Military Spouse Employment – Critical to Quality of Life for Many

…by making it easier to PCS your JOB in addition to your family and household goods!
As many of you may know, the month of May is Military Appreciation Month! This year DoD began an effort to make it “31 Days of Military Spouse Appreciation” as well; to highlight their efforts to help with spouse employment. It is not a surprise to the military community that the economy, the health insurance issues for corporations and small businesses and career transportability issues have made it harder for spouses to find jobs in new areas of the country after a PCS.

MilitaryAvenue Pinterest Spouse Employment ResourcesWhen the DoD Blogger Roundtable met with Meg O’Grady, from the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Military Community and Family Policy) and senior program manager of the Spouse Education and Career Opportunities (SECO) program, she highlighted the resources available to the military community for employment. Meg is also a military spouse and is very aware of the issues of military spouse employment. Her message? Share the information on how military spouses can find resources for their employment search!

According to Meg, a 2012 military spouse survey, identified that 85% of spouses would like to work or need to work. It is considered a quality of life issue for military families. In response, her office created the “31 Days of Military Spouse Appreciation”calendar for May and they plan to keep going throughout the year. It provides a daily link to find out your skills, learn about career opportunities, how to build a resume and much more. Resources such as this provide will provide support to our highly talented military spouses.

Scholarships for work force development are available to military spouses through MyCAA. Career counseling and employment opportunities are available through MilitaryOneSource, Spouse Education and Career Opportunities (SECO) online center. Community support is key to military spouses finding employment. Meg said Colorado Springs, CO and San Antonio, TX are both very engaged in spouse employment efforts. In addition, 42 states have agreed to support military spouses by resolving licensing and career transportability issues by making it easier to PCS your JOB in addition to your family and household goods!

So what is keeping you from getting started? Jump into the fray before that next PCS or what better time than now.