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 Ambassador network launches to help military spouses find jobs By Terri Moon Cronk
                American Forces Press Service
 WASHINGTON - The Defense Department has broadened  its reach to military spouses looking for jobs through its new Spouse  Ambassador Network, an arm of the department's Spouse Education and Career  Opportunities program. In its quest to educate, empower and mentor military spouses  to encourage their pursuit of careers, the network is a collaboration of SECO's  Military Spouse Employment Partnership and various military support  organizations, Meg O'Grady told American Forces Press Service and the Pentagon  Channel on Aug. 27. O'Grady called the ambassador effort "a network of  networks," noting that the partnership comprises 200 businesses that pledged to  hire military spouses, and that participating organizations include the  Military Officers Association of America, the National Military Family  Association, Blue Star Families and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "All of the organizations have chapters and members in  communities where military spouses live," she said. "We've brought together the  organizations to expand their commitment to military spouses through the  partnership." O'Grady said network members will meet with the employing  partners every three months to discuss ways to further reach out to help guide  military spouses in their job searches. The network was created for military spouses by military  spouses, O'Grady said. When it was being developed, she explained, a group of  military spouses who were "well-networked" within their communities were  brought together and asked what career information and resources would be  helpful to them. "Through a series of working groups, the military spouses  developed a mission statement and developed what the Spouse Ambassador Network  is today -- a group of organizations that advocates for military spouse career  resources and tools, and provides a voice for (them) within their communities,"  she said. At the first Spouse Ambassador Network roundtable in July, a  toolkit of education and career resources was developed and made available to  military spouses through the network and the SECO program, she added. The network helps to prepare military spouses for employment  by partnership members, and mentoring military spouses for careers is also an  important network feature, O'Grady said. "The organizations that are part of the network have  developed tools, resources (and) mentoring programs for military spouses that  complement the tools and resources of DOD's SECO program," she said. "The  organizations offer a series of online networking for military spouses to talk  to other military spouses to find out about opportunities, education and  entrepreneurial opportunities." One such example that complements DOD's hiring efforts is  the U.S. Chamber of Commerce-sponsored "Hiring Heroes" job fairs for veterans  and spouses conducted around the nation, O'Grady said.
The job fairs offer opportunities for military spouses to  find jobs and to access skill resources such as interviewing techniques and  resume preparation and review. "In partnering with these organizations that already have  resources in the communities, we've leveraged the ability to reach a larger  military spouse population," she added. The SECO program provides a career center that's accessible  24 hours a day, seven days a week on the Military OneSource website, O'Grady  said. "Military spouses can receive career counseling and advice  from master's-level certified career counselors (for) advice," she added. Adding to those resources, the SECO site offers article  links, a variety of skill assessments, and access to the Myers-Briggs  personality assessment to determine how a person's traits might apply to  certain careers, O'Grady noted. The SECO site also gives military spouses the  ability to create profiles of their education and training, and what their  career desires are, much like the business-oriented social networking site  LinkedIn, which O'Grady said spouses are encouraged to use. An upcoming feature will allow military spouses to transfer  their LinkedIn profiles into the SECO site, she added. "We're very excited about that, because it really does meld  an industry-leading tool with the tools we've provided through DOD," she said. "The Spouse Ambassador Network and the Military Spouse  Employment Partnership would not work without the employers and the  organizations that have come to the table and really stepped up to hire  military spouses," O'Grady said. SECO recently met its goal of hiring 50,000 military  spouses, she said, noting that's more than a year ahead of the goal set by the  Joining Forces initiative championed by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill  Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden. In the fall, SECO will induct 200 more companies and  organizations into its Military Spouse Employment Partnership, O'Grady said. "(The partner companies) recognize the value of military  spouses, and that they have the kinds of skills and talent that most employers  are looking for in the 21st century," she added. "They're resilient, flexible,  natural team players, and tend to be very loyal. Our employers have told us  that bringing a military spouse into their organization creates a real value  for that business."
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