Mycaa Account: How Military Spouses Can Choose A Career Path

Are you an active-duty military spouse with an existing MyCAA account? You are lucky, because now you can take advantage of the Department of Defense's (DoD) decision to reinstate MyCAA funds, but only to existing MyCAA accounts.

Don't take your existing MyCAA account for granted another day.  In fact, many military spouses with existing MyCAA accounts have yet to choose a career training plan.  Understandably, it's an important decision that requires careful consideration, from what you will be happy doing to what will be best for your family – especially if you need a portable career.

Get moving today with these seven, easy steps to selecting the right career path:

Begin your Career Path Search with "you."

What do you like to do?  Or on the other hand, is there anything that you can't see yourself doing? The first step is to Identify your interests, skills, values, needs and traits to help you determine the best career fit for your personality and lifestyle.

Research different industries, career paths and or jobs that align with your traits, needs and lifestyle.

Based on what you've learned about yourself, check out various sources of occupational information to discover those jobs that seem to be the best match.  More than likely, you will find several types of occupations that match your interests.  Now you can form your list of career possibilities.

Narrow down your search.

Once you have identified favorable career options, the next step is to delve deeper into your research. For example, what's the salary range, training requirements and future job growth of the industry your considering?  Also, talk to family, friends, neighbors or anyone you can – you may locate a contact who can offer real-world advice and experience concerning your career fields of interest.  Additionally, the Internet offers a variety of valuable tools for successfully conducting this type of research.

Gather up your research and choose your career path.

Now that you have matched your needs and interests with possible occupations, spent some time researching and hopefully talked to individuals in your potential career fields, it's time to select which one you want to pursue.  This is a big step, but if you did your research and gave careful thought to your likes and dislikes, you should be able to make this decision with greater confidence.

Choose a career training program with portability.

Now you are ready to put your existing MyCAA account to work.  You can use the search option on the MyCAA portal to check out military spouse friendly schools. For example, the school must accept MyCAA.  Next, the school should offer portable education options, which is why an online school or university might be the perfect fit for your military family lifestyle.  Other important things to consider include national accreditation and live student support.

For information on how to use your existing MyCAA account, visit the military one source web site where you can access tools like Frequently Asked Questions and news/updates affecting your MyCAA benefits.

About the Author

Gianna Gee is a military spouse who is using her MyCAA account to complete an online education course that will prepare her for certification in the health care field. Like many military spouses, she was devastated at the DoD's temporary halt of MyCAA funds.  She now hopes to spread the word to military spouses who have existing MyCAA accounts that they may move forward with their career plans.