Moving to a new duty station regularly means finding your way around a new area, switching the kids' schools and searching for a house. But it also means that military spouses are faced with the daunting task of searching for a job more than most people. That, coupled with the estimated 74 percent of military spouses who currently have a job outside the home, means there are consistently military spouses in the market for work.

While no one looks forward to updating a resume or spending countless hours online searching job sites, military spouses often have a harder time getting hired. Common complaints heard from spouses include that it is hard to adjust to a new military environment (when moving from Fort Benning, Ga., to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, for instance) and a lack of connections in place to help them even land an interview.

Furthermore, although it is illegal for an employer not to hire someone based on his or her relationship with the military, many spouses have recounted experiences that indicate employers are still discriminating. Though prospective employers cannot ask about military affiliation outright, it often comes up in the course of an interview. Some spouses report the tone of a meeting changing immediately, and speculate that the company does not want to waste time and money training someone who will inevitably leave.

While applying in the General Schedule, or GS, system or moving from an overseas or other assignment means sometimes having military spousal hiring preference, applying on random job sites like Monster or CareerBuilder don't.  Luckily, there are job sites that cater to transitioning military, veterans and, of course, spouses.

For starters, spouses should try the following sites where employers are known not to discriminate against qualified military spouses:

• http://jobsearch.spouse.military.com/

• www.careeronestop.org/militaryspouse/

• www.msccn.org/

• http://vetjobs.com/spousePortal.htm

• http://odin.aafes.com/employment/default.asp

• www.afcrossroads.com/employment/main.cfm

• www.msjs.org

Even better than these sites, however, is the personal assistance offered on JBLM.

"If we aren't helping you, we need to know it," said Caroline Bennett, the JBLM manager of Employment Assistance. To try and hone the services offered by her office, Bennett recently hosted an event to create the Military Spouse Career Committee, so that those experiencing the hardships of job searching can share what improvements they'd like to see.

The JBLM Employment Readiness Service, or ERS, which falls under the umbrella of Army Community Service, placed 96 percent of its clients last year out of the more than 800 who are registered. On an annual basis, ERS deals with 539 employers, like the Xerox Corporation, for example, which are intent on hiring spouses and often recruit right on base. The employers are part of the Army Spouse Employment Partnership, or ASEP, program, which began in 2003 as a way to ensure that Army spouses got a fair shot at employment with Fortune 500 companies, government agencies and more.

ERS holds 90-minute new client orientations every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Following that, clients can stop into the office to speak with a counselor or use the program's resource center anytime, Monday to Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Though appointments are not necessary, spouses can call (253) 966-8325 or (253) 967-7287 if they feel they require extra assistance.

The JBLM ERS office is located in Bldg 2166, on the corner of Liggett Avenue on JBLM Main.