I Was One of the 121: Why Beyond the CV Means So Much to Me

I was one of the 121.

One hundred and twenty-one military spouses applied for one flexible, remote job in just 24 hours.

I was lucky enough to get it.

But the reason Beyond the CV exists isn't because I got the job. It's because 120 other people didn't.

And because there are thousands more military spouses out there who weren't even part of those 121 applications.

People who want to work. People who want careers. People with qualifications, experience, ideas and ambition. People who are capable of so much more than their CV might suggest.

I know, because I was one of them.

I wasn't looking for special treatment

When I applied for Joanne's job, I wasn't looking for somebody to make allowances for me. I wasn't looking for an easy job.

And I certainly wasn't lacking ambition.

I was desperate for something I wasn't entirely sure existed:

A flexible, remote job with an employer who actually understood my life.

Because my life isn't always straightforward. I'm a mum to four children. I'm running a home. I'm a military wife. I'm navigating deployments, solo parenting, different working hours and being miles away from home and the people I love.

I don't need sympathy for any of that.

But I did need somebody to understand that those things didn't make me less employable.

For a long time, though, I thought they did.

I thought I had to choose

For years, I felt as though there were two versions of my future and I had to pick one.

My husband's career or mine.

My children or my ambitions.

Being there for my family or building something for myself.

And when you're part of a military family, some of those decisions almost feel as though they've already been made for you.

Postings happen. Deployments happen. Plans change. You're miles away from grandparents, siblings, friends and the support networks other families might rely on.

So I genuinely believed my career was something I would have to put on hold.

Maybe when the children were older. Maybe when life settled down. Maybe when my husband's military career came to an end.

Maybe later.

I thought that was simply how it had to be. Then I met Joanne.

Someone finally looked beyond my circumstances

Joanne understood. She didn't look at my life and see complications. She saw potential.

She knew my work ethic wouldn't disappear because I had four children. She knew being a military wife didn't make me less committed. She understood that I might work after the school run. I might work while one of my children is at a swimming lesson. I might pick something back up in the evening while my husband is away. My working day might not always look like somebody else's.

But when I'm there, I'm there.

And I'm good.

That flexibility didn't make me work less. It gave me the ability to work. There's a huge difference.

I applied for an admin job

This is probably my favourite part of the story now. I applied for an admin role. That's where this started.

Since then, I've become Joanne's PA. I've worked on social media. I've learnt website design. I'm helping to launch a CIC. I'm looking into conveyancing training. I've done things I would never have imagined myself doing when I submitted that application.

And now I'm Co-Founder of Beyond the CV.

I didn't suddenly acquire all of those abilities because somebody employed me. Some of them I already had. Some I've learnt because somebody gave me the space to try. Some I'm probably still discovering. That's the point.

Someone gave me an opportunity before I had all the evidence neatly written on a CV.

And that opportunity has completely changed what I think my future could look like.

For the first time, I can see it

Joanne gave me something I hadn't really allowed myself to believe I could have yet.

An opportunity to dream. To build a career. To learn. To push myself outside my comfort zone. To discover what I'm actually capable of. For the first time in a long time, I don't see my career as something waiting for me somewhere in the future. I'm building it now.

And for the first time, I can genuinely see myself being successful. But here's the thing.

I don't want my story to be unusual.

I still think about the other 120

I got the job. But there were another 120 applications sitting alongside mine. I think about them a lot.

Who were they? What were they capable of? What had they already given up? How many were applying for roles far below their experience because flexibility mattered more than the job title? How many had qualifications that weren't being used? How many had started their careers again after another posting? How many had been told, directly or indirectly, that their lives were simply too complicated?

And then there are all the military spouses who weren't one of those 121. The ones still searching. Still applying. Still trying to explain another gap on their CV. Still wondering whether they're asking for too much because they want both a family life and a career.

That's why Beyond the CV matters so much to me.

I want to be a voice for them

I want employers to understand what military spouses can bring to their organisations. I want them to stop automatically seeing relocation as a problem. I want them to understand why a CV might contain gaps, career changes or roles that don't seem to match someone's ability. I want them to ask another question.

What's behind this CV?

Because behind it might be somebody who has rebuilt their life in a new place more than once. Someone who can adapt when plans change overnight. Someone who has managed a household through months of deployment. Someone who has built new support networks from nothing. Someone who has kept a family functioning while quietly putting their own ambitions on the shelf.

Someone who is incredibly capable.

They might just need the right opportunity to prove it.

We shouldn't have to choose

I don't want another military spouse believing what I believed. That their turn comes later. That they have to wait until their children grow up. That they have to wait until their partner leaves the military. That supporting their spouse's career means sacrificing their own. We shouldn't have to choose between being a present parent and having a career. We shouldn't have to choose between supporting our military families and pursuing our own ambitions. We shouldn't have to wait for some imaginary point in the future when life becomes less complicated before we're allowed to become the people we know we can be. We should be able to work. We should be able to build careers. We should be able to dream.

And we should be given the opportunity to show what we're capable of. That's what Beyond the CV means to me.

I was one of 121 people who applied for one flexible admin job. I got that opportunity. Now I'm the Co-Founder of the organisation that exists because 121 of us needed one. And I'm determined to help make sure the next military spouse gets their opportunity too.

Look beyond the CV.

See the person. See the potential.