So I got a job. I am the digital media specialist for a local sportswear company. It sounds really fancy, doesn't it?

I haven't had a real, full-time, 40-hour work week job in over 11 years. When I began the interview process, I thought through (at least I thought I did) what it would take to make all of this work. One child can stay by himself. The other two have to go to afterschool care. They all have karate. Soldier may or may not be able to help with shuttling kids back and forth. I can do this. I can make this work.

Day two of my job and I get a frantic message on my cell phone from sweet boy. He has broken his key off in the front door. He is panicked and can't get into the house. Luckily, soldier was on his way home to save the day.

As for me, I sat at my desk and cried. I hope all moms go through this when they go back to work after so long. For a split second, I felt so selfish for wanting to go back to work and have something that is uniquely mine. My children still need me. My job is to shuttle them from place to place and make sure that they are organized and ready to roll.

Then I realized it was time to do what I have heard soldier say, "Move out. Adjust. Draw fire."

Simply put, I need to stay on my course. Make adjustments to the plans and schedules as needed. Then take the heat rounds as they come. I can do this. I'm an Army Wife?

May the moving gods smile upon you and may only the junk that you don't like get broken . . . sby

Oh, I can smell them in the air – freshly sharpened pencils, paper just out of the package, fresh-cut hair on the kiddos. Yes, it’s back to school.

It’s no secret that I’m not a huge fan of summer. No, I crave routine, structure, predictability. Summer is, well, anything but that. We’ve had an insane little summer full of writer’s conferences, hockey camp, visiting family and Army Kid Camp, all while juggling visitations for our foster daughter and planning our upcoming PCS.

But it’s coming – crisp fall mornings warmed by coffee, the kiss of an eager child out the door for his first day. So are the after-school hugs, when the boys are excited to see each other after being separated all day. The dinner conversations that bounce between them like a ball, the animated hands as they tell each other, and us, how each of their days went. There’s nothing more precious to me than those moments, when they show their individuality, the moments they exist outside this house. It’s when they’re separate that we get to see who they really are.

The start of school feels more like a new year to me than New Year’s day. It feels fresh with possibility. As the kids embrace their new challenges, we do too. My husband is headed to Advanced Course, and then he’ll complete the rest of his college classes to finish his bachelor’s degree. I’m tinkering with the idea of heading back for my master’s degree, well, if there were another four hours in the day. But with the start of school, opens up a few more of those kid-free hours, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to that a little bit.

With a few short hours, I can work on a new novel, edit an existing one, heck, go for a much-needed run. I have more time to dedicate to our little gal, and hey, when I clean the kitchen after breakfast, it might actually stay clean until after school! Yes, I love my kids. I love being a mom. I love board games and playdough. But I also have to love myself so I can be the best mom possible. Those precious hours where there’s just the two of us girls in this house give me time to relish quiet so I can enjoy the loud later. They let me get my work done so I don’t have to say, “One more minute,” to my precious, tiny humans.

PCS’ing mid-school year is a wee bit tricky, but these hours they’re away help me prep for that too, so I can give them the smoothest transition possible, when and if we clear up our foster-daughter’s future.

Sure, the mornings are early, the lunches are pre-planned, and the pace can be grueling. After all, with the start of school comes a new hockey season and a new year of Boy Scouts. But there’s something about the fall that inspires me and brings organization to the forefront of my cluttered brain. I miss my kids during the day. I wonder what they’re doing, how they’re acting, what they’re up to. But those hugs I get when they run back through our doors? Those are precious. Hearing them tell me about what they learned, the friends they’ve made, seeing them thrive - that’s what the new school year is about to me.

So welcome back to the alarm clock, the automatic brew on the coffee. Welcome back hoodies and turning leaves. Welcome back to yellow busses, new backpacks and school supplies.

We’re going to rock this school year.  

Good news abounds for the job market. In a recent weekly address, President Obama announced, “Our businesses have now added nearly ten million jobs over the past 52 months. The unemployment rate is at its lowest point since 2008 – the fastest one-year drop in nearly 30 years.”

