Pamela McBride has spent 24 years following her soldier husband around the world. And in each of those locations she picked up a lot more than locally made art. She spent her military spouse life building a career that she cultivated and expanded at each location.
“I always made sure that no matter what, when I left a duty station I was more marketable, had more training, more education or even a different type of job,” she said. “In the time I was there I added to my resume and my skill set.”
Now, after 24 years of life on the road as an Army spouse and sticking to her mantra to always improve and always build on her career, Pamela is a Salute to Spouses contributor, has written two books (Work It Girl and The Mocha Manual to Military Life: A Savvy Guide for Wives, Girlfriends and Female Service Members), has earned a Master’s Degree in Community Counseling, a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management and Spanish and is currently working to complete her certification as a Global Career Development Facilitator. This month she was featured on MSNBC on a segment about the improving job market for veterans.
It’s something Pamela knows a lot about.
Pamela’s career has been dedicated to improving veteran and military spouse employment. Most recently, she was instrumental in building an IRS veteran intern program that helps veterans across the nation prepare for and secure jobs working for the federal government.
Her hard work has paid off not just in the hundreds of veterans who now have a paycheck thanks to her dedication. She was a finalist in the Armed Forces Insurance’s Military Spouse of the Year contest for 2013 and was a finalist for the Atlanta Federal Executive Board Employee of the Year Award.
“It has always been a blessing to enjoy what I do,” she said. “I have a background in career counseling and I have built upon that with a lot of education and experience but it is all based on the fact that I really love doing it.”
Her advice both in her books and in her posts here at Salute To Spouses are for spouses to keep moving forward. In her own career, with each PCS Pamela kept herself marketable and on top of the ever changing market.
She said while she worked for a large company and was able to take her job with her as she moved, she always did a job search in each new location. The point: to be prepared.
“I would start networking to find positions in my own company and work externally to see what else was in that area,” she said.
With each move Pamela said she not only engaged in a job search, networked but also updated her resume.
“I wanted to make sure I could document on my resume what my achievements were and leave each duty station more marketable,” she said.
Find more of Pamela’s savvy career advice here at Salute to Spouses and on her website at www.pamelamcbride.net Check out her recent appearance on MSNBC here: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/disrupt/52538357
