As a military spouse, you have a distinct perspective on what we do at VA and how to help our Veterans. You’re educated, qualified and ready to serve families who have lived through experiences similar to your own.
That’s knowledge other candidates just can’t duplicate.
“Military spouses are one of the most highly educated and skilled, yet untapped, talent pools,” said Cheryl Mason, executive director of the Veteran and Military Spouse Talent Engagement Program (VMSTEP) at VA. “Service members are confident and committed and bring global perspective and strong leadership. The same is true of our military spouses.”
Expanding opportunities
“As a military spouse myself, I’ve experienced the challenges of military spouse employment,” Mason shared. “Military spouse unemployment sits at 22%, and over 50% are underemployed.”
That is why VMSTEP aims to make VA the employer of choice for Veterans and military spouses by strengthening our existing partnership and creating new relationships.
VA is already proud to be part of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) Military Spouse Employment Partnership (MSEP), which creates employment connections that provide companies with direct access to military spouses seeking career opportunities, and provides spouses with direct access to employers like VA who are actively recruiting.
We have also partnered with DOD’s Spouse Education and Career Opportunities (SECO) program, which provides education and career guidance to military spouses worldwide. VA is also using noncompetitive hiring authorities at our facilities across the country to place qualified spouses in health care, claims, acquisitions, accounting, IT and even security positions.
“Our team is working across VA supporting all hiring events and engagements and making sure our open positions are announced, not just at USAJobs, but also on LinkedIn, Facebook and on our websites,” Mason said. “We are growing our federal government partnerships as well as our external partnerships to extend our reach in publicizing these opportunities.”
Careers with benefits
In return for sharing your expertise with our Veterans, VA offers uncommon benefits that make us a perfect fit for military spouses seeking long-term employment.
- We offer ongoing leadership development through every level of employment. All our leadership programs align the organization around a set of core competencies that facilitate career development through continuous learning, coaching/mentoring and assessment.
- We offer our employees strong starting salaries based on education, training and experience. We also offer steady growth, with periodic pay raises that address inflation and local market changes.
- We offer flexible schedules that make work/life balance a reality. Our employees receive 13 to 26 paid vacation/personal days, as well as 13 sick days annually with no limit on accumulation, and we celebrate 11 paid federal holidays each year.
Work at VA
Bring your talent, experience, perspective and understanding to VA to serve those who have served our country—and the spouses just like you.
- WATCH Cheryl Mason discuss Veteran and military spouse employment.
- LEARN more about VA’s commitment to military spouses.
- EXPLORE the benefits we offer.
- SEARCH for your VA career at VACareers.va.gov.
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