MSCCN Spouse to Spouse

Spouse to Spouse

Spouses Helping other Spouses

MSCCN Volunteer in Video

MSCCN encourages you to view the video online about MSCCN volunteer Elizabeth Sawicki at http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/07/18/military_life_means_uprooting_professionally/ and to share your thoughts, advice, concerns, etc. with us and each other.

MSCCN's Anne Wight, GCDF, commented:

remember that networking is the number 1 way to land a job so she needs to increase that instead of sending out more and more resumes.

the guidance given to her was correct about it not being anyone's business what her husband does or exactly why they moved, unless she is applying through MSCCN (we have military-friendly employers)....she needs to be quietly proud of his military career and not point it out or the threat of relocation to potential employers. Hiring should be based on ability to do the job - and do it better than other candidates - not on any other factor. Employers want to know her achievements so they can see that she will do the job better than anyone else.

she needs to stay plugged into the nearest military family center to stay up-to-date with local job openings and workshops that could increase her knowledge AND networking.

obtaining certifications and/or increasing skills through volunteering are both excellent ways to become more competitive in today's tough market - she is right on target with that one!

Please email your comments to webmaster@msccn.org and include permission to post them.

MSCCN MilSpouse Job Club on Meetup Site

MSCCN is pleased to announce the launch of our Meetup site for the new MilSpouse Job Club. Meetup is a website that helps groups with shared interests plan meetings and form clubs in communities around the world. We will be using the site to support our MilSpouse Job Club, a group where military spouses can meet to share resources and receive information to improve their job search. The site features a page for information about the club and will allow us to post a calendar of events. Most importantly members will easily be able to network and stay in contact with each other through the message board. Check out our new site soon to help you stay connected!

Blue Star Families conducted a special survey in May. They provided the following information:

"This is the second generation of a survey designed to gain information about the military family experience that was originally fielded in January '09. The survey examines key trends with military families on a broad spectrum of military lifestyle aspects. We want to know how multiple deployments and subsequent reintegration have affected military family relationships, stress and coping issues, military child education, and spousal education and employment issues. We also follow up on some trending issues from last year’s survey exploring satisfaction with different family/medical/housing services. We hone in on salient topics like what social media and networking preferences the participants have and where they are volunteering to give a clearer picture of what today’s military family looks like and experiences so we can meet them where they are at in their military lifecycle. We also explore the implications of the disconnect from civilians that most military families feel pervade our nation which was one of the major findings from the Military Life Issues Survey 2.0.

MSCCN will post a link to the survey results when they become available.

National Guard's Paula Sumrall

Paula Sumrall is the author of Our Sons, Our Daughters: A National Guard Parent's Guidebook to Deployment. A retired educator, she has taught children of both active component military members as well as many National Guard and Reserve component children. While her husband was Adjutant General of the Alabama National Guard, she was active in all aspects of Guard Family Programs. She continued working with the Florida National Guard Family Program while her husband was stationed at Central Command (CENTCOM). An ardent advocate for military family issues, she was a member of the first MOAA President’s Currently Serving Spouse Advisory Council. She is an active volunteer with the National Military Family Association (NMFA) and is a certified instructor for Army Family Team Building (AFTB). Currently, Paula serves as the Branch Chief for the National Guard Volunteer and Child/Youth Program. Paula and her husband, MG Mike Sumrall, reside in the Washington D.C. area.

MSCCN thanks Mrs. Sumrall for helping military families and encourages all those associated with the National Guard to read her publication.

Male Spouse? Contact Garry to Share Issues, Successes, and Stories

A male military spouse would like to start a dialogue with other male military spouses through MSCCN. Garry is in an unique situation, not as a military spouse, but as a foreign-born, US resident alien, male military spouse. His writing is very free form, very British, and shows that he faces challenges with both a sense of reality and a large measure of humor, or should we say humour. We invite all male spouses to join in Garry's dialogue and think that all military spouses, regardless of gender, will enjoy his musings. To comment back to Garry or to MSCCN, write to askus@msccn.org. Sit back and enjoy Garry by clicking here. Just remember Garry's thoughts and writings are strictly his own and imply no endorsement by MSCCN, even though we truly enjoy his work!

Like to Write?

Several spouses have sent wonderful information to us that we have published in the Military Spouse Employment Journal (MSEJ) or forwarded to other military-affiliated nonprofits for publication. Each writer wants to share want he or she has learned with other spouses. Do you have a suggestion or a story to tell that could help other military spouses with their job search or military life overall? Please send articles to a_wight@msccn.org and we will notify you if your article will be posted on this area of the website, published by another nonprofit, or in an issue of the MSEJ. Don't miss reading the articles by MSCCN Team members and volunteers posted in the MSCCN Articles and Web Pages by Spouses for Spouses section below.

Interesting Blog about Military Spouses and Employment

We came across a blog where several military spouses openly discussed their employment issues. Comments were made by real spouses who had experienced great difficulty and and another who finally had great success. Helpful resources, including MSCCN, were mentioned.

Touching Email in Circulation

This email will be understood by all military spouses and should be emotionally touching to all Americans.

MSCCN on Facebook and Twitter

Please join us for discussions about military spouse employment -- share employment successes, disappointments, stories of job searches, and any other employment-related issue.

MSCCN would like to make this a tool for all military spouses to network with each other about employment. Please join our group and also forward suggestions about how we can improve using Facebook, Twitter, and other social media for military spouse employment.

Visit us on Facebook and Twitter

Askus Question about Unemployment

MSCCN was recently asked:
I would like to know what other states have signed up for unemployment. I know that when we moved to Fort Campbell from Fort Carson, Colorado did not offer unemployment to a spouse to PCSed to be with her spouse. I was told that was going to change. Do you know if it did?

