Defense Department hosting virtual career fair for military spouses

Fair
A father and son work at a shared office space inside their home. Photo credit Defense.gov

By Jim Garamone, Defense.gov

The Defense Department is hosting its fourth virtual hiring fair for spouses of all active duty, Guard and Reserve personnel, as well as survivors, on Wednesday, March 10, between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. EST.

Those interested can attend by visiting the event website. Instructions on how to interface with employers are located on the main page, according to Erika Slaton, associate director for Military Community Support Programs in the office of Military Community and Family Policy. The site can be accessed by a computer or mobile device.

Slaton encouraged spouses to go to that site now to register.

Around 200 employers will be on hand to discuss job prospects, she said, noting that this event is part of DoD's Military Spouse Employment Partnership, or MSEP.

Spouses will be able to connect with MSEP partners to identify job opportunities, and they will also be able to access additional resources like spouse education and career opportunities, or SECO, career coaches and Military OneSource consultants.

SECO career coaches help with things like resume writing, including federal job resumes and practice interviews. The MSEP site can be found here.

MSEP has already led to the hiring of some 175,000 military spouses through more than 500 employers, Slaton noted.

Those employers include Amazon, McDonald's, Starbucks, Hilton Worldwide, MetLife, Bank of America and federal agencies, like the Office of Personnel Management, Department of Labor and the Department of Commerce For a complete list, visit here. 

Slaton mentioned that employers truly value the enthusiasm, skills and work ethic of military spouses, so they are very pleased to be a part of this.

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Featured Image Photo Credit: Defense.gov