by Tamar Yellin
I had the privilege of attending the latest AMPLIFY Military Spouse Career Intensive this March in Seattle, along with 2 other MSJDN members. The program was put on by the In Gear Career and Hiring our Heroes programs run through the US Chamber of Commerce, and was hosted at the Starbucks Headquarters in SODO (yes, there were coffee tastings). At the two-day event, a group of 45 military spouses were led through intensive career preparation. The goal was to have AMPLIFY attendees leave with a completed resume, professional photos, and a polished LinkedIn profile.
I was truly impressed by the wide variety of backgrounds of the spouses. Some had education but were looking for work experience, some were looking to reenter the job market after a short or extended absence, and others were looking to switch career paths altogether. All services were represented, even guard and reserve. Many of us had made multiple moves with our service member spouse or stayed behind to geo-batch. (Sound familiar?) As you all know, it’s always a great experience to get to be with other military spouses and learn from each other.
We started off AMPLIFY by talking about our challenges and frustrations—getting it all out on the table. It was refreshing to hear a lot of similarities but also interesting to see how others might have even more roadblocks than you did! We worked on elevator pitches, talked about personal branding, and polished up our resumes. There were several opportunities to break into cohort groups that were more specific to our challenges/career trajectory. I found the LinkedIn Master Class and the Mastermind Matchups both to be excellent. The end of the 2nd day was closed out with a few more cohort breakouts, including mock interviews, setting boundaries, outsourcing, remote work, and making a business model canvas.
MSJDN Members at Amplify Seattle 2017
If you’re interested to learn more about how to shift or enhance your career trajectory, or if you see yourself in a rut and don’t quite know where to go next, I would definitely recommend looking at attending an upcoming AMPLIFY conference! Although as attorneys we don’t necessarily fit into the mold of most people in the business or non-profit communities, it’s an excellent place to meet other military spouses and reframe your job and career goals. And it’s always nice to travel a little if you’re not local to the conference! I was proud to attend AMPLIFY and hope that other MSJDNers will check it out as well.