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As you are thoroughly prepping yourself to re-enter the workforce with your updated resume and cover letter, or with your new certification, knowledge and skills, it’s also time to start networking and search for your next career or employment opportunity. Networking is an essential piece to this transition; not only does it allow you to connect with others who are in a similar lifestyle situation, but also it allows you to learn of opportunities that you may not hear about otherwise. Being a military caregiver puts you in a unique situation because, somewhere along your military-life journey, you’ve had the opportunity to make new connections and open various doors of opportunity for others—to live by the golden rule of networking to assist others first. Now is the time for you to put yourself out there, to utilize social media such as Facebook, to organize a caregiver event in your community, or use different networking sites like LinkedIn to connect yourself to your next great opportunity.

 

• HiddenHeroes.org also provides great networking opportunities within the caregiver community; they have a particular group Facebook page dedicated solely to caregivers where people share information about resources and, at times, caregiver employment opportunities.

It’s also important to know what benefits or entitlements you have as a caregiver, such as the federal hiring authority known as veterans’ preference. This preference gives certain spouses and caregivers a distinct preference to federal employment opportunities as opposed to other candidates who have no military affiliation. If you’re looking to be employed in the federal government, there are varying jobs under these specific and special hiring authorities from federal agencies that only want to hire a veteran, spouse, or caregiver.

 

• See a complete list of available hiring authorities here. Pay particular attention to Executive Order 13473, as this will give widowers of veterans and spouses of 100% disabled veterans a special hiring authority for federal government employment opportunities.

 

• To see the current opportunities available and apply for positions within the federal government, please visit the USAJOBS website. Be sure to read thoroughly through the different hiring authorities to and know what category you fall under so you have the appropriate paperwork uploaded with your application materials when applying for these positions. If the correct paperwork is not uploaded with your application, you will not be given your preference.

If you choose to go the private sector route with employment, there are a variety of job boards and job fairs for military caregivers and spouses where you can post your resume, apply for positions specifically posted for this community, or even attend an event in person to speak with recruiters who are looking to employ caregivers.

 

• Hire Heroes USA job board

 

• U.S. Chamber of Commerce Wounded Veteran and Caregiver program

 

• FASTPORT is a veteran employment software company on a mission to assist all members of our nation’s military community to find career opportunities with military-friendly employers. They created Career Spark, which is designed to support military spouses and can be located here or visit FASTPORT's job board for opportunities in your area.

 

• If you’re currently a MOAA member, you can utilize the MOAA job board to find employment.

 

Depending on the extent of some caregivers duties, the idea of going back into the workforce at a traditional job is entirely too challenging. Every caregiver is different in their own way with their own set of obstacles to overcome. For some caregivers, the opportunity to still participate in the workforce by working from home may provide a greater deal of flexibility.

 

• FlexJobs can prove to be an excellent job board for finding telecommute opportunities for the caregivers that choose this route of employment.