Switching Careers Takes Patience
Do you ever daydream about changing careers? Or launching your own business?
Turning that dream into a reality may seem like an insurmountable challenge - and a foolish notion in such a precarious working world.
But whether it’s transferring your skills to a new field or building your own company around your interests, it’s possible to make a significant change even in an unstable environment.
Of course there are different considerations attendant with different stages of your career, but the keys, according to career experts, are creativity, organization, patience and a willingness to apply your talents in new ways.
Here’s how two Chicago women switched gears:
Roberta McKeever, 31, director of the ratings program (hiring and training undercover diners who evaluate food and service) for Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, which operates more than 35 restaurants: At 29, McKeever had logged four years in the corporate and securities group at Sidley & Austin, one of Chicago’s largest law firms. But she never felt law was creative enough. “There was too much paper pushing,” says McKeever. “And my hours ranged from 50 to 80 per week, depending on client emergencies. It was impossible to plan weekend activities or vacations.”
As her 30th birthday approached, McKeever realized she was ready to switch professions. “I felt confident about making a big change,” she says. “I didn’t have a lot of responsibilities, and I hadn’t settled into the security of a high-paying job. I’d always been interested in the food industry - cooking and entertaining are my hobbies - and I thought, ‘Why not turn something I love into a career?”’
McKeever set her sights on Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, and for nearly a year kept in touch with the personnel director “to remind her I wanted to be considered when a job opened up on the business side.” To learn more about the company, McKeever also became a “mystery diner,” eating at Lettuce restaurants once a week and rating the service and food. When she heard the director of the program had resigned, McKeever applied for the position and was hired despite her lack of direct experience. “Switching careers is a marketing game,” says McKeever, who took a 50 percent pay cut to join Lettuce but has found greater satisfaction. “You must look at what skills you’ve acquired and what skills the employer wants. Then package yourself so the employer understands how you fit the job.”
Judith Brady, 52, president of JEB+ Associates Inc., an association management firm that produces conferences, meetings and events: Brady has made a habit out of making career changes. After spending four years as the administrative assistant to the director of training and development at The Brunswick Corp., she became office manager for the Midwest sales office of Fortune magazine.
“I supervised the clerical staff, and I planned special events for the sales team and their clients,” she says. But her salary wasn’t high enough to support her teenage sons. So Brady took a higher paying job as an administrative assistant at a consulting firm, only to find the work dissatisfying. That’s when Brady, then 42, consulted a career counselor. “When we evaluated my jobs, I realized my background would translate into a different field,” she says. “After all, I’d handled budgets, cash management, research. I’d designed and coordinated training sessions.” Brady parlayed those skills into a job as conference manager in the international meetings division of Rotary International. Within three years, she launched her own firm. “At 46, I felt tremendous personal freedom … I knew it was time to put my skills and energy to the ultimate test. Plus, in my 40s I finally had the self-confidence that it takes to start something from scratch. It’s never too late to change careers, but I think the 40s are a particularly good decade to open a business. You gain wisdom from 20 years in the work force, you have confidence … and, hopefully, you don’t take yourself so seriously anymore.”