All,
My wife was recently offered and accepted a contract position at RAF Molesworth. She is still undergoing the agency vetting process but we anticipate on her relocating around the first of the year, an me following with the kids later. We have been planning for a relocation but this presents me with some unique career challenges.
I have reviewed some of the relocation information that the military has out about spouse employment in the U.K. and reviewed positions on USA Jobs (Not Many). I thought maybe some on here may have some insight into employment in the international market and how to begin that type of search.
Thanks,
Ben
Answers
Thank you for your responses. Laurie, to answer ypur question...I have a faitly broad experience including acquisition, iternal audit/program audit, transportation management and logistics.
As far as teleworking I think that would be a viable options, but I am unsure how to find those positions. You don't see many advertised.
Hi Ben - you don't mention what your skill set is, or how old your children are, but perhaps they are old enough to be going out the door to school each day, which would make it possible for you to work from home - the internet gives you global reach giving you the option to work remotely as a contractor for a US based company. My husband works remotely for a large pharmaceutical company. All his colleagues come online from Canada, France and India, they are conducting quality reviews of testing documentation, and the work is per project.
Ben, BP might be one company to look into. As a large company they have a lot of career paths and in the USA at least my connection with them suggests they are positive to recruiting military and spouses.
Good luck,
Steve
Ben,
My wife and I spent five years living and working in Switzerland. I was transferred by my company and she found a job locally. Luckily, you will not have a language barrier in moving to the UK.
The first thing I would do is understand the work visa requirements. Do you automatically gain a work visa based on your wife's position or do you have to get your own? And if it is your own, is that something you can apply for or does the company that hires you need to sponsor it?
Depending on how hard it is to get a work visa, and the role that the hiring company has to play, you may be able to focus your job search. Understanding what the keys are to getting that work visa may allow you to target particular companies and jobs, and highlight certain of your own skills. For example, work visas were limited in Switzerland and were only offered to those with certain skills. That meant that my wife was ineligible for a lot of jobs. The bad news was that it limited her scope of search but the good news was that she knew that and didn't waste a lot of time chasing jobs she could never qualify for.
You might start by looking at American companies with operations in the UK. It may be helpful to the local branch office to have someone who understands how "those Yanks back at headquarters" think. Or the office may be run by Americans who would appreciate an employee who thinks like they do.
I would also talk to someone at RAF Molesworth, perhaps in the administration, who can point you in the right direction. There must be job offices or employment agencies that they can put you in contact with. Or you can see if you wife has new colleagues in a position similar to yours, where the "trailing spouse" is trying to find a job, and see what advice they can offer.
Just some thoughts. Good luck to you.
Keith
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