Graduate entry vs non graduate officer entry

[Kelborn]

Hello again RR. Just received my application pack from Gosport and apparently my spanish degree only counts as a Diploma of Higher Education and to get Graduate Entry I'd need to study for another 2 years.

So yeah, non graduate entry it is.

I was just wondering if my future prospects will be hampered throughout my career due to the entry method, or if it is simply the lower rank on entry. (midship as opposed to sub-lt)

Bit of an arse as I've been doing the degree for 3 years and it'll be useless to me in the Navy.

Ah well, every cloud has a silver lining I guess.

 

[Ninja_Stoker]

You may well aleady have seen Officer Rank & Seniority on Entry, apologies if so, but qualifications also relate to starting pay.

 

[Maxi_77]

In the long term it will make little difference, and mainly in the short term it will be in your pocket as I suspect the scheme for graduates is a way to pay relatively competitive levels to those who can command higher pay in the civil sector. The lower pay may be annoying but equally so would the debt you ramp up to make the graduate scales, at this point money coming in and doing the job you want to do is I suspect better than even more debt.

BY the time you are looking for your half stripe no one will be the slightest bothered about how you got in, and very few interested, except the odd graduate entry you have leepfrogged over because you are good at your job and keen.

 

[farmer_jack]

Hi Ninja

Seeing as how the old "rank/seniority on entry" thread has been bumped up again, I was wondering if you had any luck with the query on RNR commissions?

Does the same apply to RNR officers - ie a few years seniority as S/Lt depending on degrees/masters/other quals already held?

There are a few very fresh faced young full Lieutenants at our outfit, too young to have been regulars and a few of us were wondering if they had been able to jump a few years due to having post nominals!

Would hate to think that some lowly AB2's from **** had stumped the Mighty Stoker lol ;-)

regards

F_J

 

[Kelborn]

I had seen the seniority thread, but was wondering if later on the entry method would go against me if I was going for promotion or something.

Thanks for the response Maxi, luckily Spain do have a good grants system so I'll be coming out of the degree with little debt. Just a bit peeved that my 3 years studying at uni isn't really going to help me at all.

As long as the difference is only financial (and of course rank and seniority) I don't feel quite as annoyed as I did when I read the letter this morning.

Ah well, time to fill out hundreds of forms

 

[Karma]

In principle there is little to worry about, the main issue is likely to hit you at the Lt Cdr/ Cdr promotion point as your age at promotion to Cdr affects your likelihood of promotion to Capt. Being a little older than your peers at a specific seniority can reduce your opportunities for Capt, purely because that rank is age capped.

Given that you're now having to think about 20ish years into the future, the rules will probably have changed by then so it's difficult to tell whether it will be an issue or not.

It shouldn't be an issue until that stage, other than the cash and the impact on your long term financial value.

 

[Maxi_77]

I had seen the seniority thread, but was wondering if later on the entry method would go against me if I was going for promotion or something.

Thanks for the response Maxi, luckily Spain do have a good grants system so I'll be coming out of the degree with little debt. Just a bit peeved that my 3 years studying at uni isn't really going to help me at all.

As long as the difference is only financial (and of course rank and seniority) I don't feel quite as annoyed as I did when I read the letter this morning.

Ah well, time to fill out hundreds of forms

As Karma says by the time you get to promotion really mattering, how you got in is not going to be the issue, the issue will be how you actually perform, taht will be all that matters and you will be up against graduates and lower deck entry, all in the same melting pot.

As for your three years of study being wasted, it will only be wasted if you waste it. You have learnt the art of studying and passing exams, used that during your training and you will benefit. Later in life there are nice embassy jobs for those who are good with languages, and also for those who can qualify as interpretors, so if you play your cards right you could do well from your study. If you do well attributes that make you stand out from the crowd are always useful, though if you do badly they work equally against you.

At the end of the day your destiny in the Andrew depends on how you perform in the Andrew not what you did before

 

[Ninja_Stoker]

Hi Ninja

Seeing as how the old "rank/seniority on entry" thread has been bumped up again, I was wondering if you had any luck with the query on RNR commissions?

Does the same apply to RNR officers - ie a few years seniority as S/Lt depending on degrees/masters/other quals already held?

There are a few very fresh faced young full Lieutenants at our outfit, too young to have been regulars and a few of us were wondering if they had been able to jump a few years due to having post nominals!
...

regards

F_J

There is unfortunately a temporary national scarcity of ACLO's to seek advice on this one for a definitive answer at the moment (the local ones seem to be on Easter Leave).

As a Direct Entry RNR Officer my best guess is that equal seniority rules apply for the Reserves as with the Regulars.

A possible reason your RNR Officers appear fresh-faced is they also used to be able to carry over their service seniority in the URNU to the RNR providing they pass AIB & join the RNR within 12 months of graduating & leaving the URNU. This was certainly the case with the Queens' Golden Jubilee medal as a few Young Officers were actually eligible for the medal because their URNU service contributed to their "time served" eligibility.

A bit of a woolly answer, but doubtless some whizz will correct it if incorrect. You could always ask the said Ossifers for a definitive answer - I'm just conducting a "Thimblehunt" for an ACLO to verify!

 

[farmer_jack]

URNU seniority would probably explain it... they are very nautical down in this part of the world!

Dont stress too much about finding a definitive belts and braces answer - it was just idle curiosity on our collective part and work dodging on mine (reading RR as opposed to doing staff appraisal forms lol )

Cheers Ninja

F_J