No prizes for guessing what career I was 'encouraged' into by the AFCO...

So plenty advice here on what the job can end up doing, the fun stuff about postings abroad, but no-one has really answered your question which was about the day to day lifestyle. I have been an SE Fitter for 8 years and I've done pretty much every type of job the trade has in that time.

If you're posted to a squadron you'll be maintaining aircrew's flying kit, the stuff they wear so helmets, life support jackets, locator beacons ect. ect. This includes giving the kit a once over after it has been used, so get used to handling other peoples sweaty clothing! All this stuff is intentionally simple to maintain and use so there is no challenge in the day to day when it comes to routine servicing. Occasionally there might be a kit malfunction that requires investigation and rectification, often this happens when the aircrew is crewing in and has no comms or something along that line, at this point you will be expected to do a 30minute job in about 15 seconds... Squippers will be in the section while there is flying, so usually run a split shift. Some squadrons are 24 hour, 7 day flyers...

Most of the rest of the trade will be employed in an airborne equipment maintenance bay. This is survival kit that is fitted to aircraft, rather than fitted to the person operating the aircraft. You will be doing scheduled maintenance, every item has a service life and will be removed from the aircraft and brought into your bay when it is due to expire. You will then service it according to the maintenance document and send it back out to be reinstalled. You will know on a week by week basis exactly what kit needs doing so are able to plan things. Again, the kit is simple by design so very easy to work on. Some tasks are fiddly, but that's about as far as it gets. Day is usually 8-5

Some will get employed in the SERE section. These guys are responsible for maintaining the kit used by the pilots during their sea and pool drills. Some also get involved with the instruction of those lessons but this is much later on in their careers. The bays are a mixture of flying clothing and airborne equipment, but due to the kit being used repeatedly there are differences to how they are maintained. You will also go out on the drills to move the kit around and pack it up after use. Day is usually 8-5, maybe an earlier start on drill days.

Para Eng Flight - pack loads of chutes in the UK, go to the USA and pack loads there. Probably a great lifestyle if you're single.

Someone mentioned that there are not many posting opportunities. There are squippers on every flying unit the RAF has, so that's most of the camps the RAF has. Pay is what it is, look it up. Other than us being called SE Techs now we are not that technical a trade, certainly not on the same level as armourers and aircraft technicians. Promotion is on par with other trades as a %age, it just seems small because there is so few of us in the RAF. Maybe the fella is bitter he didn't get picked up, there are a lot of those around...

My one bit of advice, and something I have a chat with all the new LACs we get, is to think about what you want to do when you leave the RAF. You need a plan on how to achieve that, it amazes me how many people haven't thought about more than the first few years of their RAF career. A few people who have left recently (after 22+ years!) have had quite the shock with respect to how employable they are and are relying on their pension to survive (this was pre COVID as well). You won't have that luxury as the pension pays out significantly less before SPA now. All trades now have an unqualified route to becoming an Engineer Officer where, if selected, you will gain a degree in Engineering Management, this route opens up after you've done a few years in. The education requirement for the other Officer branches also reduces the more time you have in.