Next Time, I’m Taking the Job With Me

The great thing about the military is the hodgepodge of people you meet, interact with, and become lifelong friends with even though you live on opposite sides of the world. All walks of life become part of this club, the MILITARY. You have shared experiences from living in foreign countries with excellent food, Murphy’s Law deployments, and the disgusting odor coming from a box of your household goods because yes, the movers actually packed the trash can with the trash in it.

Since I was raised in the military, I thought I was prepared to be a military spouse, and in a sense, I was. I understood the long hours, working on weekends, deployments that could last a year or quickly abbreviated to three months, and new adventures filled with unexpected experiences that come with every move. But there was one thing I was not prepared for — a rocky career path.

My realization.

I was employed and was going to school when I met and married my husband. During our first Permanent Change of Station (PCS) as a married couple, I was excited to set out on this adventure. But, it meant I had to give up my job and find a new one in our new home. My crystal ball failed to tell me that even though I have the experience, education, and a great, hard-working attitude, it would take six months to find a decent job, one that I was overqualified and underpaid for.

It took me a long time to accept that my employment path would not be “traditional,” nor would it be consistent. With every move came the resignation letter and the dreaded job search.

At some point, I saved a standard resignation letter, so I would have it for the next time. I was always new to the area and new to the station’s job market, which meant it was a lot of unpaid “work” to find employment. I had to ask myself if I should take a job to have an income, even if it wasn’t what I wanted to do, or keep looking for the right opportunity?

The struggle, as they say, is real.

I have spent at least five of the last nine years them unemployed or underemployed. Starting over in a new job market is difficult when nobody knows who you are — let alone how great you are — so you are constantly tweaking your resume while fighting to get your foot in the door.

Once you get the interview, there’s a whole different struggle. During the interview process, I have always dreaded the questions that probes into “Why did you move?,” “You’ve had a lot of roles…,” or, “Tell me more about his gap, why were you taking time off?”

Deciding how to respond is a double-edged sword. If I explain that my moves are related to the military, the interviewer could consciously or subconsciously disqualify me, because now they know I will eventually move again. Or, they could be impressed by and appreciative of the adaptable nature, quick learning, out-side-of-the-box thinking, and ability to make the impossible possible that military spouses are expertly skilled with.

We military spouses often accept a job offer just to have a job — any job, even one that we’re overqualified for or don’t like — so that our resumes do not have unusually long gaps and to have an income to help support our family and save for the future.

Fate.

After 7 moves in 9 years, the job search and interview process was starting to wear on me. A few months before our next PSC, I started looking into this mythical thing called remote work. However, I had no luck on getting my foot in the door. I started doubting that remote work would be the answer since it was hard enough obtaining a brick-and-mortar position. When we finally moved, I was still job searching while house hunting and volunteering with a local nonprofit.

After a year of unemployment and hearing that I was not selected for what I thought was my dream job, a Talent Specialist from Instant Teams found me on LinkedIn. The opportunity was part-time remote work with endless possibilities. The position would challenge me, but I would grow and develop my skills, evolve my mindset, and look at the world in an entirely new and exciting way. It was fate intervening; the dream job that I didn’t get was with a company that underwent an internal restructuring and temporarily closed offices due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Remote work gives me the work-life balance I needed. I can handle military life’s little details while working from anywhere. In my role as a portfolio operations associate at Squadra Ventures, I do work that I love, where I am emotionally and mentally challenged to grow.

And the best part is, I will not need that resignation letter — with the next move, foreign or domestic, the job is coming with me.

— — —

Welcome to the Squadra Blog. We’ll be sharing advice, stories, and how we make hard decisions as we work with our portfolio companies to build extraordinary teams and companies.

Interested in talking to our investment team? Fill out our form https://squadraventures.typeform.com/to/lYvbTDEh