Imagine
wanting to relaunch or continue your career but your spouse’s work
requires moving every two to three years, often to remote or rural
places without many opportunities. Imagine that your spouse must leave
the country for several months at a time -- for work that makes you
sometimes worry about their safety and wellbeing -- while you act as
sole parent or caregiver without any family nearby.
What you’ve just imagined is real life for military spouses, who
often face a host of unique challenges to relaunching or continuing
their careers while married to military servicemen/women.
As a career coach, I’m familiar with the hurdles that make reentry
into the paid work world challenging for relaunchers across demographics
and industries. Recently, however, I had eye-opening conversations with
April Keating, iRelaunch’s Manager of Military and Community Outreach
and the spouse of an Army National Guard Active Duty Service Member,
and a few of her military spouse friends. These conversations taught me
that relaunching one’s career as a military spouse requires an
inspirational level of grit and determination.
The Key Challenges
Relocation and Underemployment
Moving every two to three years is a fact of life for many military
families, and relocations may continue throughout a long military
career. As April put it, “about the time when you get established, you
have to move. With each move, you lose seniority and a sense of forward
momentum.” Given that many military bases and installations are in
non-urban or less economically developed areas like Fort Drum, New York
or Fort Polk, Louisiana, opportunities to work in the
spouse-relauncher’s chosen profession may be extremely limited or
nonexistent. The option of commuting a long way for a job in a nearby
city may not be attractive or realistic – especially with a deployed
spouse and children to care for.
Overqualification and underemployment are realistic challenges for
military spouses with advanced degrees. The GI Bill’s tuition-assistance
benefits make obtaining advanced degrees, including Masters and PhDs,
attractive for military spouses. But they’re often unable to use them
when relocated to remote or rural areas. Licensing is another challenge:
military spouses with professional licensing from one state may be
unable to work or practice in another one that doesn’t recognize the
license. Jessica, an Army veteran and spouse of an active duty Army
Soldier, works with the Army Reserve as a suicide prevention program
manager; she was licensed as a Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) in New
Mexico, moved three times as a military spouse, and now awaits licensure
in Georgia where she is based with her family at Fort Benning.
Employers can often identify a military spouse by his or her resume
when they see the address or sporadic employment history and may be
concerned about investing in an employee who won’t last more than two or
three years. Becci, a military spouse of an Army National Guard
service member, said the difficulties of trying to advance her career
and build a network outside of their military installation were
sometimes especially hard because of ‘geographical differences’ and a
sense of ‘outsiderness’ that made her stand out as a ‘non- local.'
Parenting Responsibilities
Military spouses must often bear a significant share of parenting
responsibilities that make focusing on or relaunching their careers very
difficult. Cory, a 25-year Navy spouse, had an 11-year career break
during relocations to Florida, Virginia, Korea, Maryland, and Japan with
her husband, a Captain, and three children.
She told me that working seemed impossible ‘when you’re basically a de
facto single parent with a spouse who is constantly being deployed or
getting ready to be deployed.’ Focusing on ‘tending to the kids as they
moved in and out of new schools’ also requires reserves of energy and
focus that might otherwise be invested in a career relaunch.
Skills and Confidence
Rusty skills and low confidence are universal challenges for
relaunchers, but military lifestyle and relocation patterns can
sometimes exacerbate and reinforce them. When a military spouse
repeatedly applies for jobs that she’s well qualified for but doesn’t
get a single interview, her confidence may take a blow and it’s hard to
recover. Meanwhile her skills may get progressively rusty, feeding into
the confidence crisis.
Strategies
The military spouses with whom I spoke shared invaluable tips on how
they’ve managed to relaunch or advance their careers, some of which are
summarized below:
- Be resourceful and proactive. If you’re going to be relocated,
research the new area, satellite locations and resources. Think about
how you might use your skills there. Consider an entrepreneurial venture
or remote/virtual opportunities.
- Build a Community. The military world has a built-in community that
can help you professionally and personally. Attend events and
briefings. Be open to connecting with other career-minded and
entrepreneurial spouses, as well as the business community outside the
gate.
- Get to Know Your Resources. Use the career resources and job fairs
for military spouses and watch for new ones that are constantly popping
up. (See the list below.)
- Volunteer as a Way to Build or Hone Skills. Volunteering is often
promoted as a way to enhance military life. Cory leveraged her years of
volunteering on PTAs, spouse clubs and Sunday schools into an impressive
portfolio that led to a US Embassy job offer.
- Promote Yourself as a Military Spouse. The lifestyle of a military
spouse requires adaptability, resilience and loyalty. These are
attractive traits in an employee so remind employers of this as part of
your pitch. (As Becci stated, employers get ‘a lot of bang for their
buck’ with military spouses.)
The Good News
Efforts to support military spouses’ career development are ongoing.
Earlier this year, the Military Spouse Employment Act was introduced
into Congress. This bill, sponsored by Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) could
expand hiring and career opportunities and provide for better
transitions and employment resources for military spouses. iRelaunch
Chair and Co-founder Carol Fishman Cohen was the recipient of the 2018
National Military Spouse Network’s Impact Award for her work helping to
ease the transition of military spouses back to work. Hopefully,
developments and efforts like these will pave the way to more career
opportunities for military spouses. Meanwhile, military spouses like
Jessica forge forward with inspiring determination. Describing her
career relaunch, she said: “Every time I got knocked down, I would pick
myself up and embrace the opportunities that came to me.”
iRelaunch has compiled some great resources for military-connected relaunchers and their families.
