Well, there is an uproar on the internet, and it is about military spouses and jobs. A few days ago, a syndicated column was posted on a few online sites. The article is titled 12 great jobs for military spouses. It starts off well, talking about the skills and qualifications of military spouses, and the the Military Spouse Employment Partnership, and then it runs a bit off track. Actually, like the track just fell away into a ravine or something.
The "great" jobs included in this article are:
- direct selling
- child care
- selling handcrafted goods online
- tutoring and substitute teaching
- errand runner
- catering or cake decorating
- pet services
- gift basket creator
- personal trainer
- administrative assistant
- information technology specialist
- tax preparer
- temporary worker
Now, don't get me wrong. These are all fine jobs, and can be exactly the right choice for some people at some times. However, to pigeonhole military spouses into such a limited range of opportunities is really annoying. In addition, many of the items on this list are actually awful choices for military spouse. Anything that involves building a clientele, like running errands or making gift baskets, is virtually impossible for someone who moves regularly.
I know that military spouses are capable of having any type of job or career that they desire. Sometimes it is challenging, but it can be done. I've had milspouse friends who are teachers, doctors, hairdressers, craft demonstrators at Michaels, lawyers, nurses, authors, radiologists, social workers, lobbyists, accountants, gosh, I can't even count them all. Heck, I've been a waitress, a temp, worked retail, managed a restaurant, worked in mortgage banking, sold Pampered Chef. (And that selling on Etsy thing looks cool, until I think about how uncrafty I am.)
What do you think about the article? What sort of jobs have you had? Fun, awful, cool, impressive, boring, whatever - we can be whatever we want to be, when it works for our families and us.
