Who are Opcivilian?
We are a group of Ex-Forces professionals with over 30 years combined experience in navigating the civilian sector and achieving their maximum worth in roles encompassing a wide range of industries and companies.
Opcivilian consultants have a proven track record of success, having worked with some of the worlds largest and most prestigious companies and organisations and have gained an unrivalled knowledge bank of experience through their own struggles and journeys outside the wire, meaning they are best placed to advise current cohorts of UK Service Leavers on what it takes to succeed in civvy street.
We have been Service Leavers, Job Seekers, Budding Networkers, Applicants, Hiring Managers and everything in between!
Here’s our stories, and why we set up Opcivilian to help you:
Andy’s Journey
I’m Andy McHardy (Mac or Macca), one of the Co-Founders of Opcivilian.
I served in the REME between 1998 and 2013 and left as an SSgt Artificer (Vehs). You can connect with me on LinkedIn Here.
When I left, I took the same resettlement course as my muckers, Prince2. I didn’t have a good idea of my ideal civvy role, so I did what most people do and followed the herd to some extent.
After a few years of trial and error and some self-assessments such as Belbin’s Team roles and Schien’s Career Anchor test, I achieved clearer direction on how to map my future. I leveraged my ELCs to my advantage, leading me to roles that have allowed me to grow into the profession I am in today.
Because I lacked clear direction from the beginning, I inevitably failed to realise my true potential professionally and financially.
I’ve included my journey below. I compared what I earned before I did some soul-searching against what I now know in retrospect. The graph shows that over the seven years since leaving the army, I have missed out on around £50k of additional income by simply not knowing what role or industry I truly wanted to be in, my worth and the stratagies to achieve my worth.
The graph depicts my progression from being naive and inexperienced, unaware of my own value, to a point where I am now able to negotiate better compensation packages and maximise my employer’s offerings. I now make sure that I don’t leave any opportunities unexplored.
For interest, I still revert, even now, to many of the lessons we have created for Opcivilian to negotiate pay raises and promotions internally, recently being successful in this area!
Carl’s Journey
I’m Carl Trigg and I’m one of the Co-Founders of Opcivilian.
I served in REME between 1998-2012 and left as an SSgt Artificer (Vehs). You can connect with me on LinkedIn HERE
Below, you can see my journey expressed through my financial income before and after I left the military. I’ve compared my civilian earnings since leaving to my projected military salary if I had remained in for 22 years so that you can have some context and comparison.
After leaving the army, I experienced a decrease in pay, as can be common for many veterans. Initially, I tried to establish several self-employed ventures but eventually re-entered the corporate world at a level slightly lower than my military salary. It took some time, but I ultimately surpassed my previous military earnings and gained valuable experience, knowledge, and skills. Now, we want to share this experience with other service leavers so they can achieve their true worth. I firmly believe that veterans should be able to earn at least as much as they did in the military, which is why Mac and I have established Opcivilian.
The graph below illustrates my trials and tribulations through my experiences in entrepreneurship, side hustles, climbing corporate ladders, getting by, paying the bills (and the taxman) to finally working it out around 2018, learning ‘the game’ and achieving somewhere close to my true worth. P.S. I’m still climbing!
You can see from above that it took me nearly six years to truly ‘Figure It Out’ and work out how to ace the civilian game and unlock all it’s secrets!
Six years is a long time, and I don’t want veterans going through this pain, that’s why we want to impart our knowledge to you and help you get it right FIRST TIME.
We’ve learned the rules of the game, how to play it, and how to win, and now we want to share them with you.
What is our 9-Step Process?
Like many in the Ex-Forces community, we grew tired of seeing Service Leavers struggle to find their feet, so we decided to set up Opcivilian to impart all of our combined knowledge and experience into something that would resonate with Service Leavers and ensure they had a solid end-to-end process to guide them toward a fruitful future.
CTP provides some building blocks but, in our opinion (we have been through it!), lacks inside knowledge. Its generic approach and mass delivery do not deliver on an individual level. It’s a one-to-many model.
Networking fairs and Job events are also great and often well-run. However, unless you have a plan before attending and know what you want, you’re essentially swinging mindlessly and hoping to succeed.
