What is Career Assessment?

As a career minded military spouse, it is important that you throughly explore and assess your career possibilities. With the possibility of living and working in any state or territory of the United States as well as abroad, you have the potential for an exciting, challenging and diverse career. The numerous grants and educational scholarships available to military spouses provide financial assistance to enable you to pursue education in support of your chosen career field. But prior to commencing a course of study or moving into a dedicated career field, it is important to first explore issues such as the portability and licensure associated with your prospective career.

You need to assess not only your own skills and interests, but the impact of frequent Permanent Change of Station moves on college courses, locational employment opportunities and career promotion potential. You may also need to consider the practicalities of family and childcare arrangements should your chosen career field involve business related travel or shift work as you will need to manage this during periods of your partner's out-of-location training courses and service related deployments.

How Do I Identify and Research a Career Path?

Use the following steps to help identify a career field which is compatible with both your skills and interests, and the challenges of life as a military family member.

• STEP 1: Identify your Skills and Interests
• STEP 2: Research Career Options
• STEP 3: Assess the Portability of your Career Choice
• STEP 4: Assess the State Education and Licensing Requirements of your career choice
• STEP 5: Identify Reputable Educational Institutions and Research Grants, Scholarships and other forms of Financial Assistance available to Military Spouses