The Department of Defense Spouse Education and Career Opportunities Program is delivering an array of services to help military spouses with career exploration, education, training, and employment readiness in pursuit of improved education and employment prospects for this population. This initiative seeks to help military spouses thrive through a mobile military lifestyle with the appropriate tools and resources.
There are four major anchors in the SECO program. On the MySECO website, there is a very wide range of tools and resources that military spouses can use toward the achievement of their educational and employment goals. This is combined with the Military OneSource SECO Career Center, with certified career coaches offering free, full-service counseling. Career coaches are available to assist in career exploration, education and training, employment readiness, and employment connections.
Another important component of the SECO initiative is the My Career Advancement Account Scholarship, which offers workforce development assistance by providing tuition aid of up to $4,000 to eligible military spouses pursuing licensure, certification, or associate degrees in portable career fields. Additionally, through the Military Spouse Employment Partnership, military spouses are connected with over 700 partners committed to recruiting, hiring, promoting, and retaining military spouses in portable careers.
“Career Coaches assist spouses in identifying their career interests and aptitudes,” the SECO program emphasizes. They also provide information about the current job market, concentrating on portable careers/skills, self-employment, and federal employment. Spouses may utilize various assessment tools at no cost.
The SECO Career Center also helps spouses identify education, training, and licensing with available financial aid resources and scholarship opportunities. Coaches work with spouses to compare the costs of potential schools and programs that will help them achieve their education and career goals.
The second most critical area that requires support is employment readiness, whereby career coaches assist spouses in preparing them for entry into the labor market or getting a spouse back into the job market. They help them with job search strategies, resumes, interviewing, networking, and self-marketing skills. Moreover, they advise on how best to network with corporations, government organizations, and non-profits through the Military Spouse Employment Partnership, Hiring our Heroes Hiring Fairs, and USAJobs.
Installation employment readiness staff supplement these virtual and telephonic resources by providing face-to-face support in the classroom. They can link spouses to classes on resume writing, interviewing skills, federal employment, job search strategies, dressing for success, job fairs, and career assessments. They counsel on job opportunities in and around their locale, appropriated funds vs. non-appropriated funds employment, overseas work visas, and spouse preferences.
The Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance, or DEA, pays a monthly benefit to augment the cost of school or the expenses of on-the-job training or apprenticeships. It can be used toward college or graduate degree programs, career-training certificate or diploma courses, apprenticeships, and on-the-job training. It also applies to licensing and certification tests, national tests, and preparatory courses.
Military & Veteran Programs at Olympic College provide military-connected students—veterans, active duty, and dependents—with an additional level of support to meet educational objectives. The MVP Benefit and Support Center is here to guide new students in establishing VA or DoD education benefits and connect them to resources and support.
For additional clarity on questions and other information about the GI Bill and other VA education benefits, a GI Bill FAQs page is located through the right arrow hover VA website. Also available is the VA Education Hotline at 1-888-GIBILL-1 (1-888-442-4551).
In summary, the SECO program is similar to other education aid programs because it helps military spouses achieve their educational and professional goals by providing them with the necessary support to succeed in mobile military lifestyles.