Our answer:
I found no complete up-to-date list but did find one resource that can help -- http://www.ncsl.org/programs/employ/UnemployInsurMilSpouses.htm .

Military spouses do deserve monetary compensation of some kind when having to relocate. What military spouses and legislators need to understand is that employers must pay higher unemployment insurance premiums when they have workers leaving employment. The employer should not have a higher cost for hiring a military spouse who will relocate and the military spouse should not suffer an income gap. What can be done? Two things are possible for consideration - add military spouses as an eligible group for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit that employers receive and/or federally subsidize States and their employers for the increased unemployment insurance costs when military spouses leave.

MSCCN is supportive of both measures. We are not a political or a lobbying organization, but do follow military spouse issues closely and do our best within our nonprofit charter to support all measures that truly benefit military spouses and families. We understand that more States are considering unemployment for military spouses and it is our hope that all military spouses and employers can benefit by passing legislation that does not cost either one loss of income.

(Right now, if States pass that military spouses can automatically qualify for unemployment compensation when PSCing with the military member, and there is no subsidy for the State or the employer, then military spouses risk costing employers more and not being attractive as job candidates, even though they bring unique experiences and skills to the labor market.)

Tara's Corner
	MSCCN is very pleased to have a partnership with Tara Crooks of Army Wife Talk Radio. In this space called Tara's Corner, jobseekers can find articles of interest from Tara. Please take a few minutes to read Tara's bio and then enjoy the articles below: Finding a Mobile Career as a Military Spouse Military Spouse Booklist

Creative Employment Solutions

The MSCCN Team is often asked to suggest a good career field for military spouses. The correct answer is always "that depends on the interests and skills of the individual spouse." Over the next few months we will be highlighting careers that have been good choices for many military spouses.

Setting up a business or nonprofit on the web works well for many military spouses. Tara's Corner is a wonderful example of reaching out to other military spouses while finding a creative solution to employment. MSCCN hopes that all military spouses will become familiar with other organizations established by military spouses that have a web presence. Examples of these organizations who have partnered with MSCCN include F.R.A.Z.L.E.E.D. Military Wives Christian Network, and CinCHouse.com, as well as Army Wives Talk Radio mentioned above.

We encourage applicants who might be interested in entrepreneurship with a web presence to consider their own creative solution such as talk radio, blogging, or establishing a virtual business.

You can click on the logos below to connect to each partner mentioned.

Other Highlighted Careers for Military Spouses
The first career highlighted was writing. Many military spouses have found success in writing articles (like several members of the MSCCN Team), while others enjoy success writing blogs, in journalism, and others authoring books. Tanya Biank is notable in that her book became the TV series "Army Wives"
	An author who is quite skillful and successful is Kathy Roth-Douquet, Marine Corps wife. You can learn about her through her bio here or her website http://www.roth-douquet.com/. Kathy Roth-Douquet writes not only from her heart and own experience, but has a strong academic back- ground and political view that shape her writing. She has joined with Frank Schaeffer, her political opposite, to examine and write about military service in a new manner. Comments about her latest book, How Free People Move Mountains: "It's not only fun to read, but groundbreaking in that it teaches all of us how to coexist together. The divides within America require finding new common ground. This book is the roadmap to a better place."
Richard Cizik Vice President for Governmental Affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals and How Free People Move Mountains asks an important question of our day: "How do we rededicate ourselves to an America of real patriotism that heals and builds our nation rather than allowing lesser ideals to divide us. Roth-Douquet and Schaeffer have written a book very close to my heart that asks each of us what we need to do to revitalize the collective American purpose in our lives? Max Cleland, Former United States Senator: "If you have a flair for writing and the skills required, please do consider the career field of writing. Whether your work is scholarly, humorous, or a combination of both, you too might find success!"

MSCCN Articles and Web Pages by Spouses for Spouses

Eye opening articles by MSCCN's Deb Kloeppel:

Negativity

Should You Dummy Down Your Resume? Posted on Blue Star Families

Job Skills You Didn't Know You Had

Successful Interviewing

Interview Tips for Job-Ready Military Spouses

Articles Appearing in Magazines

Pre-Interview Preparation ~ 10 steps to getting hired by Deb Kloeppel

Successful Interviewing by Deb Kloeppel

Virtual Office Work Ethics by Deb Kloeppel and Becky Brillon

Relieve Work Stress ~ Five ways to refresh the way to see your job by MSCCN

3 Threats to Your Job Seach by Anne Wight

Job Seekers Beware by Anne Wight

Articles in GIJobs Magazine:

Job Hunting During the Holidays (Part 1) by Anne Wight

Job Hunting During the Holidays (Part 2)

Articles for Website Posting:

If At First You Don't Succeed…REVAMP, REVAMP, REVAMP! by Cachet Prescott

Resume Information (not an article, but great information) by Anne Wight

Anne Wight's Guidelines to Job Search
Written and compiled by one of MSCCN's own, Anne Wight, these guidelines are an invaluable resource for job seekers! They lead you from "beginning your search" to "resume writing, interviewing, and negotiation". There is also an excellent list of job related links that you will want to check! Click Here for the Guidelines

Here are some other excellent articles by Anne:

Overwhelmed Jobseekers

A Must Do

Military Family Centers

Older Workers and Technology

Mission: Career (Checklist)

What Job Seekers Need to Know about Globalization and Outsourcing

Ask the A-Team!

Applicants with job search or career development questions can write to the MSCCN "A Team".

Anne Wight, nationally certified as as Global Career Development Facilitator (GCDF) and Amy Rossi, MSA, Certified Job Search Trainer (CJST), Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), and Strong Interest Inventory (SII) will respond back or refer you to the best member of the team to answer your question. Send an e-mail with "A-Team" as the subject to askus@msccn.org.

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