Bill Geddes, Author at Career Recon

09 Jan 202326 Apr 2023

Step-by-Step Guide to Employment for Military Spouses

Military Spouse Employment Step-by-Step Guide

The portability factor
- Does the portability of a career drive your choice?
- Are you wanting to find jobs in career fields that can transfer easily?

What type of work do you wish to do?
- W2
- Part-time
- Full time
- Contract/1099
- Remote work

Prepare Your Mind

Prepare your mind
- Prepare your mind by listening to a podcast for military spouses about the type of work you have chosen. Or you might listen to podcasts about resumes/interviews/networking to prepare yourself for the hiring process. Here’s a list of podcasts to get you started.
Identify a Focus
- What career field should you pursue?
- What career path within a chosen field?
Research the jobs/career field you are interested in
- Skills needed
- Education needed
- Experience needed
- Pay
Evaluate Your Skills
- Skills & Credentialling
- Degree completion
- Relevant industry certifications (PMP/Agile Scrum Master/ Lean 6 Sigma)

Set Goals

How much do you need to make?
Will you need childcare?
Do you need education/training? Can you afford it?

Education and Training

Continued Education and Training
- Do you need a degree in your chosen field?
  - Research degree field/colleges/scholarships with CollegeRecon
Do you need certain training/certifications for your chosen field?
- Research programs that can help military spouses get training/certifications
Utilize resources to attain certifications needed

Evaluate and Translate Your Skills

Translate your Story/skills
- Translate your volunteer experience
- List transferable skills
Resume
- Format – Functional and chronological, which is best?
- Build a master resume with all employment experience (5 -6 pages)
- Professional summary (1 – 2 pages) tailors
  - Catalog your accomplishments, awards, publications
  - Education and training (translated skills)
Identify your marketable skills
Cover Letter
- Make the cover letter personal.
- Sympathize with the company’s issue(s).
- Be Detailed
- Offer yourself as a solution.
- Send a paper copy of your cover letter(with resume) directly to the hiring manager.

Elevator Pitches and Business Attire

Professional references
Elevator Pitch (virtual business card)
Purchase business attire
- What is business attire?
- First impressions go a long way

Networking and LinkedIn

Professional photo/headshot
- Use for attending virtual career fairs
- Use for networking on LinkedIn
Networking
- Hiring events
  - Have resume ready
  - Be ready for an interview
LinkedIn ( ii-xvii – https://www.gijobs.com/finding-job-after-military/)

Goals (Make 200+ connections, join 20+ veteran/interest groups, follow 20+ companies)

- Customize it for Yourself
- Create Your Account
- Add Your Profile Picture
- Add a Background Picture
- List Your Job Title
- LinkedIn Summary
- List Your Experience
- List Your Education
- LinkedIn Endorsements – don’t get hung up
- List Your Accomplishments
- LinkedIn Interests
- Building LinkedIn Connections
- Build the Relationships
- Location – define where you are looking
- Making Contact
- Close it Out
Conduct Informal Interviews
- Use services available to military spouses to practice interview
  - Base employment offices
  - Nonprofits and companies
Find Mentors
- - ACP mentorship program is a free 1-year program for military spouses

Strategic Job Searching

Strategic job searching (how to search for a job)
- Veteran and military spouse job boards
  - Remote work
  - Freelance work
  - Industry-specific
  - Recruiting/staffing agency
  - Go directly to the company
  - Find matches with CareerRecon’s tool
Apply for jobs
- Target Your Resume
- Target Your Cover Letter
- Network within the company

Interviewing

Prepare for interview
- Research company
- Tailor your weakness and strengths to still highlight why you are an asset to the company
- Highlight your measurables
- Make sure to communicate clearly you want the job
Interview follow-up
- Send a thank you note for the opportunity to interview

18 Oct 202226 Apr 2023

How to Prepare For and Find a Remote Job

Preparing for and Finding a Remote Job

Landing a remote job can seem daunting if you’ve never considered remote work before and don’t know where to begin; however, it is becoming more and more common for companies to be fully remote or for companies to offer remote positions. For military spouses, this means you can take your job with them, a huge benefit that enables you to maintain your skills and salary through various assignments. Whether you are looking for a remote job or considering it for the first time here are a few tips to get you on the right path.