In the Current Employment Statistics Survey Summary, July, 2014, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports, “Over the past three months, employment has increased by an average of 245,000 jobs per month.” (http://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/ceshighlights.pdf)

“Furthermore,” the White House states, “this is the first time since September, 1999 – January, 2000 we have seen a total job growth above 200,000 for five straight months.”

But how are college graduates doing?

According to a June, 2014 student survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, 30.1 percent of the class of 2014 had jobs at graduation. This figure shows a slight improvement from the Class of 2012’s 29.8 percent and 2011’s 29.3 percent. If the economy continues to improve, the class of 2015 could benefit even more.

Which graduates do best in the job market?

Traditionally, finance, accounting, computer science and engineering degree recipients fare best, and that is still the case. There is improvement though, for liberal arts, history, math, and education (K through 12) graduates. Interestingly, the computer science field has been underserved by graduates for the past few years.

“There's not enough graduates to meet the demands in the computer science field. The skill sets are very demanding and the new grads may not be the most competitive for those jobs,” said Edwin Koc, director of research, public policy, and legislative affairs for NACE. “Bachelor’s degrees are no longer adequate, and one-third to one-half of the Master’s and Ph.D. level graduates in this field are not U.S. citizens and are challenged by the difficult Visa laws.”

So, in a job market that appears to be promising, how does one stand out in the sea of applicants?

“There is no magic bullet,” Koc said. “Job seekers have to follow the same time-tested job search methods they have already heard.”

Are you a new graduate looking for a job? Follow these steps:

Work your network: Getting a job is harder than working. You have to research opportunities. Find networking contacts for the inside jobs.

Use college career centers to gain a lot of information and helpful advice.

Refine your resume: the most attractive resumes highlight the skill sets, courses, experience, internships and co-ops that match the jobs for which you apply.

Don’t be narrow-minded: Be open to the possibilities of different jobs and career fields. Use O*Net Online (www.onetonline.org) to find jobs and careers that are related to the ones you think you want.

Treat your job search like a job: “When you are unemployed you need to work 10 to 12 hours a day at finding a job,” Koc said. “Be persistent. The harder you work, the more likely you'll be successful. And, when you do land a job, you will already be used to working hard.”

Shock. Surprise. Sadness.

The entire nation was caught off guard this week when comedian extraordinaire Robin Williams died.

Authorities suspect he committed suicide. That is when the ugly rose to the top. Comments on social media questioned how a man so lively, so funny, so warm could be suffering so badly that he would take his own life.

But mental illness, depression and the decision to commit suicide is complex. And recovering is not as simple as reaching out or realizing how beloved you are.

And suicide is not just something that happens to war veterans, even though media coverage in the last five years has focused on that demographic. The CDC reported that in 2009, more people died from suicide in the U.S. than in car accidents.

From 1999 to 2010, the suicide rate among Americans ages 35 to 64 rose by nearly 30 percent, meaning, more than 17 people per 100,000 in that age group took their own life.

How can you help?

Share this number – to people you know are struggling, to people you don’t suspect are struggling. To co-workers, neighbors, friends, family, heck, hang it in the bathroom stalls at work where people can copy it down privately. But pass it out, to everyone.

You never know whose live you may change.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

1-800-273-8255

And to our beloved Robin Williams, who spent a good portion of his time meeting and entertaining sick children, military troops and the downtrodden, we will always be thankful to you for sharing your gift with the world. May you be at peace.

By: Mandy Rebmann

Greetings from the vapor bath that is the Deep South in summer. This is our first summer stationed outside Ft. Benning, GA and boy, am I longing for a cool summer breeze off Lake Erie in my hometown of Buffalo, NY.

This is my first blog for Salute to Spouses and I am excited to get started! As a military spouse, I’ve really enjoyed reading these blogs and hope to add some useful information. I’ll be focusing on financial-related topics. 

Before becoming a stay-at-home mother to our first child, I have spent the last 12 years in the banking industry, concentrating on mortgages. To say it has been interesting and devastating is putting it mildly. I have witnessed, first-hand, the housing bubble, the collapse and the slow recovery. It has given me insight and a commitment to sound financial planning.

On the personal side, I have been married to my soldier for seven years, and we recently celebrated our daughter’s first birthday. We’re on our fourth PCS move, and have been living in Columbus, Georgia for about a year. One of the financial challenges we’ve faced is going from being DINKs (dual income, no kids) to single income, one kid; definitely an adjustment.

