The army has launched a new recruitment campaign following reasearch which showed that one quarter of people feel their jobs lack challenge and excitement.

New research, commissioned as part of the British Army’s new Army Reserve recruitment campaign, has revealed that more than one in four people in Chelmsford and East Anglia feel that challenge and excitement are missing from their day job.

The survey carried out by OnePoll, revealed that six in ten people from Chelmsford would consider either voluntary work or a part-time job on top of their day job.

The top things people said were missing from their current career include the opportunity to study for employer-sponsored qualifications (16%), to travel (21%) and an exciting and challenging role (26%).

More than one in 5 people in East Anglia said they would consider joining the Army Reserve to benefit from all of these opportunities.

In addition, the research found that having a challenging and exciting role (17%) comes second only to salary (20%) and is even more important to people from East Anglia than a clear long-term career path (11%).

The British Army’s new Army Reserve recruitment campaign launches today with TV adverts hitting screens nationwide.

The campaign aims to improve interest in joining by showcasing some of the unique opportunities that reservists get involved in during their spare time and address what is lacking from their current careers.

These include:

  • the opportunity to travel both in the UK and abroad;
  • the ability to secure professional qualifications for free;
  •  the benefit of being paid while training (including regular promotions and pay rises)
  • the variety of exciting and challenging roles to choose from.

The campaign shows reservists taking part in a range of activities from live firing exercises in Challenger tanks to underwater welding, and from lagoon diving to delivering emergency medical supplies and humanitarian aid.

Iona Murdoch, 29, from Chelmsford, is an Emergency Medicine CT3 Doctor at 256 Field Hospital and Emergency Medicine Registrar at Addenbrooke’s Hospital Cambridge. 

She said: “I feel so lucky that I’m effectively paid to make new friends and broaden my horizons in my spare time.

"As part of my role as an Emergency Medicine Doctor I’ve travelled to countries I’d never have been to otherwise.

"As reservists, we regularly travel and train abroad - for example world-class courses in mountaineering, rock climbing and adventure diving.

"The list is as long as your goals and ambitions and I get the best of both worlds – when I’m spending the weekend running around a muddy field or in a tank on a training exercise with my mates, I know that on Monday morning I’ll be back behind the desk at my day job.”

For more information about the exciting and rewarding full-time and part-time jobs available with the Army, visit www.army.mod.uk/jobs, search Army Reserves or call 0845 600 8080.