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4 Reasons to Join The Military Spouse Network

Julie Provost
military spouse professional network

Are you a military spouse who has changed jobs several times because of frequent moves? Do you wish you could bring your professional network with you each time you move?  The Military Spouse Professional Network might offer the support you need.

Maybe you are new to your post, and have just started a job search. You wish you had just one professional contact to give you some leads or advice, but you don’t know who to call.

Maybe you haven’t moved yet, but as the spouse of a service member, you know that a move is in your future, and you can’t take your job with you. How can you prepare yourself with professional support ahead of future moves?

What is the Military Spouse Professional Network?

The Military Spouse Professional Network (formerly known as In Gear Career) is a major part of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring Our Heroes Military Spouse Program. The Network is both local and virtual, with more than 50 local chapters worldwide, and provides career development and networking opportunities for spouses in military communities around the world.

Why Should You Join?

The Military Spouse Professional Network offers four main benefits to military spouses:

  1. Serves as a community of like-minded military spouses who are balancing the demands of career and military life
  2. Hosts networking and career development events for spouses
  3. Connects spouses with established networks of local business leaders, peers, and mentors
  4. Provides online career development resources

 The Network, through Hiring Our Heroes, offers multiple career development and networking events for military spouses throughout the year, such as:

Additionally, Hiring Our Heroes has established Military Spouse Empowerment Zones in cities across America, as a way to build a strong employment network for military spouses. Hiring Our Heroes also offers online career development resources to military spouses.

Most Jobs Fill By Referral

Because military spouses start over each time they move, they must build new career networks every couple of years. Most jobs (80%) fill by referral, and this fact alone puts job-seeking military spouses at a disadvantage. If you don’t have a network in place, who will refer you for a job?

The Military Spouse Professional Network was created to even the playing field, and to empower military spouses by addressing their unique networking and professional development needs.

How to Connect

Local Military Spouse Professional Network locations exist in the following places:

Stateside (CONUS):

Overseas (OCONUS):

Can’t find your location? You can join the virtual Military Spouse Professional Network on Facebook.

Contact information for the Network can be found by clicking here.

As a career-minded military spouse, find your place in the Military Spouse Professional Network today!

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