Real Stories
Behind every CV is a person, a family and a story.
Different journeys. Different challenges. One shared message: our experiences deserve to be recognised.
Behind every CV is a real person, with a story that doesn't always fit neatly onto a piece of paper. For military spouses and partners, careers can mean starting again after a posting, putting ambitions on hold, changing direction or trying to find employment that works around military life.
Some stories are about opportunities found. Others are about opportunities lost. All deserve to be heard. These are the real experiences of military spouses and partners. Some have chosen to share their names, while others have chosen to remain anonymous.
To respect the privacy and security of serving personnel and their families, certain identifying details, including names, ranks, regiments and locations, have been withheld where appropriate.
Different people. Different journeys. Every story matters.
Macey-May Austin
Being a military partner shouldn't mean putting your own future on hold.
Macey is a military partner, a mum of three young children & a woman who, like so many others, wants something for herself too.
A career. The opportunity to learn. The chance to develop professionally & build something that belongs to her. But when your family life is shaped by military service, planning for the future isn't always straightforward.
A posting can mean a new home, a new community, new schools and starting again somewhere unfamiliar. And while the serving person has a career that moves with them, their partner's career doesn't always have that same opportunity.
For Macey, finding work that could move with military life wasn't simply about the convenience of working from home. It was about having the opportunity to build a future without the constant possibility of having to start again.
One Application Among 121
When JB Property Law advertised a remote position, Macey applied.
She was one of 121 military spouses & partners who applied.
And behind every application was a person with their own circumstances, experience, ambitions & reasons for wanting the opportunity. Macey wasn't successful. There simply weren't enough positions available, & like any employer, JB Property Law had to recruit according to the needs of the business.
But not being offered that first role didn't mean Macey lacked potential. Sometimes, not getting the job doesn't mean you're not the right person. It means the right opportunity hasn't arrived yet.
A Second Opportunity
As JB Property Law grew, another position became available. Rather than starting the recruitment process from scratch, Joanne returned to the original applicants.
And this time, Macey was offered a role.
She joined the business as a remote Administrative Assistant, supporting the legal team & beginning a new chapter in her own working life.
For Macey, this wasn't just about getting a job. It was about gaining experience, developing new skills & having the opportunity to progress in a career that could potentially continue wherever military life took her family.
A role that didn't automatically have to end because of a posting.
A chance to be recognised for what she could contribute, rather than defined by her circumstances.
And perhaps most importantly, the opportunity to have professional ambitions of her own alongside being a military partner & a mum.
More Than a Military Partner
Military spouses & partners are often described in terms of the people they support. The soldier's wife. The RAF husband. The military mum. The person holding everything together at home.
But they're also individuals. People with their own ambitions, abilities, interests & professional identities.
Macey isn't simply a military partner who has been given an opportunity. She's an employee with responsibilities, a member of a legal team & someone developing her own career. She wasn't recruited because of who her partner is. She was recruited because JB Property Law needed another team member, & she could contribute to the business.
Her connection to the Armed Forces explains some of the circumstances she navigates. It doesn't define her professional worth.
“We're simply asking employers to consider what might be possible, rather than automatically focusing on what isn't.”
Anonymous story
Military life has given me opportunities that many people only dream of. I've lived in different parts of the UK and overseas. I've experienced new cultures, built communities wherever we've been posted and, along the way, I've become fluent in two additional languages.
Those experiences have shaped who I am. They've taught me adaptability, resilience, communication and how to build relationships with people from all walks of life. But they've also come at a cost.
Every move has meant leaving another job behind. I've never struggled to find work. I've always found a job. What I've struggled to find is a career.
I've watched opportunities come and go because employers couldn't offer genuine flexibility. Time and again I've applied for roles advertised as "remote" or "flexible", only to discover they still require regular office attendance. Sometimes once a week, sometimes several days a month.
For many people, that's perfectly reasonable. For a military spouse whose family could be posted hundreds of miles away, or even overseas, it simply isn't possible. The result is that many of us end up taking temporary jobs, or short-term contracts that fit around the next posting, rather than building the long-term careers we're capable of.
It's frustrating because the world of work has changed. Technology means many roles can now be performed from almost anywhere. Military spouses don't need lower expectations or special treatment. We simply need employers who are willing to embrace genuine remote working where the role allows it.
