By Stacey Ecelbarger, President and CoFounder of Freedom Learning Group
If you’ve been keeping up with any employment blogs and podcasts, chances are you’ve noticed a trending change in mindset around the problem of un(der)employment. It’s spreading like wildfire across military spouse professional and social media platforms, and for good reason.
More and more professionals are opting for upskilling, micro-credentialing, [insert latest buzzword], in an effort to pinpoint the exact skills and knowledge needed for rapid employment, versus the long and time consuming traditional college degree. Certifications like PMP, instructional design, or a specific skill set are offering instant gratification with short term investment and immediate employability.
It’s a tide-shift away from the “academy” in its traditional sense – the ancient-Greek pursuit of knowledge and study. There’s something nostalgic, ancient, and appealing in the academy – the scholarly pursuit and eternal search for knowledge and wisdom in a field you’re passionate about. On the other hand…the ancient Greeks didn’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars in student debt and huge un(der)employment rates. So there’s that.
It’s Decision Time. Which comes first: Passion, Profession, or Paycheck?
For the purposes of this article, it’s important to start with some self-analysis and reflection. Let’s dive into whether a military spouse should embark on a six week LinkedIn Learning course to learn Python coding, or a six year academic journey to earn a PhD online. How you view a job, career, or profession, it all comes down to your return on investment and the type of return that will make you happy.
Abraham Lincoln said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four earning a college degree.”
Ok not exactly. 🙂
So before you take two hours signing up for the first opportunity that catches your eye below, take four hours for some self-reflection, and review Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs to figure out where you want your dream job to land on the pyramid. Refine and redefine your goals, and launch a plan to achieve it.
It may be that the lifelong pursuit of scholarly research in your field is still a life goal, in addition to immediate employment goals. If you’re considering certification, coursework, or skills based training, consider these three tips for pursuing your passion, your profession (and yes, a consistent paycheck!).
Tip #1 – Repurpose [in the Gig Economy]
- You have a passion for a specific field, industry, subject, discipline.
- You already have an established field of expertise.
- You’ve already earned advanced degrees in a certain field.
- You’ve already chosen your profession.
You earned a graduate degree in chemistry, but had to quit your job at the lab for a PCS, and don’t want to reinvent your passion and profession because you LOVE CHEMISTRY.
We have some good news for you. It’s called the gig economy. Remote work, virtual consulting, freelance contracting…(no, we aren’t referring to multi-level pyramid schemes here). Actually, it’s been around for a while now. To the tune of a $1.4 trillion dollar industry reported by Forbes in 2018.
In the past decade over 60% of job growth was due to the [rise of] independent contractors, freelancers and contract company workers.” (Pridham, 2018).”
More and more organizations are jumping on the contractor bandwagon and in turn, solopreneurs are realizing that being your own boss with the flexibility of contract work is the way of the future and not a disadvantage. Contractors doing skilled services are earning more per hour than 70 percent of workers in the overall U.S. economy, according to the 2019 Freelancing in America study.
“As a biochemist and technical writer, being unable to find work in my field and being unemployed overseas with a master’s degree has been a sobering consequence of being a military spouse. Freedom Learning Group (FLG) has finally created a great solution. I’m working in my field at FLG, earning a competitive income, and contributing to the education industry while continuing my professional development at multiple levels.”
Mariah Covington, a graduate of the Freedom Learning Group’s (FLG’s) Instructional Design internship cohort
DON’T sacrifice your goal of advanced academic achievement.
DO find a way to continuously repurpose your academic achievements in the gig economy.
Pursue a certification or skill that will help you broaden the applicability of your experience and expertise within your chosen field, even if it’s in a different industry:
- Instructional Design
- Project Management
- Marketing & Communications
Tip #2 – (Re)Invent in a high demand, high growth job field
- You don’t have an advanced college degree.
- Or maybe you do, but you’re ready to explore something new.
- You want the quickest path to a job and paycheck.
Unless you have an absolute passion for a field and have that “when I grow up I want to be a (insert dream)” mentality your whole life, there’s no reason to force it. Don’t throw a dart at an academic program list and pick a three year commitment in a specific field. The Military Spouse lifestyle is unstable enough. Hedge your bets, test the market, and explore options (that all have immediate job opportunities attached to them).
Some of the types of certifications you can earn in high demand, high growth job areas are:
- Program Languages: Python, C++, etc.
- Data Science and Analytics
- Financial Tax Specialist
- Digital Marketing
- IT & Helpdesk
- Salesforce
[Author’s note: Freedom Learning Group hires for all of these “microcredentials” frequently to build content courses in these fields for some of the world’s largest publishers, credentialing organizations, and universities.]
Tip #3 – Strategically combine your certs with fellowships, internships, and cohorts
Any time you can earn a certification or do coursework through programs that also offer internships, externships, fellowships, or cohorts.
DO. IT.
Especially if those programs are offered through an active employer. At FLG we hire for culture fit, trust, and those soft skills that aren’t attached to any certification. Take every opportunity to build relationships with organizations that can offer you a continued journey long after you’ve completed your Jedi training. Here are a few that combine both:
CompTIA’s Creating IT Futures program partners with Blue Star Families to offer military spouses a pathway to portable, flexible careers in information technology. Our IT-Ready Technical Support program provides an on-ramp for adults to a successful career in information technology in as little as eight to 12 weeks. We offer education, training and job placement for qualifying adults who lack formal job experience in the IT field. Find more info and apply here: creatingitfutures.org/military-spouses
Microsoft’s Military Spouse Technology Academy (MSTA) provides an intensive 22-week onsite training program designed to empower military spouses with in-demand digital skills leading to well-paying and meaningful careers. Military spouses are an integral supporting force for members of our military. Through MSTA, Microsoft seeks to deepen its commitment to this community and to help military spouses build the skills necessary to succeed in the technology sector. Learn more and apply here: military.microsoft.com/programs/msta
Salesforce & Blue Star Families SpouseForce program. Salesforce, one of the top 20 companies with remote work jobs in 2016, is ranked by Fortune as one of the world’s most admired companies. Salesforce is a leader in the conversation about women in technology, earning the Business Role Model of the Year 2016 award from The Women in IT Awards, technology’s largest diversity event. A career as a certified Salesforce administrator is a high demand, high growth, and high paying career. Being a certified SpouseForce administrator can help participants land positions that in many cases could double their family income. More info here: bluestarfam.org/2017/02/blue-star-families-spouseforce
Freedom Learning Group’s Instructional Design Internship Program partners with Colorado State University-Global and Instructure Canvas on 16 week and eight week models that can offer a graduate certificate in instructional design or a self-paced coursework certificate, all while interning remotely with FLG’s content staff. FLG directly hired all eight military spouse graduates from the program’s first cohort earlier this year, and will offer another 13 internship cohorts in 2020 in addition to several other new internship programs in entrepreneurship, project management, and executive leadership. Learn more about FLG’s programs at our program’s page here: freedomlearninggroup.com/missionoer
Hiring Our Heroes Military Spouse Fellowship Program, while not directly offering a certificate, does offer a paid internship with host employers. Think outside the box, find an employer that will host you during the six week program, and work with them to identify certifications or training that will make you competitive post-program for follow-on employment. Find out more about that program here: hiringourheroes.org/fellowships/spousefellows