Forces Recruitment Services Ltd was the first commercial Recruitment Consultancy set up to place ex-military candidates across the board. It was set up by former Army Musician Graham Brown in 2001 and has now grown into a franchise operation supporting 17 offices across the UK and expanding; the company has also recently been nominated by Recruiter magazine as Best Small Recruiter 2010 from thousands of agencies. If you are interested in making money for yourself, helping place ex-servicemen and women into work and running your own diary, contact Graham Brown on 01353 645004 or graham@forcesrecruitment.co.uk. This is a case study of Maggie Pugh, Regional Director of FRS (Berkshire).

"I served for 13 years in the WRNS and gained the rank of Lieutenant before leaving in 1991. I joined straight from School at 17 and entered the Photographic Branch of the Fleet Air Arm. During the Falklands War I manned a satellite machine in Whitehall that received all the photographs coming in from our ships down in the Atlantic and was responsible for getting them vetted by the MOD before they were released to the press. As a WRNS Officer I specialized as a Personnel Selection Officer and spent a very enjoyable 2 years working on the Admiralty Interview Board at HMS Sultan, selecting young men and women for Officer Training. I also served as the Captain's Secretary onboard HMS Birmingham (1985-86) although I was not allowed to sail with her in those days as Women were still not allowed to go to sea at that time. I left the WRNS in December 1991."

"I left during a period of economic recession and although I wanted to work in the field of Personnel Management the opportunities were simply not available at that time. I decided to leave the UK and set up home in the Channel Islands in the hope that I could find a new career there but after a year of working in sales and in a private recruitment company, I decided to return to the UK."

"I did not receive any allowances when I left in 1991 but I did attend a 2 day resettlement workshop that helped me to produce my first CV. There was no training allowance offered to me at that time."

"I had a second career after the WRNS in Quality Management but in May 2008 I was made redundant and it gave me the opportunity to consider the future path I wanted to take. I decided to work as a contractor for awhile and enjoyed the feeling of working for myself for a change. When my contract at Transport for London came to an end I heard about the Franchise Opportunity at FRS and thought that this would be a good opportunity to return to the field of recruitment and selection which I had enjoyed so much in the WRNS and work for myself."

"I enjoy working with Service Personnel again both from the candidate and colleague perspective and I enjoy working for myself."

"When I meet with employers to talk about the fantastic skills, attributes and experiences that service personnel have to offer them I can speak from a position of experience and knowledge with great passion and conviction having been a member of the armed forces myself and believing 100 per cent in the people that I am representing. My military training has also equipped me with the self discipline, "can do" work ethic, tenacity to get the job done and the pride and self belief that you need to run your own business successfully."

"Running a very successful recruitment business that has a strong identity and reputation within the business community throughout Berkshire and is making a positive contribution to improving the transition of service personnel into civilian employment."

"Think and plan ahead! Don't leave it until the last minute to think about what you want to do on the outside. Have a clear picture of what you want to do and where you want to be, consider if you will need to gain any qualifications in advance and if so then you can take them while you have the time. The most important thing to remember is that one CV will not fit every job that you apply for so you will need to tailor your CV each time you apply for a job, to bring our the key experiences and skills you have that match the key requirements of that position. If you do that then you will be much more successful in getting interviews!"

To find out more about a recruitment franchise with FRS contact Graham Brown on 01353 645004 graham@forcesrecruitment.co.uk or visit www.forcesrecruitment.co.uk/franchise.html.