Announced today [25 February 2025], the careers advice service Op ASCEND offer will include a broader range of job support for veterans, helping more into employment and boosting growth under the government’s Plan for Change.

Op ASCEND, a free service run by the Forces Employment Charity (FEC), with funding from the UK government, will work with industry bodies to ensure businesses are set up to make the most of the talents veterans have to offer, showing how the government is renewing the contract with those who serve and have served.

Veterans’ family members will also have access to the enhanced career support. The free service has so far equipped 3,000 veterans and family members with the tools to make their next career move.

When jobseekers sign up to Op ASCEND for employment advice, specialist-trained advisers can support with:

• CV writing and interview preparation
• advice on entering new sectors such as energy, data and digital, telecommunications and construction
• tips on how to navigate recruitment schemes run by veteran-friendly employers
• access to employment fairs
• advice on retraining or setting up a business.

Speaking today at an audience of industry leaders and veterans at Mission Community’s annual National Transition Event in Silverstone, veterans minister Alistair Carns announced plans to expand the support available under FEC-run Op ASCEND. The service will align more closely with the Ministry of Defence’s official resettlement programme, the Career Transition Partnership (CTP).

Carns said: “This is about delivering a clear, easily accessible offering for veterans… For those just leaving the forces, there is a range of transition and resettlement support available through the CTP. For those who left service more than two years ago and are looking for a new job or to progress within their career, Op ASCEND is available to them. This could include provision for those veterans looking to set up their own business or hone their enterprise and entrepreneurial skills.”

As well as offering career advice to the armed forces community, Op ASCEND has worked with over 300 businesses to date, the government said, to help them understand the commercial benefits of hiring veterans. The service encourages employers to:

• review their work in recruiting, progressing and retaining talent from the armed forces and their families
• run employment events to connect jobseeking members of the military community with job opportunities
• expand or create new military pathways to help veterans with their transition and keep them connected to those with similar backgrounds.

Op ASCEND is being run alongside a veteran industry engagement programme, both backed by £2.1m of government funding. Run by service charity Mission Community, the programme works with industry bodies – such as the Society of Motor Manufacturing and Traders – to drive practical, cultural and behavioural change within their sectors. 

“Through this partnership with business, [we] will help ensure that the value veterans bring to UK businesses is fully recognised, and that industries make the most of the talents they have to offer,” the government said.

Op ASCEND succeeds and enhances the Op PROSPER service.

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