Top Jobs That Spouses Are REALLY Working
During the eight years we (CASY and MSCCN) have been chartered as the ONLY nonprofit military spouse employment organization that operates a full cycle employment program, which includes employment readiness training, a Talent Management Gateway, Applicant-Recruiter Case Management model, and a world-class Applicant Tracking System, affords me a birds-eye view into the jobs market available to military spouses.
I can personally and professionally attest to the fact that military spouses are no longer without corporate management opportunities and exciting Independent Contractor and Entrepreneurial choices, thanks to the hard work of the nation’s top military spouse advocates, Babette Maxwell, Founder, Military Spouse Magazine; Stacy Bayton, Executive Director, CASY-MSCCN; Kathy Roth Douquet, Founder, Blue Star Families; Laura Dempsey of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Amy Rossi, Manager of Training, CASY-MSCCN; Karen Jowers, Military Times; Sue Hoppin, Founder of National Military Spouse Network; Tara Crooks, Founder of Army Wife Network; Erin Voirol, Job Placement Manager, CASY-MSCCN; Chris Pape, Founder of Macho Spouse; Stephanie-Himel-Nelson, Communications Director, Blue Star Families; Joyce Raezer, Executive Director of the NMFA; Monique Rizer, Deputy Director of Military Spouse Programs MOAA; Patty Baron of AUSA; Amy Palmer, Operation Homefront; Robin Kelleher, Founder of Hope For The Warriors; and Jennifer Quimby, techie guru, CASY-MSCCN; and Riki Winters and Lynn Carroll of MSBA.
Without question, however, is a woman who has taken a military spouse employment program to levels I never dreamed possible in just two years which CATAPULTED military spouses into the face of - and into the board rooms of - corporate America! That woman is Aggie Byers, Director, Spouse Education and Career Opportunities, Department of Defense
As much as I wanted my organization to be the “one” that accomplished this honor – it’s Aggie Byers’ MSEP program that finally broke the corporate glass ceiling for military spouse employment. OHHH how it pains me to admit this! Ha…
My organization tracks absolutely EVERYTHING regarding our military affiliated applicants from the get-go. Most notably we track our corporate (partner’s) hiring managers and recruiter’s activities to see who in our military spouse database match their corporate jobs. Then we begin our job match process for job placement. Win/Win. We track our applicants and recruiter’s job match and new hire numbers daily.36 GREAT Jobs for Military Spouses
Please note: MSCCN has personally placed military spouses into the 36 career fields below. To view our corporate hiring record review our Military Service Employment Journal (MSEJ) monthly on our website landing page: www.msccn.org and our award winning MSEJ http://www.msccn.org/JobSeekers/PDFs/June_MSEJ_Combo.pdf
My MOST favorite applicant in the WORLD: the military spouse who hasn’t worked in a couple of years due to kids and military demands, who understands that under-employment is ONLY temporary until they pounce on the opportunity to land a job they DESERVE.
Ok, I have to admit that back in 2009 we found a job for an Army Veteran who WANTED to be a certain well-known avian character at an international theme park and yes - he got the job! $35 an hour with benefits and nationwide travel covered. Don’t tell Melba Newsome we placed an Iraq war hero into a character suit at a theme park. Remember, he WANTED us to parlay this job for him!
I realize that Melba Newsome didn’t mean to offend military spouses when listing her top 12 jobs for military spouses (http://www.jdnews.com/articles/percent-105972-military-spouses.html) as “errand runners and pet sitters.” We all worked jobs that under-employed our expertise and pay requirements to feed our families or gain new skill sets to become more competitive in a civilian job market. There were times when the only job in town was an errand runner or pet sitter in our new duty stations. We get it.
To write an article that listed the top jobs spouses would love to work … should have included the women I mentioned in my opening paragraph. Had Melba Newsome called me or one of my brilliant Team Members on MSCCN, she would have realized that no matter what job spouses perform , it’s all towards the SAME goal: landing a job we deserve that sustains “Long Term Earning Power”
We work those filler jobs and temp jobs (when we have to) in order to remain relevant, informed, contributory, in-the-know and supportive of a military family we love and value.
It’s what we make of ourselves within the jobs we are performing, no matter how under-employed we may HAVE to be. We then set our course to cycle-out the filler jobs and earn our way into the pinnacle careers we deserve - as we love and care for our military kids and Warriors.
By: Deb Kloeppel, Founder, President, and CEO of The Military Spouse Corporate Career Network (www.msccn.org) and President of Corporate America Supports You (www.casy.msccn.org)
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