I have attended a lot of military spouse events -- and I mean a lot. In my almost seven years working full time in the military spouse world, I've gone to and even helped run a whole parade of great meet-ups, conferences and summits. I've been able to see what works -- and what I want to attend again.
That's why you should listen to me when I say: The In Gear Career Amplify is the best military spouse event I've attended in a long time. And you should go.
Over the last several years one of the most popular themes for these events has been military spouse careers. We know how important having and holding work is if that's what you want to do. We know that the military looks to military spouse employment as key to a family's transition plan out of the military.
Amplify from the Hiring Our Heroes Foundation's In Gear Career knows that. And it does something about it.
Amplify is billed as a "career intensive" instead of a conference or summit for a reason. When you attend Amplify, you work and, yeah, it's intense. And unlike other conferences, you have to apply to attend. Yes, it's free. But you need to want to be there.
So why bother with In Gear Career Amplify? Here are five great reasons.
Inspiration is great, but you need action. As a veteran conference attender I know all about that fun event high you get. You leave ready to take on the world, but realize a few weeks later that you didn't do anything with all that great advice you received. One of the things I liked most about Amplify is that there was time built in to do work while there. You don't just leave with actionable items -- you leave having taken action. Brilliant!
You believe in networking. If there is one thing I know, it's the networking -- actually knowing people in person -- is key to opportunity. I have my current job thanks to networking. Many of my coworkers are with me thanks to networking. And I've seen friend after friend get hired -- all thanks to networking. Amplify is a chance to not just meet other career-minded military spouses. It's also a chance to meet employers and people who know people.
You want actual resume help. Let's be honest: resumes are hard and they can always use refining. Instead of just giving resume advice, Amplify's experts help you change your resume then and there. At the Amplify event I attended in Seattle I was able to sit down one-on-one with a few spouses and help them hone their resumes into one page documents that capture who they are and what they've done. This wasn't just resume advice. This was resume action.
Your LinkedIn profile is sad. Rather than telling you what you should do to your LinkedIn profile, Amplify gives you time and help (and even a computer to use if you didn't have one handy) to make the changes during the event. Their LinkedIn session was taught by an expert in the system who was able to give some awesome tips and tricks for using it well.
You're ready to make that next big career step. Amplify hooks attendees up with two key opportunities: an elevator speech boot camp and a chance to sit down with a mentor in your career field to help you go over your resume, career goals and road ahead. No one wants to stay stagnant in the same position forever. So whether you're ready to move forward in your current career and take a leap in a different direction, this conference can help you articulate that and hook you up with someone who can help.
The next two In Gear Career Amplify events are in Hampton Roads, Virginia and Austin, Texas. You can apply for the Hampton Roads event here!
