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Enlisting with a degree

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    #32
    Horusire
    Registered Users Posts: 158 ✭✭Horusire


    mikeym wrote: »
    Anyone that joined up after April 2004 dont get a pension after 21 years service. You have to do 30 years.

    That's wrong. you can do 21 leave wait till your 50 and then get your pension. If god forbid someone did 21 how joined at 17 they'd have to wait 12 years for there pension.


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    #33
    uck51js9zml2yt
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,268 ✭✭✭✭uck51js9zml2yt


    Señor Fancy Pants wrote: »
    New entrants are on 10% less wages (at least) than a guy who joined pre '09. They can serve and qualify for a 21yr pension but won't get it until they are 50 (I think)

    Overseas appointments are hard to get, promotion is getting harder, getting the course you want is also tricky.

    People get disillusioned pretty quickly. If you are young with little or no people depending on you. The logical choice seems to be join for 5 years (as some sort of a stop gap) and bug out.

    Talking to my brother , even he says overseas is harder to get as are courses. He's a QM with almost 40 years under his belt.
    A nephew joined and gave up after basic training and not getting any courses. He got so fed up with sitting around that he bought himself out.


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    #34
    sean2591
    Registered Users Posts: 45 ✭sean2591


    Meadow Gigantic Hailstorm wrote: »
    Talking to my brother , even he says overseas is harder to get as are courses. He's a QM with almost 40 years under his belt.
    A nephew joined and gave up after basic training and not getting any courses. He got so fed up with sitting around that he bought himself out.

    Talking about your nephew there what did you mean by saying 'he bought himself out'?


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    #35
    uck51js9zml2yt
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,268 ✭✭✭✭uck51js9zml2yt


    sean2591 wrote: »
    Talking about your nephew there what did you mean by saying 'he bought himself out'?

    When you sign up, you do so for a fixed period. To leave within that term there is a penalty payment which the army calculate based on length of time, training etc.
    If you pay it you can leave early.


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    #36
    Señor Fancy Pants
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,628 ✭✭✭Señor Fancy Pants


    Meadow Gigantic Hailstorm wrote: »
    Talking to my brother , even he says overseas is harder to get as are courses. He's a QM with almost 40 years under his belt.
    A nephew joined and gave up after basic training and not getting any courses. He got so fed up with sitting around that he bought himself out.

    Yeah there are very few CQMS vacancies overseas. The higher you go in Rank, the harder it is to deploy. That changes when there are larger troop missions obviously.


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    #37
    danube
    Registered Users Posts: 153 ✭✭danube


    Señor Fancy Pants wrote: »
    Yeah there are very few CQMS vacancies overseas. The higher you go in Rank, the harder it is to deploy. That changes when there are larger troop missions obviously.
    My friends Dad is a Company Sergent and he hasn't been deployed since Chad in 2008.


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    #38
    Señor Fancy Pants
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,628 ✭✭✭Señor Fancy Pants


    danube wrote: »
    My friends Dad is a Company Sergent and he hasn't been deployed since Chad in 2008.

    Jaysis, same as myself. I must have been on the same trip as him.


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    #39
    mikeym
    Registered Users Posts: 3,985 ✭✭✭mikeym


    Horusire wrote: »
    That's wrong. you can do 21 leave wait till your 50 and then get your pension. If god forbid someone did 21 how joined at 17 they'd have to wait 12 years for there pension.

    From the pension handbook.
    If you retire before age 50, your retirement benefits are preserved to age 60. This means that your pension and gratuity will be payable only from age 60 and on application by you.

    There seems to be a lot of confusion about the 2004 Pensions and I rang Galway recently to be told that you get no pension after 21 years service if you joined after April 1st, but after looking at the handbook your entitled to some benefits.

    I dont claim to have all the answers but I certainly will be looking into it further.


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    #40
    Horusire
    Registered Users Posts: 158 ✭✭Horusire


    mikeym wrote: »
    From the pension handbook.



    There seems to be a lot of confusion about the 2004 Pensions and I rang Galway recently to be told that you get no pension after 21 years service if you joined after April 1st, but after looking at the handbook your entitled to some benefits.

    I dont claim to have all the answers but I certainly will be looking into it further.

    You may have just ended my military career. The PSS literally lied to my platoon.


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    #41
    Lockstep
    Registered Users Posts: 9,030 ✭✭✭Lockstep


    I looked into it as well OP but generally heard that I'd be better off looking elsewhere.

    That said, a friend of mine spent years applying for the cadets with a law degree and got nowhere, even after getting an LLM in peacekeeping. He then decided to enlist and has been in it a couple of years and loves it.


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    #42
    mikeym
    Registered Users Posts: 3,985 ✭✭✭mikeym


    Horusire wrote: »
    You may have just ended my military career. The PSS literally lied to my platoon.

    If you want to leave after 21 years service get onto a PDFORRA rep who should point you in the right direction or else he/she may advise you on your entitlements if you have any.

    Anyone who joined between April 2004 and 1st January 2011 should have recieved the Pensions Handbook from the Department Of Defence.


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    #43
    BigDuffman
    Registered Users Posts: 1,512 ✭✭✭BigDuffman


    If its the lifestyle you want then go for it OP. You will get a lot of negativity from people who consider themselves or others "mushrooms". Some of these are also the type of lads who wait until 6 weeks before EOS to bother putting their name in to the hat to do a course then whinge that they did not get it.

    Lads with degrees are not considered a strange thing any more. In my unit we have two boys with a law degree and one going up to kings inn on a part time basis. Granted none of these have long term ambitions at a DF career. But the DF is unlike any other work place. Never mind the conditions and lifestyle you are actively encouraged and given leave to study an official 5 days a year, study leave and then days off for tests and buckshee halfers when you need it. Very few excuses for anyone to not up-skill. Use this to your advantage. Do your overseas, get on course's that will stand to you in civvie street. UNTSI, human rights etc. as other posters have said it may take a while but thats where its up to you to manage your own career. Then when you jump ship you will 100% stand out on any interview panel. That said be very aware of the money that you will be on when you go in.

    As with any job if you show yourself to have an interest and be proactive that will stand to you. It's true that a lot of courses are down to seniority. But talking to your superiors and showing an interest instead of sitting in the locker room will get you noticed. That is not to say that you will be immediately flung up the ranks or on gucci courses but you will be pegged as a "good lad for x". You will be given opportunities and projects. Making your interests known is key, people scoff at annual appraisals but that's what they are there for. However try steer clear of the cynicism (both here and if you get in). There are people in the DF who are perfectly happy to work their 9 to 4 with long lunches and never once put their head over the parapet.


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    #44
    It wasn't me!
    Registered Users Posts: 13,034 ✭✭✭✭It wasn't me!


    Just for what it's worth, my experience has not been that the degree has attracted me any flak from my fellow mushrooms. I wouldn't worry about it going in, but remember, it's not what marks you out in the job. You'll have to actually be a good soldier and can't rest your reputation on what's come before. In that respect, it could be good to get away from your degree since it'll focus you on rounding out your abilities and skills.


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