Reconnecting with the veteran community after so long was a great experience. Joining the squad felt just like being back in the Air Force – with everyone cracking jokes. It was nice to feel that camaraderie again.
- Peter McInerney
Meet Peter
After finishing high school, Peter joined the Australian Air Force as a Radio Technician, where he remained for more than 8 years. While he enjoyed serving, Peter felt his efforts were sometimes underappreciated, and eventually left to pursue a telecommunications role in the private sector.
Over the next 18 years he remained in telecoms, taking on a series of different roles spanning service delivery, network engineering and agile project management across New South Wales and Victoria.
Peter's journey
In 2018 following a rapid expansion, the company Peter was working for began to let people go and he was made redundant after almost 6 years. Choosing to take an optimistic approach, Peter returned to university to study a Graduate Certificate in Commerce. During this time, he submitted countless job applications and participated in several interviews but had no success.
One day, Peter saw an ad on Facebook calling for veterans to sign up to WithYouWithMe’s Potential platform. Although he’d felt disillusioned with the Air Force when he’d left, and had little to do with the veteran community since, Peter was interested in the free training opportunities so decided to sign up.
Eager to add more skills to his repertoire, Peter signed up for Potential and completed courses in project management, networking and cyber security.
Reconnecting with the veteran community
Peter scheduled a meeting with a member of WithYouWithMe’s Career Success team to discuss the skills he’d gained in the Air Force and previous roles, and where he was looking to take his career next.
“I was keen to get involved with the technology training but also found reconnecting with the veteran community after so long was a great experience.”
He paused his training temporarily to return to university when someone from WithYouWithMe reached out about an available role in a squad being deployed into Accenture.
Joining the squad felt just like being back in the Air Force – with everyone cracking jokes. It was nice to feel that camaraderie again.
The confidence to continue in tech
Peter worked with Accenture for around 8 months, leading the squad’s delivery of improvement projects. Through this role, he was able to regain his security clearance – a significant value-add for his future career.
Following his contract with Accenture, Peter joined WithYouWithMe’s internal team as a Customer Service Executive supporting others just like him to find meaningful careers.
“WithYouWithMe gave me my confidence back. I got the camaraderie back. I built up my capabilities and got a chance to present projects I’d done to leadership and get great feedback... I’d forgotten what I was capable of.”
A new chapter
Peter is now working as a Project Manager for a small consultancy primarily focused on defence and large Australian companies. It’s a mixed role with a remote team dispersed across the country where Peter can flex his skills in agile project delivery.
“The best thing about my new career is working with a small but high-performing team. You can really see your own impact and it’s nice to be a part of it.”
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