Join Community Groups

On social media, there are remote work community groups dedicated to helping people find remote jobs. Remote work community groups are a forum to share tricks of the trade and share tools and resources for landing remote jobs. These groups are a fantastic venue to ask questions to those already working remotely. The Paradigm Switch is one example of a remote work community group for military spouses.

Gain Remote Work Experience

Companies will rarely hire someone with no remote work experience, so build your remote work portfolio by finding remote volunteer positions. Remote Volunteer work can help expose you to the remote world and gain resume-worthy experience. Volunteering also provides you an opportunity to see if remote work is right for you.

Join Military-Friendly Job Boards

Consider two things when deciding what job board to be a part of:

Is the job board military-friendly?

Many companies don’t understand or know the value of the military community. Find a job board that has already done the leg work for you in explaining the value the military community has to offer. Military-friendly job boards include Hire our Heroes, Spouse Education and Career Opportunities Program, Corporate America Supports You, and Recruit Military.

Does the job board post remote jobs?

There are many job boards dedicated to the military community that doesn’t always post remote jobs. Virtforce is a military-focused job board dedicated to finding remote jobs. Research job boards to see if they have partnered with companies in your desired industry as well.

Search for Remote Work

When searching for remote jobs on a job board use keywords such as “remote”, “virtual”, and “telework”. When searching for remote jobs using a search engine uses keywords such as “completely distributed”, or “100% distributed company” this will narrow the field down to what you are looking for.

Also, remember to tap into local resources as companies are willing to hire remote workers who are already local. Make sure business profiles on networking sites indicate you are looking for remote work and clearly indicate what career field or position you are looking for. This distinction will help recruiters identify you more easily.

Sign-up for Mentorship

Mentorship is a great way to receive one-on-one guidance to achieve your career goals. A mentor will be able to help you establish a career path, update your resume, expand your network, and recommend training and certifications you might need. The military community has a variety of free mentorship programs such as Americans Mentoring Veterans and ACP Mentorship Program.

Build Your Skills

Use your time strategically by taking a certification course or signing up for industry-specific training. This will help to build your resume as well as show future employers that you take initiative.

Great resources for training and certifications include The Institute for Veterans and Military Families, Salesforce Military, The Federal Virtual Training Environment, and Skillsoft to name a few.

Breaking into the remote world is not easy, but by joining remote work community groups, gaining remote work experience, and identifying the right job board you will set yourself up for success. You might not land the first remote job you apply for, but that’s OK, keep putting yourself out there. Continually advance yourself through education, and training, and be open to opportunities to gain experience and you will be ready when the right job comes along.

21 Jun 202227 Nov 2023

In-Person Career Fairs for Military & Veterans [updated]

Military & Veteran Job Fairs Near You in Nov & Dec

Updated through December 2023.

In-person job fairs for military, veterans, and military spouses. If you looking for virtual job fairs, please visit our virtual job fairs for military and veterans page.

In-Person Job Fairs in November 2023

November 30, 2023

Fort Knox Career Exploration & Hiring Fair by Hiring Our Heroes

- Time: 9:00 am- 2:00 pm ET
- Location: Palma Hall 9261 Wilson Rd, Fort Knox, Kentucky, 40121, USA
- Pre-register here

Job Fair at Fort Liberty

- Time: 11:00 am – 3:00 pm ET
- Location: Iron Mike Conference & Catering Center, Fort Liberty, NC 28310
- Pre-register here

Houston Veterans Job Fair

- Time: 11:00 am – 3:00 pm CT
- Location: Minute Maid Park, Houston, TX 77002
- Pre-register here

In-Person Job Fairs in December 2024

December 1, 2023

2023 Public Safety Diversity Career Fair – National Labor Exchange

- Time: 10:00 am – 3:00 pm CST
- Location: Holiday Inn Austin Midtown, 6000 Middle Fiskville Road
  Austin, Texas
- Pre-register here

