The Tampa Tribune / TBO.com
Military News
TAMPA — Karen Golden knows well the challenges of trying to maintain a career while married to someone in the military.
Over the past 27 years of marriage to Robert Golden, who recently retired as a Marine colonel, the Golden family has moved to 11 duty stations and lived in 14 homes across the U.S. and in Korea.
That flux, she says, damaged her career.
“The biggest challenge I faced is that being a social worker, I was in a profession that need licensure or certification,” Golden says. “I met my husband when he was already in the Marines. At our first duty station, I worked as a social worker, but I was never in one place long enough to accumulate all the hours for clinical supervision to apply for a license.”
Golden’s story is a familiar one. Now deputy director of government relations for the Military Officers Association of America, she is coming to Tampa on Wednesday to moderate a panel at “Keeping a Career on the Move,” a symposium by the Military Officers Association of America at the A La Carte Event Pavilion in Tampa.
Following the symposium, there will be a Hiring Our Heroes Military Spouse Program networking event from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Wednesday, and on Thursday at the site there will be a Hiring Our Heroes Military Spouse Program hiring fair between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Both events are being put on by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, which is also sponsoring.
Military spouses like Golden face long odds when it comes to finding and keeping a job.
The average military spouse is a 33-year-old woman with some college or a bachelor’s degree.
But younger female spouses, 18 to 24, are nearly three times more likely to be unemployed than civilians. Female spouses also earn an average of 38 percent less in total personal income.
Ninety percent of female spouses of active duty service members say they’re underemployed, meaning they have more formal education or experience than needed at their current or most recent position.
That’s all according to a 2013 study on military spouses by Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families and by the Military Officers Association of America.
Behind these challenges, according to the study, is that nearly half the female spouses will likely have moved across state lines, or overseas, at least twice in the past five years. That interferes with career advancement and even with just holding a job.
Finding a way forward is the goal of the symposium, Golden says.
“It provides great professional development.”
Among the highlights are panels on how to write and tailor resumes, how to use Linkedin as a job-hunting tool, how to network, and just hearing stories from others.
“We need to look to our peers as mentors,” Golden says. “How were they able to successfully weave a career. It is inspiring and empowering.”
Some spouses faced with a permanent change of station, known in the military as a PCS, have come up with creative solutions.
In 2004, Lauren Weiner left her job at the Office of Management and Budget to move to Naples, Italy, with her husband, Charles Weiner, a civilian taking military orders.
“At first, I thought it would be romantic,” says Weiner, who now lives in the Tampa area. “We had just gotten married and I figured there would be a bunch of jobs open.”
That didn’t turn out to be the case, she says.
Living overseas, she was required to work on base. But the only opportunities were secretarial. So eventually she helped form In Gear Careers, a non-profit designed to help military spouses seeking professional employment and maintaining long-term careers.
Weiner, who owns Wittenberg Weiner Consulting with fellow military spouse Donna Huneycutt, will tell her story at the symposium, as well.
The symposium kicks off 9 a.m. Wednesday with remarks by retired Vice Adm, Norb Ryan Jr., president of the Military Officers Association of America, followed by a keynote speech by U.S. Rep Kathy Castor, the Tampa Democrat.
“Tampa Bay is a patriotic community that works every day to support all of our military families,” Castor said in a media release. “Supporting our military families in every aspect of their lives upholds the values of our country and our community.”
More Information
Symposium for military spouses Where: A La Carte Event Pavilion, 4050 Dana Shores Drive, Tampa When: Wednesday and Thursday Daily schedule: Panel discussions 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Networking event 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. Hiring Fair Thursday Attendance: Free and open to active duty, reserve, National Guard, retiree, veteran, and surviving military spouses, service members, and veterans. Walk-ins welcome. Information: www.uschamberfoundation.org/event/tampa-military-spouse-networking-reception and www.uschamberfoundation.org/event/tampa-military-spouse-hiring-fair
Original URL: http://www.tbo.com/list/military-news/symposium-offers-support-job-tips-for-military-spouses-20151013/
