Skip Navigation

I joined Dstl in 1996 and started my 3 year career break in October 2004.

My wife is in the army and was offered an exchange job in Australia, so I asked for a career break to accompany her. As she was working in Germany at the time, I started the break early and spent nearly a year with her in Germany before the move to Oz.

The process was straightforward with only one form to fill in. At the time I was on detached duty in London and my management were all supportive of my decision.

Coming back was also straightforward as I knew somebody who had been struggling to recruit against a role that I was right for. I had never worked in Farnborough before and all my colleagues were brand new. Although I recognised a few familiar faces.

It was a fantastic opportunity for both me and my wife as we had only been married for a few months when I started the career break and would not have been able to make it to Australia had it not been approved. I consider myself really lucky (and grateful to Dstl) for being able to spend time abroad. When I was out there I spent over a year working with people with mental disabilities, which was really different from anything that I had done before. It also made me realise how much I value having a job that encourages me to think and how lucky we are at Dstl to have jobs that really stretch our minds.