TRANSITION
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Transition
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AeroPM Recruitment Process
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Support
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Flexible Work Arrangements
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“I originally believed that my transition from the Air Force to the Private Sector was going to be stressful and difficult. From my first conversation with Adam Frizell at AeroPM, I felt assured that I would be looked after. Not only did I feel supported throughout the entire recruitment process, but once I started at AeroPM the training that I received through the masterclass program thoroughly prepared me for my new role as a consultant. I am extremely thankful to Adam and the AeroPM team for the robust and easy to navigate processes that they have put in place for Veteran recruitment, transition and employment.”
- Claire Milton, Senior Consultant
“My transition to AeroPM from the Air Force was extremely smooth. I received an employment contract within 7 days of the time that I applied through their website. I left the Air Force on a Friday, completed a day’s worth of consulting training on the Monday and was on a client-facing task on the Tuesday supported by an AeroPM mentor to support me along the way. Adam was extremely transparent throughout the recruitment process and he ensured that I was supported at all times. I would highly recommend AeroPM as a great place to work”.
- Daniel Barrett, Senior Consultant
“I was looking for a company that would support me to continue working with my passion in the Army Aviation sector. AeroPM were very conscious of my needs and ensured that they spent the time to work with the relevant clients to achieve this outcome. AeroPM worked with me throughout the transition process to ensure that all conflicts of interest were managed and that I could indeed start my consulting career back into Army Aviation. I am very thankful for the hard work and personal touch that was applied during the recruitment process.”
- Darren McCulloch
“My husband recently received a three year overseas posting and I was going to accompany him on leave without pay. I approached AeroPM to see whether I would be able to continue working as an Engineer providing support to capability delivery within Defence as a consultant. Within 5 days, AeroPM had completed the recruitment process and provided me with a letter of offer. I am currently in the final month of being within Australia before moving overseas and I am extremely happy with my decision to join AeroPM. Over the last two weeks, Adam has personally helped me shape my professional development plan over the next three years and I am looking forward to growing as a professional consultant”.