However, every military family is unique and so when it comes to employment for military partners here are five key elements by Heledd Kendrick of Recruit For Spouses to help you stay current when looking for work.
- Your CV
First and foremost, get your CV updated. Don’t see your frequent moves as a problem, think about how you have actually gained a wealth of experience and employers are starting to realise the benefits of employing military partners.
- Don’t let your CV be a biography
The personal statement can be the trickiest bit to write but think about the job you are applying for and what skills you have that are pertinent to that role. For example, you may have learnt another skill whilst you were in Germany for two years, we’ve seen individuals who had learnt Russian, German and French because they enjoyed languages but by including those skills on a CV, employers were actually seeing these as irrelevant to the job application so the spouse wasn’t even getting an interview.
It’s important to write the CV for the job that you are applying for. Don’t feel you have to put everything on your CV, military partners are so incredibly resourceful and enjoy the challenge of learning a new skill and keeping current so why shouldn’t you add all those experiences to your CV – but keep focused on the job they are asking you to do, leave personal circumstances and explanations out of it. Don’t feel you have to excuse yourself for taking time out to have a family either, focus on why an employer should employ you.
- Social media
It’s common to hear people say they don’t ‘get’ it or it doesn’t work for them, when staying current in the workplace and searching for work you cannot really ignore it. Social media will come up at some point, and it is worth understanding it from a security perspective even though you may have no involvement in it at all.
Deserves its own title because although many military partners don’t have a LinkedIn profile, there are a lot of resources available and it’s worth being on there to build your profile and your network. But it’s not Facebook, it’s a resource to build your professional profile, you can follow company discussions and really get involved in your favourite company. It’s also a good way to link up with old colleagues who could help you get to that job you’ve always wanted.
- Network
Yes, again so many partners wouldn’t call themselves active networkers but if you pick and choose well it really does work, there are some excellent networking business groups starting up in the military community which is a great way to share ideas and meet potential employers.
Remember, amongst you are some of the greatest enablers, by nature you are natural networkers (Family Friday!) and are used to being sociable and having that confidence, what employer wouldn’t want someone like you working in their team!
And finally, don’t forget to stay positive about your situation. Military life can be challenging but in equal measures it can be a terrific experience, the travel, the people you meet and the close friends you make, don’t close yourself off from those around you, military partners need to be interdependent, you rely on each other heavily, so get out there and organise a meeting, you are all very much in the same boat.
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