Recruiters also offer a valuable service, but let’s remember that recruiters exist to serve their customers (the employer) and fill their vacancies. To them, Service Leavers are a commodity. If you are not fully aware, you could get a raw deal and achieve less than you are worth or end up in a role that isn’t right for you.
We decided to do something unique and geared towards the individual: guide the Service Leaver at their own pace through the end-to-end journey and help you smash it out of the ballpark.
That’s why we devised the 9 Step Resettlement Process.
Our 9-step process is designed to support you during your last year in uniform, up to your exit date, and beyond into your new role. We want to help you succeed in your new position from the start. However, this process doesn’t have to be followed strictly as outlined. If you have only a few months left or have already left the uniformed services but are still looking for the right role, our model can help you reset and approach the process more strategically.
It’s geared towards Service Leavers, created by Service Leavers and explicitly designed to help you successfully transition into the civilian workforce.
Here is an overview of the process:
Is it effective?
By working through each of the nine steps, you will learn more about yourself and transition from accepting the status quo to embracing the mindset of a civilian seeking a new role. The nine-step process is designed to coach and mentor you through the process rather than doing it all for you. This is so you can develop the skills and tools to do it repeatedly, and as you progress, you will discover things you didn’t know about yourself. The road ahead for service members can be challenging, and success will require effort.
BUT
The odds that you will get it right the first time are vastly improved with the aim that you will not undergo the painful journey others experience when leaving. You will gain incredible self-awareness, knowledge, and confidence if you complete the process. Give 100% effort, apply the learning, and you WILL earn the right role for you, and you WILL achieve your true civilian value.
Here’s what some of our current members have said about us.
Unbelievable. The Opcivilian team have rewritten the rules of the game on resettlement. As a pilot reviewer I was blown away by how relevant, personalised and effective the whole process was.
CTP left me like a rabbit in headlights.
Opcivilian showed me my potential and gave me the tools to be successful. It’s definitely what Service Leavers need moving forward.
The quality of information, guidance and support from the 9 Steps has allowed me to progress through my resettlement with confidence and direction. 100% recommend to anyone leaving who needs direction.
This is what a resettlement process should be!
The 9-Steps is a strategic plan to help the leaver identify who they are, plan their future with confidence and then actively go about achieving it.
In their 9-Step process opcivilian have single-handedly reimagined the resettlement process for the benefit of Veterans and Service Leavers.
Working with Opciv I was able to gain an unbelievable 30% increase on my old salary in just under 4 months. As someone with no experience the process of applying, preparing and interviewing was better than I could have ever hopped for.
I gained so many compliments on the quality of my application! I am so grateful to Opcivilian for making it so easy for me to find my dream role and land it.
How much does it cost?
The 9 Steps are completely FREE!
Yes you read that right, the whole 9 Steps is entirely FREE, with no hidden charges, no credit card sign up required, and no obligations.
We do have some premium options that give you an even greater edge on the competition. These are our PRO and PRO ELITE memberships.
You can also access the Pro and Pro-Elite memberships via your SLC (UK Service Leavers Only) – Details below.
Opcivilian is a bootstrapped company – meaning we fund this without any outside funding, investment or support. This means that we don’t have to answer to anyone but you the customer. It also means that 100% of our focus in on serving the customer (you the Service Leaver) and delivering you to the future you want, and deserve. If you win, our mission is accomplished. It’s as simple as that.
“If you are not paying for the product – you ARE the product”.
– Steve Jobs
Unlike other entities we don’t get our funding from external organisations. Recruiters get paid by the employers as they are their customers, you are their commodity to serve the employers need. Networkers get paid by employers who pay to exhibit at events. CTP gets paid by the Government who get their funding from taxpayers. Opcivilian operates independently in delivering a truly customer-orientated standalone product to the people who need it – YOU!
We’re 110% confident that our 9 Steps will work for you, but to make sure we’ve put in a completely Risk-Free Guarantee to give you peace of mind and a 100% Guarantee that you get results.
3 x ROI Guarantee
If you complete the 9-Steps as a premium member and don’t land at least one offer which equates to a pay rise from your current military salary that’s worth more than 3X the price you paid then we will refund you………every penny.
Every Service Man or Woman only goes through resettlement once.
Get it right – FIRST TIME