As we mark National Careers Week 2026 (2-7 March) and Scottish Apprenticeship Week (2-6 March), it’s a great opportunity to champion the importance of skills to our sectors; with more than 443,000 direct employees in the UK, including over 26K apprentices and 2/3 of roles outside London and the south east.

Investing in skills and early talent is critical to sustaining our workforce of the future. The New Professionals Forum (NPF), one of our Special Interest Groups, plays a vital role in empowering the next generation, supporting career development, networking and leadership growth.

We caught up with NPF Chair, Jack Wootton, who works in Scotland for Serco, as he reflects on his career to date and provides some advice for new professionals looking to join the sectors we operate in.

How did you get into the defence sector?

I was fortunate enough to gain a place on Serco’s inaugural graduate scheme back in 2019, which allowed me to have placements in the health, transport, and defence business units. My last placement was in defence, and I really enjoyed the work that I was doing there, predominantly working on an internal decarbonisation programme. Fortunately, my boss was – and still is – a great champion of early careers and he offered me a permanent role off the back of the grad scheme.

Did you always plan to have a career in defence?

In all honesty, no! Having studied German at university, I did a couple of teaching modules and spent a year abroad teaching in a German primary school, so I always assumed I would go down the teaching route. Having said that, I did always know that I wanted to do something that helped people, and so when I saw that Serco’s graduate scheme was all about gaining operational experience in public service, then it seemed to be a natural fit.

What would be one key piece of advice you would give any new professionals looking to join the sector?

Whilst I appreciate each person’s journey is different, I would encourage everyone to do a bit of research into the sector, as you may be surprised about how applicable it could be to your own skillset.

I think the worlds of aerospace, defence and security can sometimes put people off with the wide range of acronyms and relative secrecy, but actually I think there are so many fantastic opportunities out there that could be perfect for new professionals.

The sector is always looking to innovate as well, so there will no doubt be new jobs being created in the coming months and years that have never existed before, which I personally find really exciting.

Have you had any experience of apprenticeships?

Whilst is may not technically be an apprenticeship in its own right, I am currently undertaking a Scottish Vocational Qualification, which is a competence-based qualification that requires me to apply learnings from my real-life on-the-job experience to complete the assessments. I am really enjoying the challenge so far and I’m looking forward to hopefully completing it later this year.

What can the NPF do to support people at the start of their careers in these sectors?

The main thing we hear from our members is that they would like to increase the number of opportunities they have to network, and I think that is a really important aspect of supporting people at the start of their careers.

It can be quite daunting to enter a new industry, especially one as large as defence, so the quicker you can make connections and start to learn from other professionals in the sector, the easier it is to settle in and start making a positive impact.

That’s where the NPF can help, as we don’t just bring together new professionals to share their own experiences with each other, but we also provide exposure to senior individuals across a variety of member organisations, who can often open doors that our members may not have otherwise had the chance to go through.

Interested in joining the New Professionals Forum?

The New Professionals Forum (NPF) is a thriving networking and professional development forum for industry professionals new to the aerospace, defence, security and space sectors. The NPF is an inclusive and supportive group and is always keen to welcome our new members.

Join the NPF here: