Soldier's Wife, Crazy Life

Military Spouse Employment

How Military Spouses Can Prep For Online Schooling

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This post is sponsored by MedCerts! 

How Military Spouses Can Prep For Online Schooling

After 20 years I decided to go back to school, but I was nervous about doing so. I decided taking an online class would be the best way to get back into school mode after so much time. A lot had changed technology-wise since I had been in college, but these changes only made schooling online a little bit easier.

Many military spouses choose to go to school online. Even before the pandemic, going to school online gave you a bit more flexibility. If you had little ones, and a spouse who was never home, as we military spouses often do, you would still be able to attend class and work on a degree. Going to school online gives you more options.

In order to go to school online, you will need to prep a bit before you get going on your school year.

1) Make sure you have a good space to get your work done. A desk or a table works best. You want to be in the best environment for learning and studying.

2) Make sure you have the right supplies. A dependable computer is a must, but also, make sure to have notebooks, pens and pencils, and anything else you might need before classes start. 

3) Talk with your family about expectations. They will need to understand you will need the time to study and get your work done. Having everyone on board is a must. 

If you are currently wondering how to go back to school as a military spouse, MedCerts is a great option! 

  • MedCerts has been helping military spouses create new career opportunities for over 10 years. They have trained and up-skilled more than 30,000 individuals across the country and partnered with over 1,000 organizations to build talent pipelines.
  • Their programs are completely online which means you can access them from anywhere you might PCS, from Georgia to Germany. You will have 24-hour online access to all course materials and videos. 
  • Most of their programs only take between 4-6 months to complete, which allows you more flexibility to learn online. 
  • MedCerts focuses on certifications in high-demand areas of Allied Healthcare and IT. You can find programs in the healthcare and medical, professional development, and information technology fields. You can find online healthcare, online professional development, and IT certificates. 
  • Most of MedCerts programs can be paid for with MyCAA, which means no money out of pocket. MyCAA is a grant offering $4,000 to military spouses pursuing a certification in a high-demand, portable career. 
  • MedCerts is a top military spouse-friendly school. It was designed by Victory Media, which is the publisher of Military Spouse Magazine. 
  • Who is eligible? Military spouses who are married to active duty members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or National Guard are eligible. They would need to be in the pay grades of either E1-E5, W1-W2, or O1-O2. For National Guard, and/or AGR members, the sponsor must be on federal Title 10 active duty orders. 
  • Your course materials and exam prep is included, and you can find live one-on-one mentoring support to help you through anything you might have questions about. 
  • When you finish a course you will receive a certificate of completion and a free National certification exam. After certification, they also offer job placement support.

MedCerts can be a good way for military spouses to go back to school online. Qualifying spouses can do so for free, and be able to work on their own careers, even during the crazy of military life. Head on over to MedCerts and sign up to work towards your own goals. 

Ideas to Improve Military Spouse Employment and Finding Those Remote Opportunities

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Happy to have this guest post by Linda on working from home and employment. Please email me at Julie@soldierswifecrazylife.com and let me know if you would like to write a guest post for Soldier’s Wife, Crazy Life too.

35% of Military Spouses are saying that they are NOT employed but NEED OR WANT employment. 

According to the BSF/IVMF Survey # Respondents, Military Spouse Employment remains the reigning TOP ISSUE for Military Families! Link to Survey: https://bluestarfam.org/survey/

Reason’s why it is the TOP ISSUE –  It creates financial stress when with each PCS move a spouse loses her job and is forced into unemployment or under-employment status taking a low paying position at the new location. Add to that the stress from COVID 19 with the impact of school closures, daycare closures, the cost of childcare and access to quality, affordable childcare in general, and an unpredictable daily work schedule of their service member, and you have the perfect recipe for Military Spouses and Service Members to choose their FAMILY over Service when it comes time to re-enlist.  

What Needs to Be Done –  Companies that hire military spouses and offer remote work opportunities along with flexible schedules and opportunities for advancement, need access to the Military Spouses and need to be able to share those opportunities in the community. Community businesses around military installations need to reconsider their stance on hiring or choosing not to hire military spouses because of the amount of time we may or may not be at a duty station. In the civilian sector, employees are typically not staying in a position longer than 5 years.  

