Career gaps, underemployment, three times the national average for unemployment…Military spouses are, unfortunately, familiar with the problem that we see repeated in article after article, cited in congressional conversations, and commented on by people who have never lived that active duty military life.
The good news is that the narratives are changing, the opportunities for remote work are growing, and the chance to improve things for future military spouses is finally not just a pipe dream, but an active growing communal effort.
What About Employment for Military Spouses Now?
As much as I’d love to say the problem is going away, the reality is that military spouses will always be challenged with steady employment.
This impacts our family finances, our self-worth, and our growth potential in our careers. It’s frustrating and discouraging, not to mention detrimental to our physical and mental health. This Penn State article shares how those who suffer from frequent unemployment in their 20s and 30s have poorer mental and physical health by 50 due to the long-term detrimental effects.
Using LinkedIn to Network
This live conversation with Jacqueline Widdis was a great start to understanding ways that military spouses can increase their chances of getting a good job that meets their career and financial needs.
What Should I Be Posting?
If you are like most of us, you struggle with coming up with topics to post about on social media. What do you say to show your employment worth? The good news is that Jacqueline has provided a cheat sheet for military spouses to help them get started.
What I love about this approach is that the topics also make you stop and think about the experiences you’ve had and how they’ve impacted your skills as a professional.
We’re focusing on posting on LinkedIn since it is the most employment-oriented site for job seekers.
So, are you ready for your 31-Day Challenge?
31-Day Social Media Post Challenge
There are two pages of questions with tips from Jacqueline located on the download version. To make it even easier for you, I’ve pulled the questions from the download and included them here. You can pick and choose the ones that inspire you the most so don’t feel tied to following them in this order.
- Introduce yourself. What do you hope to accomplish with your network or posts?
- Talk about one thing you enjoy about your work/school/life
- What are you reading, watching, or studying right now? Why?
- Do you have a quote that means a lot to you? Why?
- Tell the story about how it came to be a favorite.
- Talk about a lesson you learned this week. Why does that matter to you?
- Do you have a cause you believe in? What inspires you about it?
- Talk about a hobby of yours. What makes you enjoy it so much?
- Do you have an object sitting around your desk or in your room that you’ll never get rid of? Why?
- When was the last time you belly laughed? What caused it? Share the story.
- How are you feeling? If it’s a great day, can you encourage someone else?
- What project has meant the most to you? Why? What did you learn?
- What inspired you to do the thing you are doing in life? A person? A circumstance?
- Who are you the most grateful for in your network? Tag them and give kudos to others.
- What character trait of yours do you struggle with the most? How do you believe it’s hindered or grown you?
- Is there an event that really changed you for the better? Talk about it.
- Do you have a piece of clothing or routine that makes you feel different when you wear it?
- Has anything significantly changed for you in the last year? Why does that matter?
- What is a problem you are trying to solve right now?
- What motivates you on days you don’t feel like doing anything?
- Is there something you were once afraid to do, but now seems easy?
- Do you have a specific piece of advice you have received from a manager or teacher that changed the way you work?
- Is there a point where you considered or were in a different career than where you are now? How would the other path have impacted your current situation?
- What is one of the greatest things you have overcome in life to reach a specific goal?
- Think about your physical limitations to something you’ve always wanted to do, or can no longer do. How have you overcome this or what are you doing instead?
- If you could give advice to yourself at __ age, what would you tell yourself?
- Have you ever had a hobby you were able to leverage into a professional or life success?
- Is there a place or sensation that brings you back to a place in your past? What feeling does it evoke?
- Did you ever have a situation where preparation met opportunity and changed the course of your life?
- How do you balance work/goals and life? Could you use the advice or have advice on it?
- What is something that brings you joy?
- What have you learned after posting for 31 consecutive days? Did anything come easy for you? Was anything hard?
A Few Tips on LinkedIn Networking
If you listen to the live stream with Jacqueline on career gaps and networking she gives some great tips about LinkedIn networking and getting people to notice you.
- Follow recruiters in the industry you are interested in
- Comment on their posts and ask questions to clarify information. Ask them to engage with you by being curious.
- Comment on their posts regularly so they know your name
- Once you’ve established a relationship, connect and add a LinkedIn note using something that they inspired for you such as, “Thanks for answering my question about hiring manager preferences. You’ve been a great help in my job search for _____.”
- If they aren’t accepting connections they’ve likely maxed out their numbers. Someone rejecting your connection request has nothing to do with you!
Get Mentored Weekly
Have more questions? Connect with Jacqueline on LinkedIn or attend one of her weekly mentorship events held at aka.ms/mentorshiplive.