We're not asking for careers that stop every time we move. We're looking for careers that can move with us.
Behind my CV is someone who has adapted to new countries, embraced different cultures, learned new languages and rebuilt a professional life time and time again. Those experiences haven't made me less employable. They've made me more resourceful, more resilient and more determined to succeed.
"I'm incredibly proud of my husband's service. I just wish my own ambitions hadn't been left behind."
Yasmin Logan
Being a military wife while trying to build a career of your own isn't always easy.
When I was hairdressing and setting up my own business, I put so much time and effort into building my client base. Every new client, every recommendation and every relationship took time and hard work.
And then we'd move.
Suddenly, everything I'd worked so hard to build had to start again. Running a business relies on consistency, trust and relationships. But that's incredibly difficult when Army life dictates where you live and how long you might be there.
I think one of the hardest parts is feeling as though you're constantly having to put your own goals on hold or rebuild something you've already worked so hard to achieve.
Of course, you want to support your husband and his career. But you also want something that's yours.
Your own identity. Your own ambitions. Your own career.
Military life has taught me a lot, and there are experiences I wouldn't change.
But that doesn't make it any less difficult when another move means starting from scratch.
Because every time we move, it isn't just our home that changes. Sometimes it's everything we've worked so hard to build for ourselves.
Anonymous story
I spent years building a career in astrophysics. I earned my degree, worked in the field I had trained for and was fortunate enough to do work that I genuinely loved. Then military life changed everything.
Like so many military spouses, I was faced with a choice that many people never have to make: continue pursuing my own career or support my husband's service career as we relocated across the UK and overseas.
The specialist roles my qualifications had prepared me for simply weren't available everywhere we lived. Even when opportunities did exist, employers were often reluctant to invest in someone whose address might change in a few years' time. Eventually, I made the difficult decision to step away from the career I had worked so hard to build. Instead, I looked for employment with national retailers, hoping that if we moved again I could transfer to another branch rather than face unemployment every time the military posted us somewhere new. On paper, my CV began to look very different. Instead of a clear career progression in science, it became a collection of customer service roles in different locations.
Someone reading my CV today might wonder why I "left" astrophysics. The truth is, I never stopped being capable of working at that level. I adapted.
I found a way to remain employed while supporting my family and the demands of military life. I developed skills in communication, customer service, problem-solving, teamwork, leadership and resilience, skills that are valuable in almost every workplace.
My CV tells the story of where I've worked. It doesn't tell the story of the career I sacrificed, the qualifications I still hold, or the determination it took to keep rebuilding my working life every time we packed another removal van.
I don't want employers to feel sorry for military spouses. I simply want them to see the whole person before making assumptions based on a list of jobs and postcodes.
"I didn't lose my ambition.
I changed my career to support someone else's."
Shannon Leighton
It's taken me six years to find a job flexible enough to give me some reassurance that unexpected deployments and military exercises won't leave me without childcare.
I've had to accept that, although there are two parents in our household, I have to plan my life as though I'm a single mother.
I can't assume my partner will be available to help with childcare during the school holidays or at weekends. I can't rely on him being there for school drop-offs or pick-ups. Military life simply doesn't allow us to make those assumptions.
I've finally found a job that offers the flexibility I need, but that flexibility has come at a cost.
The wages are low, and the hours aren't consistent.
I loved my previous job as a care assistant, and my dream is to one day become a qualified hospice nurse. But right now, neither feels achievable. The working hours don't fit around school hours, and without reliable childcare, I can't promise an employer the availability they need.
My job search has been incredibly restrictive. And living in an area with so many other military families, I know I'm far from the only person facing these challenges.
Instead of being able to pursue a career I'm passionate about, I've found myself having to take whatever work I can find that fits around military life.
I want to work. I want to build a career. I have ambitions of my own.
But at the moment, the question isn't “What do I want to do?” It's “What job can I realistically make work?”
Anonymous story
When I married into the Royal Air Force, I knew life would be different. I expected the moves, the uncertainty and the periods apart. What I didn't expect was to put my own future on hold before it had even begun.
I had secured a place at university to study the subject I'd always dreamed of. Then came my husband's first posting. We had a decision to make, and like so many military families, we chose to support his career and move together. That decision meant giving up my university place. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done.
