Military Spouse Employment Guide: Strategic Job Searching

Step by Step Guide to Employment: Military Spouse Community – Strategic Job Searching

As a military spouse, finding a job can be a bit more complicated. Because of the military lifestyle you are living, you might have issues with moving every few years, having a gap in your resume, or not knowing your new area enough to know what the opportunities are. The good news is that there are plenty of resources out there to help you find a job.

Job searching is all about knowing where to look for the jobs you want to apply for. There are military spouse and military related job boards, places to find remote work and freelance opportunities, and industry specific job boards.

You can also go with a staffing or recruiting agency as well as applying to a company directly. In today’s world, there are many options and different ways to search for and find the right job. 

Veteran and Military Spouse-Specific Job Boards

A job board is a website, or app, where an employer with job openings can be seen by those looking for a job. There will be multiple ways to search from keyword to location to industry. When you pull up a job listing you can see the job description, job responsibilities, and requirements, and sometimes salary. This should be enough information for you to decide if the job is a good fit or not.

The listing will also tell you how to apply for the job. Some will redirect you to the employer’s website, and others will tell you how to apply from the listing. You can also sign up for job alerts so you can be on top of what jobs might fit what you are looking for. To prepare to search a job board, make sure your resume is up to date, and know what keywords you will be using. 

Here are a few job boards to start your search:

  1. Military Spouse Jobs gives military spouses exclusive access to their premier job board. They have a work-from-home section as well as four million jobs across the United States. 
  2. Hiring Our Heroes has a job board where you can search for full-time jobs, part-time jobs, contract jobs, internships, and temporary jobs. 
  3. Virtual Gal Friday has a job board for virtual assistant jobs.
  4. Flexjobs is where you can search for 100% verified remote and flexible jobs. 

Staffing and Recruiting Agencies 

Staffing and recruiting agencies can be great ways to job search. They are the middleman between you, who is looking for a job, and the employer with job openings. Working with an agency can give you the confidence, skills, and ability to find the perfect job. These agencies can also save you time, and help take away some of the stress of the process. Some agencies are focused on the military community and others are more general. 

Here are a few to check out to get you started:

Military Spouse Career Initiative (MSCI/CSI) is a staffing and consulting firm that focuses on federal, state, and local government jobs, private for-profit jobs, and non-profit jobs. They focus on helping military spouses and can help you pursue job opportunities that value your skills, knowledge, and abilities. 

Virtforce can help active duty military spouses find vetted virtual career paths. They offer resume training, a dynamic podcast, hours of free training, and an outstanding social media community. 

You can also visit our Recruiting & Staffing Profiles page for a big list of agencies you can use to help you in your job search. 

Go to the Company 

Another job search method is to apply to the company directly. This will first require you to make a list of the places you would be interested in. You can do so by searching job sites, looking for companies on LinkedIn, and talking to your network about companies in your industry and your area. 

Most companies will list either their current job openings or how to contact them to apply for the job. If you are unsure about a company you can also take a look around its website and social media accounts. That can give you a sense of what type of company they would be to work for.

Even though the job search can be daunting, if you are strategic about doing so, you should be able to find the right job. Use the resources available to you to help.