I left school with decent grades, and was a CNC Programmer before i joined the Army at 25. I could of carried on down the engineering side of things in the Army, but that isn't what I wanted to do. I wanted to join the Royal Artillery and work with the firepower that it offers. If you join the Army in a job role that you don't like or enjoy you will hate it and want to do something else. There are 200 jobs in the Army meaning there is something out there for you. You just need to apply yourself.

There will be opportunities that come your way, which at first may not sound great, however, if you volunteer for those you will be rewarded. I volunteered to go to Kosovo for 6 weeks, in return I was picked to go skiing for a week in Italy, all paid for by the Army. I loved both experiences and have never regretted that decision.

One of the biggest pieces of advice I can give somebody who has an interest in joining the military is to simply be yourself. One of key values of the military is integrity, so as long as you're honest with yourself and being true to who you are, you can't go too wrong. Those who try to be somebody they're not always get found out, and false appearances can only be kept up for so long. I would also say work hard. If you continue to push yourself and push what you think are your limitations, you'll find yourself pleasantly surprised. Those who work hard in the military are very often rewarded and go on to have the more fulfilling, exciting career with an abundance of opportunities. Those who shy away from work or are lazy will again get found out very quickly and have less opportunities available.