Join
Connect With Us
Blog
Twitter
Facebook
TM
Loading
Advertisement
CAREER/EDUCATION
Facebook
 | ||||
What is Career Independence?
Merriam-webster.com defines the word career as “a field for or pursuit of consecutive progressive achievement especially in public, professional or business life.” The site also describes independence as “the state of being in control of one’s own actions.”
With these definitions in mind, it makes sense to think of career independence formally as an ability to pursue your own progressive professional achievements based on your own decisions and actions. For military spouses, however, career independence often means something a little more. We also have the additional requirement of making decisions based on what we want, not what the Army orders.
Envisioning Independence
Setting aside formal definitions for a moment, the actual shape career independence takes will mean something a little different for each of us. Consider the American 4th of July holiday. The formal explanation of July 4 or Independence Day, according to http://usa.gov, is outlined as the birthday of the United States of America and the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Though we all understand why this particular day of the year is significant to our nation’s history, the way we choose to honor or celebrate it is most likely different for each of us.
Some of my favorite childhood 4th of July memories involve a night of minor league baseball followed by stadium fireworks. As I have grown older and am now married to an active duty soldier, I choose to celebrate by watching the fireworks on post. Many of my civilian friends have never had the pleasure of attending the moving patriotism of a 4th of July celebration on a military installation. Their 4th of July might instead include local town fireworks. Other friends of mine celebrate at cookouts, proudly march in or watch parades, or relax and lounge on their extra day off from work.
Now return to the idea of your own personal career independence. Perhaps your idea of career independence is to work outside of the home in order to meet others, to develop a sense of purpose or fulfillment, or to have a profession free from the impact of Army orders. Only you know what you want and what you need to feel fulfilled professionally. Remember, career independence means that you are in control of your own professional development!
Stacy Swearengen
Career and Education
Senior Contributor
stacy@armywifemagazine.com
www.militaryspousecareercoach.com Stacy@militaryspousecareercoach.com
Career Independence Ideas:
Pursuing Your Profession While a Mobile Military Spouse
by Stacy Swearengen, posted July 2010
Advertisement
Archives: Career & Education
The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me.
~ Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead
Aiming for Independence
Although the job market is currently quite competitive, it does not warrant giving up on what you want for yourself or your family. By taking the time to reflect on what career independence means for you, you inevitably develop a better idea of what you want from your career and every individual job.
The next step is to make this vision more tangible by writing it down, developing a vision board and sharing it with everyone you know! You must know your goal to live it and believe it to effectively pursue it. Should you have a hard time determining exactly what career independence will do for you or what it means to you, consider a few of the following definitions several military spouses have shared with me:
The more intensely we feel about an idea or a goal, the more assuredly the idea,
buried deep in our subconscious, will direct us along the path to its fulfillment.
~ Earl Nightingale
I want my career to help me develop personally and professionally.
I feel that I have a calling, and I need career independence so that I can truly fulfill my purpose.
I want to support my family, my husband and my country.
My career independence means not having to give up on my progress each time we move.
When I think of career independence, I envision myself helping others, feeling energized every morning and inspired every evening--excited to start the next day of my life and do it all over again tomorrow.
I think of it as the opposite of giving up a job every time we move.
Aiming for Independence
These quotes are just a handful of the possibilities! The number of definitions for career independence are endless, and your vision is only limited by your own creativity.
Embracing Independence
In the following paragraphs you will find a number of resources for the most common military spouse career independence definitions; all of which are designed to help you start on the path toward your career independence.
..High Demand and High Growth Jobs (aka Portable)
With the creation and cessation of myCAA, a $6,000 grant for military spouses to pursue training for high demand/high growth jobs, career fields labeled with these terms have gained increased attention. The question many military spouses now have is how to determine which professions are high demand, high growth, or both. There are a number of resources available for spouses to investigate career demand and growth outlook, such as:
Though myCAA has been halted, Military OneSource continues to offer information about certain career fields they have deemed high growth and high demand. Typically, these fields include business/management, education, hospitality services and health professions. The list has recently been updated to include a variety of new potential opportunities.
- The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases a number of valuable, informative publications to help individuals find out about career fields, occupational growth, career prerequisites and training requirements. All publications are listed at http://www.bls.gov/opub. From this site, you are able to view information regarding labor statistics. One of the most well-known publications put out by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is the Occupational Outlook Handbook, which provides information on state-to-state job markets and the trends of particular professions and fields. This site is not specific to military spouses, but is a comprehensive guide for all jobseekers.
- O*Net Online, http://online.onetcenter.org, provides browsers the opportunity to find occupations based on a list of potential industries. Options also include searching for occupations that require specific software and skills and researching interrelated career paths for potential career changers.
...Flexible
A number of factors contribute to a job’s flexibility. Any of the previously listed resources provide a general idea of an industry’s flexibility in term of work hours, required training and demand. For specific job listings, consider the following:
- Rat Race Rebellion, http://www.ratracerebellion.com, provides daily screened job listings for telecommuting and work-from-home jobs. You can also view jobs by the industry you are most interested in.
- Indeed.com (http://www.indeed.com) is what I consider to be the google of job searches. You can type in a term or phrase like “flexible hours” “telecommute” or “home-based” within your current region and gauge possible opportunities.
...Personal Fulfillment
The following self-assessments are fun and should not be considered professional advice. They may provide enlightenment if you are not sure how your personality, skills and values are currently impacting your life.
- • The Color Quiz - http://www.colorquiz.com/quiz.php
- • O*Net Skills Assessment - http://online.onetcenter.org/skills
- • The Keirsey Temperament Sorter®-II (KTS®-II) - http://www.keirsey.com/sorter/instruments2.aspx?partid=0
-----
For more information on how to create your own career independence,
Stacy Swearengen, Certified Career, Education and Adult Learning Coach, and spouse of an active duty soldier, provides military wives with career and education counseling that is tailored to meet the demands of the military lifestyle. Offering a complete range of career counseling services, including resume critiques, mock interviews, job search resources, college decision-making strategies and guidance on using military spouse benefits,
Stacy provides telephone coaching to spouses across the world.
All army wives receive a complimentary 30-minute coaching session to determine
if career coaching is right for them.
New Website: www.PortableCareerPlanning.com
New Email: Stacy@PortableCareerPlanning.com
