Want to join - lots of questions

[Blotra]

I'm really interested in joining the RAF but still have lots of questions even after seeing the literature and speaking to the guys at the AFCO.

1 - Ideally I want to join as Intelligence Analyst (Voice) but guys at AFCO said this trade is very competitive so should I go for my second trade (Mechanical Transport Driver)? I have GCSE German at Grade A and 10 other GCSEs A-B but no other language skills. What are the promotion prospects like in both of these trades?

2 - What is the pay like? The literature says 15k-ish starting salary but is this after basic training? How long would it be until I started earning this? Reason I ask is I earn £23k at the moment and have credit card bills etc to pay

3 - Returning to the above, what are deducations for food, living costs, bills etc like? I'm hoping that they will be quite low so the big drop in pay from what I'm on now doesn't affect me so much.

4 - I'm a vegetarian, how well are we catered for in the RAF? Again, all the literature says vegetarians and special diets are catered for, but how true is this in practice?

5 - What's the accommodation like after finishing training? Dormitories? Shared rooms? Single rooms?

6 - Am I totally mad to be considering leaving a well paid civvy IT job for a much lower salary in the RAF? I'm 23 now and don't see my life going anywhere. I think the discipline and lifestyle of the RAF could do me a lot of good, and I think I'll regret not having done it when I'm older if I don't join up now...

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

[flynn101]

why didnt you go to college?

[Blotra]

I was burned out from education at 16, and was lucky enough to find a good job. Not sure whether that was the right decision in retrospect, but what's done is done!

[Biggles1211]

I was burned out from education at 16

WTF!?!?!? Particularly stressful GCSEs at your school then?

[chrispob]

go for it mate and go for your 1st choice, i was told avionics was a competition trade but i got accepted no probs, just wating for a date now.

ull be earning round 15k when you get to senior aicraftman/woman i think this will be about 1 year in trade training.

im the same as you mate, i have a good civvy job n well paid but going to the same office all the time and doing the same thing does my head in totally. i have loads of mates and girlfriend at home but somethings have to be done and itll all be the same when i come home!

good luck mate in whatever you do but ull be daft not to

[Devils_Advocate]

You say you are in IT, why not an IT related tech trade, like TG4? Better money than a MT driver. You'd be wasted there with your skills. Most MT jobs are filled with civvies anyway.

If you have an aptitude for languages then utilise that, and start studying other languages, you can gues which are flavour of the month.

[Calamity_Jane]

Blotra, word of advice...

Reading your first post, with all the valid questions, I must say you are going about this a little fast. I think its good that you are looking at all aspects of the RAF, but what you should be asking yourself is, do you want Trade or Officer?

Having been through the process of applying, the best way is take one step at a time.. If you start thinking about living costs etc you maybe getting your hopes up a little too soon.

Apply for a trade/branch, if you really want the RAF you wont worry too much about what Trade/branch you go for, the job is just a bonus.. Learn your stuff, get as much advise as possible, improve your skills in everyway, apply then if successful start asking those questions about Living costs etc. Unfortunatly competition is high at the moment..

If you would like some advise about applying then please Private Message me and I will help in every way possible.

Calamity Jane

[Devils_Advocate]

you wont worry too much about what Trade/branch you go for, the job is just a bonus..

What planet are you on? I have known a number of very good people who were conned into joining and accepting a trade which they didnt really want on the promise of remustering later.....which never materialised. They were very disappointed people! Stuck in a job they didnt want to do.

There are a number of Officer who dont care what they do, they just want to be an officer. They tend to be bloody useless.

Would you work at IBM as a floor sweeper just so you can say you work for Big Blue? Yeah right.

[Flintham Block1]

DA - I couldn't agree more with your last post. Those who join up just to be an officer tend to be the very worst type (our trade is full of them is it not?). My advice would be to stick with the trade you want or at the VERY least have one strong second choice. I am in no way trying to slate the staff who work in the AFCOs, so this is not directed at them but for those of you that join in a trade that you don't really want re-mustering is very complex these days and 3 years doing a job you don't like can be a very long time. I would also ask Calamity Jane how she intends to inspire her troops when she wasn't too bothered about what branch she got?

[2nd time round]

Just wanted to add to what Jane has said really.

The saying 'Dont count your chickens before they hatch' is very applicable to this posting. You have to be clear in your own mind what you want to do before you set foot into an AFCO. Those lovely people in there will sniff you out in no time and of course direct you to the branch where they need bodies.

Competiton is incredibly fierce and whilst you are showing commitment by dropping signifcantly on salary, am afraid worrying bout the in's and outs of raf life wont help you at this stage.

Think about what it is you really want to do, trader wise or officer wise because they are totally different jobs. If you do decide to go for it, Good Luck !.