Emergency and Uniformed Services

If you would like to do further research into this sector, the following webpages may be useful.  

• Discover our sectors | Skills for Justice Skills for Justice is a not-for-profit organisation committed to the development of an improved and sustainable workforce across the UK’s justice, fire and rescue, local government and armed forces sectors.
• Emergency services in the United Kingdom - Statistics & Facts | Statista.
• Law enforcement and security | Prospects.ac.uk – a series of helpful advice blogs.
• Our Roles - Home Office Careers to learn more about the variety of roles in law enforcement and security.

Making contacts for informational interviews and speculative applications can be a good investment of your time and will help you to learn more about the sector. You could start by speaking with those already working in roles that appeal to you – find out what they did after graduation and contact them for advice. 

With many uniformed services offering volunteer, reservist or similar roles, there are easy ways to gain work experience in the uniformed services if you have graduated and are already working. 

To help increase your networks who may also be able to suggest ways to build experiences look at: 

• Ask an Alum: A fuss-free way to connect with University of Exeter alumni to ask careers questions. 
• Career Mentor Scheme: A popular employability scheme which matches a student or graduate with an experienced professional, for sector insight and one-to-one careers advice and guidance, over a 6-month period.

Recruitment fairs, careers fairs, open days, talks, and events give insights and opportunities to make contacts.  For details of future events and employers on campus visit Handshake. If you have not yet activated your account, select the Single Sign On (SSO) option and follow the onscreen instructions.  

Other opportunities include: 

• Justice sector events | Skills for Justice
• Uniformed Services Archives - GradJobs Live! & PostGrad Study Live! Takes place in London each November.

Many major graduate recruiters have policies and processes that are proactive in recruiting graduates from diverse backgrounds. The Armed Forces and Uniformed Services are proactive and committed to recruit and retain staff from all sections of society e.g. Making the Civil Service a Great Place to Work for Veterans - GOV.UK 

However, owing to the nature of some of the demands of the roles available there are also eligibility criteria and restrictions. Find out the policies and attitudes of employers that you are interested in, explore their equality and diversity policies and see if they offer Disability Confident Employer Scheme or are recognised for their policy by such indicators as Mindful Employer or as a Stonewall’s Diversity Champion.  

The UK law protects you from discrimination due to your age, gender, race, religion or beliefs, disability or sexual orientation and more. For further information on the Equality Act and to find out where and how you are protected, as well as information on what you need to do if you feel you have been discriminated against, visit the Government’s webpages on discrimination. 

To learn more about how to share details of a disability with an employer and the support you can receive applying for jobs and work experience visit our equality and diversity page. 

Further information  

• 6 Key Strategies: Progressing EDI in the UK Police Force • Government Events
• Diversity and inclusion | The British Army
• Equality and diversity - HM Prison and Probation Service - GOV.UK
• ‘Recruiting for diversity | College of Policing’