'Sell yourself. Make sure your resume is selling you,' Sherry Major said Tuesday during the Job Searching Strategies Seminar for Military Wives workshop. Major teaches the class bi-monthly at Fort Jackson. 'The resume gets you the interview and the i...
It felt like a punch in the face for her.
With spending the last couple of years as a stay-at-home mom, and also dealing with the transition to living back in the states after eight years abroad, military spouse Crystal Wladkowski was shocked
at how difficult it was to jump back into the workforce.
"After five years of baby talk, it's hard to get out here and start interacting again," Wladkowski said. "I'm ready to be able to get back into an office and have a career. It's been hard."
Aware of the problems she was having, a neighbor informed Wladkowski about a workshop at Fort Jackson that caters to helping military spouses with their job search. Ready to get the ball rolling
on finding employment, Wladkowski attended last Tuesday's session prepared to learn.
"This class is the first step to becoming the best candidate possible" said Barbara Martin, Employment Readiness Program Manager at Fort Jackson. "We help people build the foundation they need to become job ready."
Offered bi-monthly, the Job Searching Strategies for Military Spouses workshop helps spouses with resume writing, interviewing tips and how to successfully look for jobs. After finishing the workshop,
spouses are encouraged to set up times for one-on-one career counseling where a member of the staff will help assist them with their job search.
"We don't know what every employer is looking for, but we have to be willing to try this and that," class instructor Sherry Major told attendees during Tuesday's session. Major, a military spouse herself, said the most rewarding part of her job is seeing spouses employed after using the
tools offered at the employment readiness program.
Like Wladkowski, Verna Knolle-Cabacungan came to the workshop to become better prepared for the job search.
"My husband's a drill sergeant so he's always busy," she said. "I still support and take care of him but it's time I make time for me, too. I want my own career. I want my own stuff."
For more information on Fort Jackson's Employment Readiness Program, you can visit the website https://jackson. armymwr.com/us/jackson/programs/employment-readiness-program or call 803-
751-5452
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