IN THE BEGINNING
I joined the military spouse club, or what I like to refer to as the “Magical Mystery Tour,” seven years ago. Four months after I married the love of my life, whom I had met in college and had known for 14 years, he deployed to Iraq. I stayed in Maryland for the 13-month deployment and continued at my job and lived in the condo I bought prior to marriage.
Likewise, after he returned from his deployment, I retained my employment in Maryland at a pretty well-paying job while he trained soldiers at Fort Dix during the week and visited on the weekends.
Then, orders came down to PCS to Kansas. At that point, it was time to “get on the bus” and quit my job, rent my condo, and leave family and friends in MD.
TIME TO PCS
Not having any kids or a job, I suddenly had a lot of time on my hands. I was in the second best shape of my life since I could walk a block to the gym on post to attend Body Pump classes. But what the heck was I going to do with the rest of my time? It was the first time in over 16 years as a professional that I didn’t have a job, let alone a career-oriented job.
So, the job search began. I had a lot of great experience and a Master’s degree; how difficult would it really be? I was lucky to have some income from the unemployment check Maryland allows for spouses when orders take them out of state, but even with my background, many demoralizing days followed.
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Ask the Exper: KSA Article
Unrealistic ExpectaTions?
THE JOB SEARCH
The remote location in Kansas made applying to jobs on post incredibly competitive. Continually not getting referred to the Hiring Managers despite being “well-qualified” was quite a blow to the ego. The federal hiring system couldn’t have been more foreign to me than if I had relocated to Mars, not Kansas.
The handful of private sector interviews from LinkedIn I received required an hour and a half round-trip commute to Kansas City which raised quality of life questions. At that point, I had been married for three years and hadn’t lived with my husband 24/7 for any of it; did I really want to spend that much time on the road each week?
I knew that pursuing portable jobs made the most sense, but they didn’t align with my career field or experience. Should I pursue another line of work? If so, what? Should I take something just to be “working?" Should I go back to school again? I had already worked hard to get to where I was, invested a lot of time and money, and felt like I had “paid my dues.”
By Micki Auten