I’m incredibly lucky to have the chance to stay at home with our first baby, even though I do truly miss the relative freedom of the office. At least you get a guaranteed lunch break there. And, as I mentioned, I miss the paycheck. I also miss the feeling I get when I put my professional knowledge to good use. Recently, my husband needed some advice for one of his soldiers who is facing a mortgage issue. It felt good to dust off the cobwebs in that particular section of my brain. I’m expecting that writing for Salute to Spouses will be even more rewarding.

I’m truly looking forward to tackling my monthly blogs, sure to be written as I huddle in the frosty air conditioning, glancing outside to watch the sidewalk steam.

Moving is hard. It's just hard.

Luckily, we have found some great resources for things to do in our new town. But now is the "most wonderful time of the year"! School has begun!

I have one going into middle school and two still in elementary school. We went to all of the open houses, met teachers, bought supplies and tracked bus schedules. We are ready to begin school!

On the job front as luck would have it, I got an email for a second interview! The interviewer sent over several options of face to face interview times, so why not schedule it after the kids have gone on the first day of school. That's a good idea, right?

So the first day of school comes and sweet boy (6th grade) is getting on the bus to go to his first day of middle school, and all I can pray (like most new middle parents) is 'please let him get his locker open'. Honestly, I was a little sad. I am so proud of him and everything he has accomplished, but when he stepped on that bus, all I could see was a little kindergartener full of hope getting on the bus in North Carolina.

Rewind two days prior to school starting, and you will find me in a transition meeting. We transitioned little sweet boy (2nd grade) into our new school. They accept his education plan as it is and evaluate his needs for 60 days and then a new Georgia education plan is written. I was surprised to find that they had no special education paraprofessional for him. I have to tell you that it made me fearful. His teacher said that she was willing to try, so here we go. I put Little Sweet boy on the regular school bus with his sister with no one but her to help him find his classroom, and, so far so good on not having a para. But it's only been three days.

I said tearful goodbyes to all of them, and then had to wipe my face and get ready for this interview. We just have to keep driving on, even though, sometimes it's just a lot.

The good news is that everyone has done well in their first few days of school! If you don't follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you will have to wait until next week to find out if I got the job.

May the moving gods smile upon you and may only the things that you don't like get broken . . . sby

So … you’ve started higher education.

Sigh.

There are a few things that get me a little down about starting round two of college: buying books, online discussion boards and having to find the academic momentum that once came so, so very easily. Okay, it didn’t come very easily. But it sure feels harder now.

Sometimes, though, we have to find a silver lining - even if we have to put it there ourselves with a glittery paint pen. So here is some silver lining material that we can totally share:

1.  The core requirements are mostly finished. That’s right, let it sink in. I’ll even say it again, because it totally bears repeating: BS 101 level math and composition are finished. Now, instead of researching simply for the sake of proving that we can, we get to put all of that knowledge into papers that we actually give a crap about! 

2.  The level of intelligence in general academic discussion increases. Sure, there will always         be that guy who mouth breathes all over his blank notepad or the 19-year-old girl who is more concerned with the state of her gel mani than the lecture. But that’s okay. Why is it okay, you ask? It’s okay because the majority of the other students will be doing exactly what we are doing. We are taking in as much functional knowledge as we can get our hands on!

3.   The teachers care now. They are, in all likelihood, teaching something they enjoy. They are also glad to be imparting specific knowledge to people who also care about that very same type of knowledge! It’s awesome to learn from someone who is passionate about what they are teaching. I promise. Will there still be a professor or two who have entered the tenure coma zone? Of course. However, the number of instructors who care about teaching in their field far outweighs the Ben Steins of the institution.

So we’re in it - Hunter S. Thompson style, ‘Gonna need golf shoes to get through this muck’ in it.

But hey, at least it’s interesting muck.

Liz Herrin, 28, sat on the breezy pier in Norfolk, Va., waiting.

She had her 19-month-old son, Robbie, outfitted in his submarine shirt, waiting.

She held a professionally printed sign. Her hair and make-up were done. Her eyes eagerly scanned the crowd. 

