Military spouses, service members, and veterans are invited to attend the free 2015 Military Spouse Symposium “Keeping a Career on the Move®,” a personal and professional development conference for military spouses who are planning to enter or re-enter the workforce or take the next step in their professional careers. The first event, hosted by the Military Officers Association of America’s (MOAA), will take place Wednesday, Oct. 14 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Registration opens at 8:15 a.m.), followed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring Our Heroes Military Spouse Networking Event and Hiring Fair Thursday, Oct. 15. All events will be held at the A La Carte Event Pavilion in Tampa, Fla.
The “Keeping a Career on the Move®” Military Spouse Symposium builds the bridge to the workforce by offering military spouses the opportunity to engage in discussion with installation, community, state, and federal representatives, local and national employers and other military spouses.
The symposium opens with keynote speaker U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, who is the first woman to represent Florida’s 14th Congressional District in the U.S. Congress and is serving her fifth term.
Attendees can choose from a variety of workshops provided by MOAA’s award-winning Transition Center and designed for the local area. Concurrent workshops include:
- Résumé Writing Strategies for Military Spouses,
- The “Dollars and Sense” of Working Outside of the Home,
- Networking Your Way to Employment,
- LinkedIn Strategies, and
- Transition: Life Beyond the Military.
During lunch, military spouses will lead a “Real Spouses, Real Stories” discussion. Attendees will hear from fellow military spouses who have navigated a wide variety of industries and strategic volunteerism opportunities to keep their careers on the move.
Following the afternoon breakout sessions at 1:30 p.m., the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation Hiring Our Heroes’ Military Spouse Programs will be hosting a military spouse networking event. The event will provide spouses with the opportunity to network with recruiters from national and local businesses, community leaders, local professionals, and senior military spouses.
The hiring fair on Thursday, which is open to active duty, guard, reserve, veteran, and gold star spouses, will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Job seekers can register for the fair at hiringourheroes.org.
“MOAA has been serving our military and their families for more than 86 years,” said retired Navy Vice Adm. Norb Ryan, MOAA President and CEO. “It is such a privilege for us to partner with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation to serve the military community in Tampa and deliver programs that provide professional development, education and information to support military spouses who want to create, continue or enhance their career in this transient lifestyle.”
“Hiring Our Heroes is committed to helping military spouses tackle the unique challenges that they face in their search for meaningful employment,” said Eric Eversole, vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and president of Hiring Our Heroes. “Our military spouse program was built especially for military spouses by military spouses, and we are honored to join MOAA to bring our program’s tools to the Tampa community.”
For more information and to register online, go to www.moaa.org/spousesymposium. Attendees have the opportunity to receive free résumé critiques, professional LinkedIn photos and Stella & Dot accessories. Business attire is highly recommended.
Download the MOAA Military Career Events mobile application (search for MOAA Career in the app store on a smart device) for all of the pertinent details regarding the symposium.
About MOAA:
Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) is the nation’s largest officers association with more than 380,000 members from every branch of service, including active duty, retired, National Guard, Reserve, and former officers and their families and survivors. MOAA is a nonprofit and politically nonpartisan organization and an influential force in promoting a strong national defense. MOAA represents the interests of service members and their families in every stage of their lives and careers, and for those who are not eligible to join MOAA, Voices for America’s Troops is a nonprofit MOAA affiliate that supports a strong national defense. For more information, visit www.moaa.org or www.voicesfortroops.org/
About Hiring Our Heroes:
Since Hiring Our Heroes began in March 2011, more than 1,500 companies have hired 27,200 veterans and military spouses as a result of 900 hiring events. In March 2012, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Capital One launched Hiring 500,000 Heroes, a national campaign to engage the business community in committing to hire half a million veterans and military spouses by the end of 2014. This milestone was achieved in June 2015 when more than 500,000 veteran and military spouse hires were confirmed.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation (USCCF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce dedicated to strengthening America’s long-term competitiveness by addressing developments that affect our nation, our economy, and the global business environment.
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