Staffcentrix Launches Portal for Hirers to Find Foreign Service Spouse “Virtual

In an innovative online portal funded by the US Department of State, hirers internationally can now find Foreign Service spouses trained to provide professional services remotely.

Woodstock, CT (PRWEB) January 19, 2006 Staffcentrix, a leading provider of virtual careers training and related resources to the Armed Forces and the US Department of State, announced the launch of FSe-entrepreneur.com, a destination portal for hirers seeking Foreign Service spouse professionals for long-term employment or project work.

All professionals featured at the site have completed Staffcentrix’ comprehensive e-Entrepreneur Training Program™, developed exclusively for the Department of State, which funds the site. The 3-day Program teaches participants to provide their individual professional expertise to business clients or employers via email, phone, fax and courier.

For prospective hirers, the site features a directory of spouses and their professional credentials, an explanation of the benefits of partnering with a Foreign Service virtual professional, and a Request for Proposal (RFP) service which hirers may use to describe their needs and request bids or responses from qualified individuals.

Foreign Service spouses bring an amazing mix of knowledge, sophistication and international savvy to the hiring marketplace,” said Christine Durst, Staffcentrix CEO. Advanced degrees from top-tier schools are just the start for many of them, and their knowledge of international markets and cultures is a real boon to the smaller, expanding company in particular.”

Staffcentrix COO Michael Haaren, himself a former Foreign Service dependent and later a corporate growth advisor in the 1990s, elaborates on the benefits this corps of professionals brings to the table. “To put a marketing VP on the ground in any offshore economy is beyond the reach of many companies that need it most. Both import and export opportunities have to be postponed, regardless of how lucrative they might be, while larger competitors gobble them up and lay on more muscle to compete with the ‘upstart’ at home. Foreign Service spouses know offshore markets cold, and are bilingual or trilingual as a matter of course. They travel in circles that many offshore VPs never can break into, and their Master’s or MBA and professional experience are just icing on the cake.”

“Distributed work — which covers telework, homeshoring, offshoring, and similar trends — is growing more conventional than exceptional,” Haaren adds. “It’s why our book on Virtual Assistants, ‘The 2-Second Commute,’ has become an Amazon bestseller on home-based businesses and careers.”

CEO Durst concludes, “When foundations, which are known for many good things but not their love of risk, are funding projects like the Distributed Work Industry Association, recently sponsored by the Gaines Family Foundation, you know the trend is strong.”

The new site, at http://www.fse-entrepreneur.com , also includes community features to permit its members to collaborate on projects, exchange tips and referrals, and share details on the diverse markets and cultures where the spouses and their families live.

About Staffcentrix
Staffcentrix is a leading advocate of home-based, virtual careers as a platform for individual growth and stronger family life, and a leading provider of virtual work solutions, products and publications. Its co-founders, Christine Durst and Michael Haaren, appear often in the media as experts on home-based careers, and Haaren is the Editor of their popular weekly bulletin of screened, home-based jobs, The Rat Race Rebellion (http://www.2secondcommute.com/RRR.htm).