She was waiting.  Just like she had been waiting for seven and a half months.

Except in that moment, Brittany Rains was waiting with her.

Rains was there for support, sort of. But like a lot of military wives, Herrin had hired Rains to capture the next few moments on film. To make sure she caught Herrin’s first kiss with her husband Nick, a machinist’s mate on the USS Albany, returning home from deployment in March 2013. To freeze for forever the moment Robbie fell into his father’s arm, as Nick swooped him up into the air. To make sure they had pictures to memorialize the Herrins’ first homecoming.

“It's such a precious moment to catch, especially since we have kids, and they change so much over seven and a half months,” Herrin said.

Herrin is one of many military spouses who puts a military homecoming on equal footing with a wedding, a pregnancy, or a birth. And more and more spouses like her are hiring photographers to get the before, during and after moments of that special homecoming day.

“As a Navy wife myself, and having had a military homecoming photographer for our first homecoming, I knew how important it was to the family to capture that moment when they see each other for the first time,” said Rains, who has been photographing military homecomings for just over a year.

Social media and the instant publicity a military homecoming garners have, in part, helped drive the interest in military homecoming photography, Rains said.

“Families want to share their excitement with friends and family that cannot be there, as many of them are not near,” Rains said. “Having someone there to capture the quick moment of heightened excitement and full emotion of coming together is priceless.”

But it’s not just the popularity of social media driving this interest.

“I think the increase in popularity of hiring a homecoming photographer is related to the increase in popularity of photography in general,” Rains said. “Our generation loves seeing and sharing photos with their family and friends, and homecomings are big moments for those involved.

Lauren Nygard, a homecoming photographer and Marine wife in San Diego said that even though the preparation for a homecoming is far less than that of a wedding, the sentiment and build up are the same.

“I guarantee that the anticipation she feels is just as much as, or maybe even more than, what she felt before her wedding,” Nygard said.

So why bother to hire a professional when you can drag your neighbor and hand her your camera-equipped phone?

Nygard said you are hiring the special ability a photographer has to foresee a moment before it happens.

“Homecomings and wedding are actually very similar in that they’re both extremely special occasions for which do-overs aren’t possible,” she said.

And, like most services, you do get what you pay for.

Cristin Emrick, a photographer in Norfolk, donates time to Operation: Love ReUnited, an organization that helps military couples find free photographers for their homecomings.

Currently, she does one homecoming a month for free for the organization. Individuals can hire her for $250, which includes four hours of photography. She said the photos done pro bono are beautiful but hiring someone guarantees the family more time, flexibility and special attention.

“The demand has gone up, but the expectation for free coverage has gone up, too,” she said. It’s not that you’ll get better quality, but you might get better attention if you pay a photographer.

And, homecoming photographers book up quick. Emrick said months before an aircraft carrier ever lifts its anchor she is often already booked and has to turn down as many as 100 requests.

Many of the families are not simply hiring a photographer for every deployment. They reserve the special treatment for returns when a father meets his baby for the first time or the last return before deployment. The photos are meant to tell a story.

“Homecoming photography is 95 percent photojournalistic,” she said.

Emrick said one of her favorite images was of a pilot’s wife who gripped her husband’s hair as she kissed him, her knuckles turned white from the intensity and excitement.

“I wear sunglasses to every single homecoming because I don’t want them to see me cry,” she said.

Empathy is often what drives Emrick and other homecoming photographers to strive to capture the best images possible. They are military spouses too.

“We know what those deployments are like,” she said. 
 

PCS season is winding down. Even before the boxes are unpacked, many military spouses are perusing the want ads in their new hometown.

One of the best ways to network and prepare yourself for interviews is to attend a job fair.

But don’t just show up in jeans and a t-shirt to check it out. Consider this your practice run at acing an interview and delivering your pitch to potential employers.

