7) We can ask each other where the jobs are
This is partly networking and partly just conversing with our peers. When your spouse gets an assignment to a new command, find their Facebook group page, request to join, make friends, and ask about jobs! When I first moved to Texas nearly two years ago, the first thing I did was ask who the best doctors were for the kids and where the best job could be found. This doesn’t guarantee you’re going to find a job (I’m nearly un-hirable in this economy, in the same town as a major university where the Walmart clerks mostly have college degrees and the gas station attendants are law students). Thank God I love my job.
There are networking groups who pretty much do this for you. In Gear Career (which I cannot stress enough is doing great things) is taking asking each other to a new level by combining networking with peer-working (oh look, I just made up a new word!). The basic idea is to build a network of businesses in the area the spouse is in, and when that spouse leaves, he or she leaves the network with the next spouse. Chapters are popping up everywhere, so check to see if there is one near you, or get crazy and talk to them about starting your own chapter (that’s what I’m doing).
