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Do you have job interview advice for military spouses who are worried about being shut out due to their status? For example, many worry that once the employer hears they are military, they won’t hire them because they assume they’ll be moving in 2-3 years.
I am a huge fan of being very direct — looking someone in the eye, telling them that you understand why you may have gaps on your resume, and their worries over hiring a military spouse because of the propensity to move a lot. I say tell them you get it and that you can’t promise to be there forever, but you can promise to do a kick-ass job while you’re there, to be motivated and a great employee, and to ensure that when you do leave, they’ll be a better organization for the time you were there. This isn’t from a professional hiring standpoint, because every hiring manager and organization is completely different, but I think if you did that, it would be very authentic.
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Moving around the country (or world) is inevitable if you’re a military spouse. Why should companies consider remote work for current employees who have PCS orders?
If you would like to consider approaching your employer with a remote work option, consider the following. If the work doesn’t require you to be on site (ask yourself if you could work from home on a snow day effectively. A cashier could not. A marketing director could.) Then talk to your boss about the possibility of working remotely and propose a trial period. Ask for a test run by working from home for a week to identify any problem areas, then problem solve them together. Not every employer is going to be receptive, but some literally just have never thought of it and would do a lot to keep an amazing employee. Remember that it’s expensive to find and train your replacement, so eliminating that expense by staying on remotely may be a solution to a problem for them!
I believe there are two important keys to remote work. The first is leveraging technology well. We live in such a different world than just 10 years ago, and I think employers are unwise not to take advantage of the ability to get remote workers. The fact is, the best talent does not always live 45 minutes or less from your office. By limiting ourselves to the talent within a reasonable daily commute of our office, we limit the potential of our organizations. As a business owner whose team is spread across the country, I agree there are challenges. Team lunch isn’t a thing we get to do. And training a new employee remotely does come with its own set of challenges. But the payoffs of having remarkable talent are so worth it. Secondly, I lead my team based on what I learned as an employee at McChrystal Group. General McChrystal led by the following principles: trust, common purpose, shared consciousness and empowered execution.
To contact Jean, email [email protected].
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