Many military spouses pursue a career the way Kathie, an Army spouse, did for years -the least effective way. With each new duty station she found jobs based on salary, based on the suggestions of others (without any further research into the field), or based on newspaper want ads - in other words, based on whatever was most easily available. She hopped from career field to career field, from Human Resources to Pharmaceutical Sales to Advertising Sales to Advertising Agency work.

So what's wrong with career hopping? Sure, it is one way to try out different things to find out what you like and don't like, but it's the least effective and most costly way. Most importantly, when you keep changing career fields, you don't build up credentials and a reputation in any one field, you don't build connections that can help you as you move, and you are constantly in the beginner mode of the learning curve. It's hard to move up progressively position and salary-wise when you are always starting over.

After interviewing military spouses from all services, we've found many spouses who are much more strategic in their career path. In future articles, we'll cover each of the following strategies in depth, giving you examples from other military spouses as well as ideas and resources that you can apply to your own career, whatever field you are pursuing.

Here are the key strategies we will cover:

1. Complete the assessment/interest inventories and pay attention to them.
   
2. Do information interviews of more than one individual already working in the field you want to work in.
   
3. Know that you probably won't move in a straight line in your career as long as you are moving with the military. Be open to that and adopt a mindset that opens opportunities for a richer career experience.
   
4. Join and stay active in a professional association.
   
5. Get professional certification and/or be proactive about continuing education.
   
6. Look for mentors, negotiate career-building opportunities and be proactive in getting cross-training.
   
7. Start your job early search before you move to the next assignment.
   
8. Learn to sell yourself and the unique set of skills and experiences you bring to an employer.
   
9. Build networking skills to make and keep great connections. As Army spouse Lynne Edwards says, "It's who you know who knows how well you work."
   
10. Create your own visibility. Learn the art of personal PR and marketing yourself.
    
11. If no job in your career field exists in a particular location, figure out what skills you need to gain or improve on that you can work on at that location - either in a volunteer or paid position or by telecommuting.
    
12. Above all adopt the mindset that opens possibilities.

You really can pursue a career as you move with the military-with a bit of creativity, persistence and strategy. Army wife and teacher Berkeley McHugh shared one big benefit to this lifestyle, something that applies to other career fields as well as teaching. "I think I have had some fabulous opportunities because I moved around and taught in different schools," she said. "I went back to Texas ten years after I first taught there and many of my former co-workers were still there - teaching the same subject in the same room. I feel I had additional opportunities to grow and be challenged because of my new environments."