Career Reinvention

It’s the first day of summer—the only season that invites a change of scenery and more time to think and plan.   A full-fledged vacation, a few weekends away here or there or even just afternoons at the pool that break normal routine can all be the impetus for change. My last big work and life…

Work is truly fun only if you’re following a passion.  Making money is great, but if you have alternate resources, you’ll stall the work/don’t work decision until a potential job ignites a current passion—or chases a long-held demon. Life coach Susie Bedsow Horgan’s passion meter surged when she realized a slightly different career path could…

You’ve thought about a career change lying on the beach, daydreaming during meetings and walking the dog around the block.  You’re tired of what you’re doing now—and anxious to move on.  But before you run haphazardly toward a new career, do your homework to make sure you’ll walk with more precision on a well-defined path….

Thinking about owning a business some day?  That’s what I hear from many women who spend their volunteer years dreaming about an entrepreneurial venture. After the flexibility women enjoy out of the workforce, an independent venture can seem like a logical transition.  Donna Pace, a three-time entrepreneur, says “it’s certainly logical, but not simple.” Today…

Time out of the workforce can dampen the desire for senior-level jobs.  During my recruiting years I met so many returning professional women who wanted to work—but without the big responsibility and extensive travel required for jobs they held in their 20s and 30s.  A perhaps surprising number of these women had decided to pursue…

I may have to change the title of this blog series.  The title is “Contemplating Reinvention”, but I read a blog comment recently stating that “reinvention” has a negative connotation. It’s an interesting point.  Reinvention suggests that you have to start all over again.  Throw out the old and bring in the new.  If a…

Work or not work?   It’s a decision that many women struggle with—or ponder hardly at all.  Though some women declare they will never work again—I’ve seen many return to the workforce out of unanticipated necessity, fate or unfinished business. Unfinished business definitely played a role in Monica Kridler’s return to work.  From the ages of…

Back in 2007 I filed away a New York Times special section on retirement.  Today I found it in an old file and read an article in that section, “Helping Chart a Career’s Turning Point”.  For all blog readers poised for reinvention, this caught my attention. The article mentions a book that sounds like a…

I’m always amazed when people succombe to retirement.  Shut down.  Play an occasional game of golf.  Read a few books.  Live through their children and grandchildren.  Stop learning, experiencing, venturing, wondering, challenging, accomplishing. Every day I see more and more examples that life can be lived to its fullest until you take your last breath. …

I’ve thought of writing a fiction book many times—and because a story has to grab me from the very start, I often jot down opening lines I think would create immediate interest and page-turning enthusiasm.  But that’s about as far as I get.  Those one-liners languish in various piles of paper because I’ve never had…