She Finds Jobs For Army Wives

'Our aim is to translate military skills, knowledge and experience into key competencies in the world of business so as to provide them with jobs.'

Supriya Parashar, an army wife based out of Pune, offers job opportunities to veterans, officers, jawans and army wives through Skillster Employability Solutions, a company she started 27 years ago to 'bridge the gap between the corporate world and the defence forces'.

"There are many, many roles that we have identified for military wives so that they can be with their families and still contribute to the corporate world," Supriya tells Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com.

What exactly is this job opportunity about? What kind of job does it involve? Who is eligible?

I am myself an army wife who has been working in human resources.

I started Skillster Employability Solutions, an employability and advocacy company 27 years ago to bridge the gap between the corporate world and the defence forces veterans and defence forces wives.

Our aim is to translate military skills, knowledge and experience into key competencies in the world of business so as to provide them with jobs.

Under this initiative, we sensitise corporates about the business value of veterans' talents and how they can add value to their businesses even while working from remote locations.

We get in touch with employers, different corporates and make them understand how veterans can match their business needs.

This particular initiative that you are talking about is basically for the veterans from the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force; officers, jawans and military wives can apply for these jobs.

The challenge military wives face is that, if they stay with their husbands, they are mostly at a remote place. They have to give up their regular career which they had before they got married.

We are running this initiative to find good opportunities for military wives which should be remote because, then, they can stay with their husbands and be part of the corporate world. For example, if somebody is posted in Kashmir or Assam or Rajasthan, they (the army wives) get to work.

There are job vacancies for international tutoring. My venture is incubated with IIM-Bangalore. One of my batch mates there runs an international tutoring institute for American students.

There are Indian tutors who conduct classes for American students teaching academics, art, craft and music from the primary to the university level.

These jobs are available for army wives.

Then there are other jobs available through Skillster in field translation, digital marketing, etc. There are many, many roles like online customer support that we have identified for military wives so that they can be with their families and still contribute to the corporate world.

We keep posting such job opportunities from time to time so that military wives can take them up.

How many jobs will you be providing through this initiative? How many vacancies are there? What kind of salaries can one expect? What is the eligibility criteria?

This particular job post that you have seen is for a coordinator's job.

Then, there are requirements for tutors who can teach students in the US. As of now, there are some 20 to 30 vacancies for the role of tutors.

We keep posting jobs for tutors where army wives who have the skills can teach all subjects from the primary to the university level.

What kind of salaries can one expect in these jobs? What are the eligibility criteria? Who can apply?

Only military wives who are graduates can apply.

Army wives who have little bit of teaching experience or can conduct classes and make the syllabus can also apply.

The money depend on the number of classes that they conduct. For any one hour class, the payment can be anywhere between Rs 300 to Rs 700, depending on expertise and the level -- primary to university -- for all subjects, co-curricular activities like art, craft and music for which these classes are conducted.