As the years passed, we moved from place to place, built a home wherever the RAF sent us and welcomed our children into the world. While my husband progressed through a career he was passionate about, I was determined not to let go of my own ambitions. So I studied. I completed online courses whenever I could.
I studied after bedtime, during nap times, while my husband was away, and in the quiet moments between the demands of family life and military life. Eventually, I achieved my degree. Then I went on to complete a Master's degree.
Those qualifications represent years of determination, sacrifice and perseverance. They weren't earned in lecture theatres surrounded by classmates. They were earned around postings, deployments, childcare and constant change. Despite everything I've achieved, I've still struggled to find opportunities in the field I trained so hard to enter.
Meanwhile, I watch my husband continue to build a career he genuinely loves, and I'm proud of everything he has achieved. But supporting his dream shouldn't mean giving up on mine.
I don't want employers to see me as someone who has an unconventional CV. I want them to see someone who refused to give up on her education, even when life made the journey far more difficult than it needed to be.
Behind my CV is a woman who has balanced motherhood, military life and higher education. Someone who has demonstrated resilience, self-discipline, commitment and determination long before walking into an interview. Those qualities deserve to be recognised.
Supporting the Armed Forces shouldn't mean sacrificing two careers. With employers willing to look beyond the CV, it doesn't have to.
"I gave up my university place. I never gave up on my dream."
Chloe Ross
Starting my career as a new graduate while being a military spouse came with challenges I hadn't necessarily anticipated.
Like so many military families, we've had to navigate the uncertainty of postings and the possibility of moving whenever Army life requires it.
For me, that meant having to think carefully about the kind of career I could build.
Rather than simply looking for roles that interested me or matched my qualifications, I found myself focusing on remote opportunities. I needed a career that could move with me, wherever Army life might take us.
Fortunately, I found an employer who saw me for who I am.
They recognised my skills, qualifications and potential as an individual, rather than focusing on my husband's career or the possibility that we might have to relocate.
They offered me a remote role that allows me to continue developing professionally, regardless of where we're posted.
I know how fortunate I am to have found that opportunity.
But I also know that many military spouses aren't so lucky.
There are incredibly talented, qualified and ambitious people within the military community who struggle to find employers willing to look beyond the uncertainty of military life.
My experience has shown me that it is possible to build a career alongside military life when an employer is willing to recognise what you can offer, rather than focus on the challenges they assume you might bring.
Charlotte Martin
Since moving away from home and becoming part of the military community, I've always chosen to work school hours.
It was important to me that my children were dropped off and collected from school by family. But with no family living nearby and a husband whose military commitments meant he couldn't always be available, that responsibility naturally fell to me.
I was the one who had to limit my working hours to make everything fit. I worked in nurseries, and I genuinely enjoyed my job. I was fortunate that whenever we moved, I managed to find work fairly quickly.
But I also felt a little trapped.
Nursery work was minimum wage, and I couldn't see how I was ever going to improve my earnings or progress into something different without working longer hours. And longer hours would mean putting my children into childcare, which wasn't something I wanted to do.
At one point, my dream was to become a wedding planner.
But I knew that wasn't realistic while my children were young. Wedding planning often involves evenings and weekends, and with my husband frequently away and no family nearby to help, I simply couldn't make it work.
Then, eight years ago, I discovered childminding. And suddenly, everything fell into place. It ticked every box.
I could be there for my own children, work around their needs and earn five times what I'd been earning in a nursery.
But the biggest difference was that I no longer had to rely on my husband's availability to make my working life possible.
Whether he was at home, away on exercise, working long hours or suddenly unable to come home as planned, it didn't affect my ability to work or look after our children.
I could manage everything myself. For the first time, I'd found a way of working that fitted around military life without having to compromise on what mattered most to me.
I didn't have to choose between being there for my children and earning a better living. I found a way to do both.
I know how fortunate I am to have found something that works so well for our family.
Got a Story to Share?
Your experience could change someone's perspective.
Have you struggled to find employment because of military life? Changed careers, started again after a posting, or found an employer who genuinely understood? Whether your experience has been positive, difficult or somewhere in between, we'd love to hear it. You can share your story anonymously. Names, ranks, regiments & other identifying details can be withheld to protect you & your family.
Every story is treated with respect. Nothing will be published without your agreement.
You don't need a remarkable career, a dramatic experience or a perfectly written story. Just something you'd like others to understand.