Never been to one? Don’t worry. Check out our Job Fair To Do List:

1. Find one! This is really as simple as typing the phrase “job fair” into Google. If you search the term military spouse/veteran job fair, you get even better hits. The Hiring Our Heroes program hosts job fairs every month around the nation specifically for military families. To check out their entire list, visit https://hoh.greatjob.net/sc/index.action  or visit the list provided by EmploymentGuide.com at http://www.employmentguide.com/job-fairs/browse
2. Register. If you stumble upon an ad for a job fair happening today, the odds are good that you won’t get in. Like most things in life, you have to plan ahead to attend a job fair. The Hiring Our Heroes fairs fill up quick. Research them now, register and stick to your plan to attend.
3. Dress for the Job. Fair warning: you will not walk out of a job fair with a job. This is an opportunity for job seekers to learn more about companies and recruiters to answer their questions and make contact with potential employees. You probably won’t even walk out with an interview. But, it is an opportunity to make an impression. Dress, act and speak like a professional. It may help you stand out to those same recruiters later.
4. Bring your resume. And bring lots of copies. And don’t be shy passing them out. Make sure your resume is ready to go, is correct, complete and free of spelling errors. Veterans should also bring copies of their DD214.
5. Practice your sales pitch, before you arrive. Come up with a 1-minute sales pitch that sells, you! Know what you are going to say and practice saying it. You will want to hit the major points: your education and experience.
6. Create a list of questions for them. What are skills do they prefer their employees to have? What is it like to work at their company? This is not just a chance for them to get to know you but for you to get to know them and weed out companies whose schedules or other standards may not be a great fit for you. For example, don’t want to travel on the job? This may be your chance to find out employees travel 90 percent of the time.

Job fairs are a great way to learn more about the employers in your area and make potentially valuable contacts for your job search. It can be tough putting yourself out there but attending a job fair will help you refine your interview skills and, hopefully, give your more resources for your job search.

Good luck!

By Holly Bates

Let me introduce myself. I’m a 40-something, fabulous woman working hard to focus us improving myself - both personally and professionally. I’m actively seeking employment here in Georgia within the human resource or contracting field after a three-year “vacation” in Hawaii where my husband was stationed.  

Now, as he puts it, it’s my hubby’s turn for a vacation. He proudly served the Army for the last 20 years and looks forward to the easy life of retirement within the next two. Yeah, right!  Like that’s going to happen with a school-age child in the house.

Regardless, the pressure is on for me to find employment as quickly as possible to smooth the transition from an active duty family to a retired one.

During our entire marriage, I’ve always worked and contributed to our family. The only breaks in my employment history came in Germany after the birth of our son when it took 18 months for me to find a job; and in Hawaii where I completed my MBA and stayed at home to help my son adjust to the culture shock of PCSing.  

I accepted my last position, administrative officer for a garrison directorate at Fort Hood, Texas, on the same day my husband received orders sending us to Hawaii. It was November 2010. Our family faced a tough decision - turn down the job or stay for as long as I could until my son completed the school year, then follow my hubby to Hawaii.  

Many military families frequently face these same or similar situations. After some great mentoring from my mother-in-law, a retired military spouse, I accepted the position and gained eight months of time-in-grade before PCSing. Along with my MBA, the eight months experience will help me in my current job search.  

It’s been a few months since we returned to the mainland, and my job search has been mostly half-hearted. We PCSed during the Christmas holidays, then I spent the beginning of the new year unpacking household goods and organizing our new home. I’ve attended a couple of ACS programs for local job hunting and resume preparation. Most of my searching has been limited to searching online at USAJobs. It’s been difficult as a one-vehicle household to get out and look for local civilian jobs - something I’m sure many other military spouses can understand. You can’t get just go out on last-minute interviews when you have to wait for your husband to bring the vehicle depending on his mission requirements.  

With over 15 years in a GS position under my belt, I prefer to be reinstated as a GS employee, but I’m open to a civilian or contract job that utilizes my experience and education. I began my government career as a work-study student at the USDA while attending the University of Florida, then moved on to the Office of Personnel Management as job information specialist.  After receiving word of the upcoming closure of our office, I took a break from government employment.  
I returned to federal employment and worked for the U.S. Army during my husband’s first tour of duty in Germany and spent some time working for the U.S. Air Force during his second tour there.

An HR officer once told me she’d never seen anyone get out of the secretary rut, but I’ve been pretty successful so far. I look forward to sharing tips and suggestions with you along my journey to reach my goal of obtaining a government position with long-term advancement.