December 4, 2023

In-Person Hiring Event – Toccoa, Georgia– National Labor Exchange

- Time: 9:00 am – 4:00 pm ET
- Location: 633 Falls Road, Toccoa, GA
- Pre-register here

December 6, 2023

USCG Base Alameda Career Exploration & Hiring Fair – Hiring Our Heroes

- Time: 9:00 am – 2:00 pm PT
- Location: USCG Base Alameda, California, USA
- Pre-register here

North Seattle Manufacturing and Quality Career Event – Boeing

- Time: 10:00 am – 2:00 pm PT
- Location: WorkSource North Seattle 9600 College Way N, Seattle, WA 98103
- Pre-register here

San Diego Veterans Job Fair – DAV & Recruit Military

- Time: 11:00 am – 3:00 pm PT
- Location: Liberty Station Conference Center, San Diego, CA 92106
- Pre-register here

December 8, 2023

Atlanta Veterans Job Fair – DAV & Recruit Military

- Time: 11:00 am – 3:00 pm ET
- Location: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA 30313
- Pre-register here

Oklahoma City Career Event – Boeing

- Time: 12:00 am – 4:00 pm CT
- Location: 6001 South Air Depot Blvd., Oklahoma City, OK 73135
- Pre-register here

December 13, 2023

Fort Gregg-Adams, VA Job Fair – The Lee Club

- Time: 10:00 am – 2:00 pm ET
- Location: Building 9009, Battle Drive Fort Gregg-Adams, VA 23801
- Pre-register here

December 14, 2023

Orlando Veterans Job Fair – DAV & Recruit Military

- Time: 11:00 am- 3:00 pm ET
- Location: Avanti Palms Resort and Conference Center, Orlando, FL 32819
- Pre-register here

27 May 202226 Apr 2023

Career Forward: Job Ready Skills for New Careers

Career Forward is a new program from Hiring Our Heroes (HOH) that can help veterans learn new skills to launch an exciting career in under six months.

Certified Training with Google

With the Career Forward program, participants gain industry-recognized Google Career Certificates. Students can specialize in:

Data Analytics
IT Support
Project Management
User Experience (UX) Design

Veterans in the program will enroll in the Google Career Certificate program of their choice. These self-paced job-training programs can be completed within three to six months, giving students marketable skills to land amazing careers.

Google Career Certificates

With no experience requirement, participants will receive professional training from Google in any one of the following areas. Also, each link will take you to an information page about each certificate and job field.

Data Analytics

A data analyst collects and organizes data that allows companies to make informed decisions.

IT Support

IT specialists troubleshoot problems on computers and networks. Their work keeps the business up and running.

Project Management

A project manager ensures that projects are completed on-time and on-budget. This ensures that companies receive the maximum value for their projects.

User Experience (UX) Design

UX designers make products, both digital and physical, easier to use for the consumer or business.

These programs are amazing because they come straight from Google, the most powerful presence on the web. Veterans do NOT need to have any experience in order to participate in these career certificates either.

Students in the program will have opportunities to engage with other students, recent graduates, and other professionals in the chosen career field. Individual support from HOH staff is also available.

Career Support

The best part is, finishing one of these Google certificates helps a Veteran gain a competitive edge that could lead to a rewarding new career.

Not only that, but after completion of a Google Career Certificate program, graduates will have access to job search support like interview preparation and career workshops, and networking through Hiring Our Heroes and Big Interview.

Additionally, students will connect directly with employers that are ready to hire them through Hiring Our Heroes hiring events. These companies can include:

Booz Allen Hamilton
Deloitte
Freedom Learning Group
Verizon
Google

Participants will also be able to apply for the Hiring Our Heroes Fellows Program. This collection of workforce development programs can connect transitioning service members, military spouses, and veterans with employers seeking to hire them.

How to Apply

The Learner Application is pretty straight forward. It has two steps that collect basic information about you, and optional info like your LinkedIn profile URL.

(Hint: If you don’t have one, get a LinkedIn profile before you sign up. A portion of your learning program will cover tips and best practices for using LinkedIn.)

Also, when you’re signing up, there’s a drop down menu indicating “Service Type”. This is where you indicate your current connection to the military. Based on this menu, the program is available to the following people: