Career Road-map for the Military Spouse

a Department of Defense Roundtable 

Maps are good.  Especially when you are in unknown territory.   You can reference them as you plan a trip across the country, or glance at a map (perhaps your GPS) as you make your way across town.  We need maps unless we want to wander... aimlessly.

As a military spouse we often find our way into new territory.  A PCS (again), a deployment (again), a family to raise, a spouse who is quite frankly married to the _______ (fill in your branch).  When we are plotting out this course called 'life' and we want a career to be a part of that it often feels quite next to impossible.  But it is not.  Especially with tools, like maps.

“My Individual Career Plan,” or MyICP, allows spouses to build a virtual career road-map based on their specific goals and objectives.  ...

SECO provides expert career and education guidance to military spouses worldwide supporting them in four career life cycle stages: career exploration, education, training and licensing, employment readiness, and career connections." - ‘MyICP’ Gives Military Spouses New Career-planning Tool

Your first step to exploring your career opportunities is to register & log in to  MySECO. (https://myseco.militaryonesource.mil)  This tool is available for all active-duty Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps spouses and to National Guard and Reserve spouses as well, including spouses for up to 180 days after their service member separates or retires from the military.  Gold-Star spouses whose spouse died while on Active Duty are eligible as well.

If you don't have a 'DS Logon' account it will take some extra-time to plug in some info (kind of like putting gas in the car before a trip, it is necessary), but getting yourself on the right path is worth it.  Once you are logged in and ready to go it's time to map out where you see yourself.  Find the career that interests you, or the career that you have already begun.  Right now the different career paths are a bit limited but I'm looking forward to their list growing.  (As an example, I wanted to learn more about getting a teaching degree or a job in library sciences.  The heading is there but the four careers listed under that heading have nothing to do with library work or a teaching degree in Elementary school.)

If you don't see what you are looking for call Military OneSource - (800) 342-9647 - and let them know. They can set it up for you.  After all, you need the right map to get to your final destination!


Once you have an initial career-profile built, this is where you want your career to take you, MyICP puts many tools at your fingertips; databases, school searches, resume tips, scholarship opportunities if you need to go back to school, eMentor programs, salary negotiation tools, even tools like Myers Brigg.  This is career empowerment right here!

As presented to the listeners at the DoD Rountable, "SECO is a comprehensive partnership – one place to find the resources and tools you need to access and create a virtual career road-map.  Through this map you will find the resources and tools you need."

Military spouses, grab a cup of coffee and get settled in. It's time to start getting serious about your career. 

- Leanne from MiltiaryAvenue.com

I love it when there are tools and resources for our amazing military-spouses!  Be sure to checkout these other resources that we share on our Pinterest board.  This is the good stuff:

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