JUDGING by the large number of recruitment events held by leading accountancy firms, investment banks and consulting houses, it would be easy to assume that they are the only major employers targeting university leavers.

The Army is, in fact, the second largest recruiter of graduates in Britain and one of just three organisations currently offering about a thousand vacancies annually. It has been consistently ranked in the top ten in The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers during the past five years, although the popularity of the Armed Forces has wavered a little since the start of the conflict in Iraq.

Although graduates join the Army for a very wide range of reasons, one of the rarely publicised aspects of becoming an officer is the unusually generous remuneration available. Not only is the starting salary of £21,300 well above that offered by many commercial or industrial employers, but there is the added bonus of exceptionally modest food and accommodation costs for Army life — currently costing less than £3,000 per annum — which means that new graduates enjoy an almost unrivalled disposable income.

The Army recruits on a year-round basis, assessing would-be officers at any time before or after graduation. The starting point is usually an interview with an Army careers adviser and often an introductory visit to a regiment. The next stage is to attend a briefing meeting with the Regular Commissions Board (RCB); a day and a half of training and information on the testing procedures that the Army uses to select its officers.

Only once this has been successfully completed can a formal application be made to join a regiment or corps. All applicants then undergo a military medical before attempting the main three-day RCB selection event. If successful, graduate officer cadets begin their Army career with the highly demanding 11-month Commissioning Course at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.



Martin Birchall is editor of The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers

What does it do? The Army is the largest of our Armed Forces, with more than 100,000 personnel. It is deployed in 80 overseas areas, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Kosovo, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Germany and Northern Ireland.





What does it employ graduates for? About 1,000 officers are recruited by the Army each year for roles in engineering, IT and communications, logistics, finance and combat.





Where are the jobs? Most officers begin their training at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst before joining one of the regiments or corps around the UK.





What’s the pay like? Officers are paid £21,300, rising to £26,300 upon completion of initial training.





What’s the competition like? The Army typically assesses six or seven candidates per officer vacancy.

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