7 Types of Jobs That We Dream About
When we talk about a solution to the unemployment and underemployment of military spouses, we need to ensure we find a solution that works for us when the military fails. The Department of Defense, Congress, and the military seem to be attempting to solve this issue. Frankly, they have to in order to properly maintain the all-volunteer force. But we have been in this life long enough to know that we cannot depend on this support appearing anytime soon. So what is the solution? It certainly won't be one size fits all. We will always have to choose what is best for our families and our dreams. Today let's talk about the different employment options available to us. With that in mind, we can decide where our dreams best fit and move forward from there.
1. Part-time work
Generally, part-time work is defined as anything less than 30 hours a week. These jobs often have fewer benefits than their full-time counterparts, but we can usually find what we need between our military member's benefits and outside options. Part-time work gives us more time off work on any given week but often brings with it an inconsistent work schedule (and I know far too many people that have gotten caught up with a full-time workload despite their part-time status).
2. Full-time work
Full-time work is defined as anything over 30 hours weekly or 130 hours monthly. These jobs usually have more benefits and often a better opportunity for advancement. But these jobs typically offer less flexibility with hours and a bigger workload.
3. Remote work
Often called work-from-home jobs, these jobs don't take place in a specific office. Sometimes they don't have required working hours, rather taking the approach that as long as we get our work done, we can work whenever we want. If they do have set hours, we usually spend most of that time on the computer or phone, depending on the position. This style of job became much more popular following Covid and is often touted as a solution to the military spouse employment problem because we can work these jobs no matter where our spouses get stationed
4. Hybrid work
This is a mix of work from home and work from the office. Every company does this a little differently. Some have specific days of the week that require everyone to be in the office, while others only need people to come in for a particular training a few days a month. These jobs work great for people who want the flexibility of not always being in the office but desire the connection of chats by the water cooler. When we start out in a new place, work can be a great place to begin to find a community.
5. Virtual store
Many people dream of starting their own business, and a virtual storefront is a great way
to do that within military life. A virtual business will be able to move with us, and we can grow
our customer base no matter how long or short the amount of time we've been at a duty station
is. Depending on the type of product you sell, you will need room to create and store inventory.
Running an online boutique means mass-buying clothing. Whereas selling handmade jewelry
requires a place to make that product as well as keep it.
6. Brick-and-mortar business
This is possibly the hardest one to establish while our spouses remain in the service, but I have seen it done and seen it done successfully. This may be a restaurant, coffee shop, or real estate firm. These businesses have buildings that we can walk into to acquire the goods and services that we are looking for. This business is much less portable because moving to a new place means finding a new building and developing a new customer base while often saying goodbye to your previous one. But I have seen businesses thrive, and people find ways to make it work no matter where they end up calling home.
7. Freelance
This is similar to a virtual storefront but usually focuses more on services rather than a physical product. People can freelance writing, website design, art, or just about anything else. Freelancing means that you won't be tied to a specific company, although you may do a lot of work with one organization. This business model is also portable and very flexible. We get to accept offers when they work for our needs rather than fitting our needs to what a company demands. We can work when we want and need to for the people and price that is best for us.
There are a lot of different factors that determine how "good" or "bad" a job is. We each have a job that would be perfect for us and an absolute nightmare for someone else. I know I feel that way about the military. It may be a dream job for my husband, but if I joined the ranks, I would be miserable. In many cases, the determining factor of how great a job is comes down to your boss and coworkers. It doesn't matter how great the work we are doing is; if the environment is toxic, then we will often find ourselves dreading the day. On the other hand, I have seen people stay in some objectively crappy because of how great their work family was.
Aside from having great coworkers, there are two big determining factors that cause us to accept a job. Salary and mission are the two big keys that get us to go into a business. If we accept a job, then the salary needs to meet industry standards. Ideally, the salary takes care of, and then some, any childcare expenses that we have. The salary should also provide any freedom that we were looking for, whether that was the flexibility to pursue a dream or the financial breathing room to begin dreaming.
The other piece is mission. Not every job has both parts. In an ideal world, it would, and most jobs probably develop both pieces if we stay in them long enough. But the mission is important, especially when starting our own business. Most businesses have a lot of upfront costs and see very little profit for the first few months or years. We stay in these because we have a bigger vision of what it could become and because we love what we do. That doesn't mean that every day we wake up filled with joy and excited to go to work, but it does mean that there are more good days than bad.
At the end of all this, I want us to know what our work goals are. They probably won't fit into a cookie-cutter mold of working full-time at a company for 20 years (that's our spouse's role), but that doesn't mean we can't find our dream come true in a job. I want to reiterate that we will have many dreams, both big and small. A career, temporary job, or small business may be your dream, and if it is, let's find the best way to achieve it while our spouses chase their dream. We will not wait 20 years for our turn at the wheel.