At the Command level, reasonable accommodation for service members that need to manage home or family obligations should be encouraged. Explore ways to expand military childcare capacity or expand the MCCYN Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood fee assistance program and make it easier for those “underground” childcare providers to gain the quality rating necessary to be on the installation provider list.

Encourage partnerships with organizations that have DOD agreements to complement the services being offered through ACS, MWR, the Education Center, and SFL TAP by inviting them to Newcomer Briefings and allowing them to provide the information for additional employment opportunity support.  If the spouses do not know about it, they can not access it. 

This also is THE #1 Issue Impacting your Service Member Retention! 

To address the Military Spouse Employment Issue, there has been an explosion of grassroots Non-Profit Organizations in the last 10 years, STARTED by Military Spouses or Veterans that aim to alleviate military spouse Un and Under-Employment 

Who are they? This is by no means a complete list but is a list of the Organizations that are vetted, and I have personal experience with: 

  • Hiring Our Heroes Military Spouse Professional Network – National and Local Installation locations
  • USO Pathfinder Transition and Military Spouse Programs 
  • Blue Star Families 
  • IVMF Institute for Veterans and Military Families – O2O Onward to Opportunity with Syracuse University 
  • Vets2Industry 
  • MSEP Military Spouse Employment Partnership 
  • Vet Jobs 
  • VirtForce 
  • Veterati 
  • MOAA Military Officers Association of America 

What do they do? These organizations tackle Military Spouse and Veteran Employment and have something slightly different to offer that sets them apart from each other. However, they all work together closely and share a passion for their mission. 

I wish I had known about them 10 years ago as I struggled my way through my own career journey. I only learned about them 2 years ago, and only because the little reserve installation we were near actually had a PPP representative, and she shared these with me! 

The above resources have connections to company partners that are Military Spouse and Veteran friendly employers who have a commitment to hiring Military Spouses and Veterans. Some of them have the same partners, but many of them have their own unique relationships with different companies and if you know what all of them are doing, you are only going to increase your chances of finding the perfect job or personal growth opportunity for your family’s situation! All of them have Vetted Opportunities and are often remote and some are CONUS and OCONUS friendly.  

Working From Home Life 

Almost everyone I speak to, says, “I would love to work at home, you are so lucky! That is what I want to do.” With COVID 19 in 2020, many people found out very quickly some of the challenges of working from home as their spouses, and children joined them at home, and they got to have ALL that EXTRA together time.  

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think I will ever go back into an office again in my lifetime. However, with that said, it isn’t for everyone.  

Things to consider: 

  1. Are you self-disciplined? 
  2. Are you an extremely social person? 
  3. Do you have a dedicated office or workspace, or could you create one? 
  4. Is the position a W2 position or an Independent Contractor (1099) position? **This one has tax implications. 1099 Independent Contractors do not have taxes taken out and should be paying taxes quarterly. You may want to get a CPA.**) 

There are companies out there that are committed to hiring military spouses, and some were created by military spouses to be able to offer REMOTE, Portable employment with ROOM for Advancement, flexible schedules, and a network of other military spouses, that just get it! 

Be Active On LinkedIn

Get your free LinkedIn Premium account https://socialimpact.linkedin.com/programs/veterans/milspouses

Connect with the networks I mentioned above and follow them. Start Networking and attending events and learn about the companies that are committed to hiring military spouses. Do some self-reflection and narrow down what career path you are on and find your dream job! 

Linda Bailey has been a Military Spouse for 16+ years, with 3 grown children, and 3 fur babies. She is an Empty Nester preparing for life after the military in a few years. She has somehow managed to stay employed throughout her husband’s career, but she WILL say that it has not been easy. Her new mission in life is to help other military spouses have a better career path than her own. She has just spent 30 Days posting on Linked In and sharing resources for Military Spouses and discovered some great opportunities that did not exist during her search for employment over the years. Please check her out on LinkedIN and Facebook.