Read the empowering career story of this career-changer and lifelong learner who, along with her husband, stands on the brink of a new degree and career. Also included are the suggestions and resources from the Quintessential Careers team -- for this job-seeker and any other job-seeker facing a similar situation.

by Angela Rachel, as told to Katharine Hansen, Ph.D.

Angela Rachel

For Angela Rachel, lifelong learning is a career hallmark. Despite solid career progression and a family, Angela decided not only to go back to school, but to do so with her husband ("My husband and I thought it would be fun to go back to college together," she says). They attended the University of Phoenix and at the time of her interview for this story, Angela was less than a month from graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in business management.

"I strongly believe that lifelong learning is important for today's professionals to stay abreast of their personal and professional goals," Angela says. "I knew continuing my education would benefit my search for the perfect job. The best part of the decision process was asking our then-9-year-old son if he thought it would be a good idea if mom and dad go back to college; of course he said yes. It was important to us to have that support from all our family."

Angela, 32, has been delighted with her college experience. "I thank the many facilitators and educators for my clear and defined personal and professional goals," she says. "The University of Phoenix has empowered me to focus my skills and interests into real-life aspirations."

She is serious about the "lifelong" aspect of learning. "I would like to sit for my PHR (Human Resource Professional) certificate soon. I am also interested in process improvement. I stay in touch with some of college facilitators for further advice. There are many organizations and/or certificate options, and the choices are overwhelming. At this point I would be interested in learning more about myself professionally before I make a final decision. I would also be interested in working for a company that values [its] human capital enough to pay for such certificates and education because paying for it out of my own pocket could get expensive."

Her new degree should open many doors for Angela and enable her to advance in her career. Currently, this St.-Louis-area career-changer is director of administration for a fitness company, a position she says is "helping me gain the knowledge and solidify my career aspirations." She also serves as an independent consultant for The Body Shop at Home.

In addition to lifelong learning, Angela cites career themes of mind-mapping, personal passion, serendipity, empowerment, the support of family and friends, and no regrets.

Though her childhood dreams consisted of "being a dancer and selling my mud pies for a living," the Iowa-born Angela found her first job after community college as a manager-in-training/restaurant manager for Steak n Shake. "Wow, did I have fun working for them," Angela says, "until they told me the store I was to run was not going to be built." The setback prompted her search for "the perfect food-service management career."

A Personal Glimpse FAVORITE MOVIES Office Space, Serendipity LATEST BOOK READ What to Eat, by Marion Nestle FAVORITE BOOK Good to Great, by Jim Collins INTERESTS/ HOBBIES Professional: Organizational development, change management, total quality management, business process improvement, ownership support, continuous and lifelong learning. Personal: Boating, camping, hiking, healthy and green living, wine and cooking aficionado FAVORITE TV SHOWS CSI FAVORITE FOOD Dark chocolate FAVORITE WEBSITE Currently, I am hooked on Linkedin FAVORITE MAGAZINE Clean Eating

"After eight years of management in the food-and-beverage industry and several poor managers later, I decided to do some mind-mapping [see note at end of article]," she says. "With the help from the few great managers I had while being in food service, I found the answers and empowerment I needed."

Then her career took a serendipitous turn. "In 2001 when a business unit I was managing was closing," she recalls, "I was expecting to be laid off. Instead I got a call from the VP and was asked, 'If you could move anywhere to manage a unit of [the business], where would it be?' I said 'St. Louis' and a few others. He replied with, 'Well, I might be able to make that happen.' Two months later I was relocating my family and enjoying a promotion to St. Louis."

"The company made the transition go smoothly," she recalls. "This move helped me develop change-management skills professional and personally. Some get overwhelmed and frustrated with change in their life. I welcomed it and enjoyed the organization of the change." It was after the relocation and promotion that Angela realized that her many talents "would better serve a different industry." That's when she and her husband enrolled in college to pursue their bachelor's degrees. "There my answers were more clear with the help from more mind-mapping and support from family, friends, and instructors."

"This is where I successfully made the career change [to her current position in administration]," she recalls." Angela and her husband had made another big change around this time -- adding a second child to their family, a daughter, now 2.

Angela says her positive career and academic progression can be summed up in her favorite quote from Anita Roddick, the late founder of The Body Shop: "To succeed, you have to believe in something with such passion that it becomes reality." Angela adds that making her passion reality is attributable to "the love and support for my family and friends because without them I would have not gotten to my career level."

Her network has also played an important role. "Networking has helped me gain confidence in my voice and talents," she notes, "specifically, the call I received from the VP when I received the promotion and relocation was aided by many introductions to various managers about my interest in staying with a company who prides their services on 'whatever it takes.'"

Networking, in fact, is at the center of the advice she has for others. "Networking is extremely important. Although it is difficult for some, I suggest introducing yourself to many peers in the company or outside work such as industry associations."

Empowerment also has been a significant theme in Angela's career. "The best boss I had empowered me to find my strengths in the position and also mentored me with positive feedback and constructive criticism."

Conversely, obstacles in Angela's career have included managers and peers who didn't empower her. "There have been a few managers I have faced that have created obstacles for me," she says. "The worst boss I had created many obstacles for me and did not empower me to do the job I was hired for. I will not be recommending him on LinkedIn, but I thank him greatly for the negative experience because it taught me how to handle situations where I need to rise above negative influences." Indeed she says that all the managers and peers she had that did not communicate, lead, and empower her "helped me learn from their mistakes. I am thankful for the many obstacles I have faced during my career because they have been used as fuel to keep me going."

Despite the obstacles, Angela has no regrets about her career. "I find no mistakes in any choices I have made in my career," she says. "I believe I managed to change careers smoothly based on the plan of action I made prior to making the change."

With her degree virtually in hand, Angela is contemplating another career change and says she has "another in-depth plan of action." She plans to focus on human resources. "I would like to help people maximize their potential through their work-life balance," Angela says. She also notes that she and her husband "mind-map on how we can become business entrepreneurs together."

She says she is also doing more soul searching by mind-mapping, personality profiling, and career profiling. "There are many interests and talents I have, and I want to be able to maximize my potential," she says. She doesn't plan to interpret assessments literally if they suggest a career that doesn't fit her, but says, "I would consider some of the attributes that go along with the career." But off-base suggestions haven't yet been a problem, she says, as "the many profiles I have done online match very well with how I considered my strengths and weaknesses and how they can help me professionally."

If she could do anything she wanted with the rest of her career, Angela points to what she admits is a "rather ludicrous ambition," which is retiring at age 50. If she could pull that off, she'd love to "buy a home on a lake and enjoy boating, fishing, skiing with my family and friends. Also, travel a bit."

In the meantime, family is at the center of her world. "My life is my family, and my work creates a better life for my family. My family life is balanced with my work life. I will be walking across a stage to accept my diploma from University of Phoenix with my husband and with family and friends present, and I owe my family for supporting me through this personal and professional endeavor."

Angela invites readers to visit her LinkedIn profile.

Suggestions and Resources for Angela and Others in Similar Situations

We suggest that Angela:

• Keep doing what she's doing! Angela is doing all the right things in planning for her career change. She is conducting self-evaluation through mind-mapping, assessments and other methods. She is advancing her education. She is considering certification. She has a comprehensive action plan. She is networking, including using online social-media tools such as LinkedIn. She's getting mentoring from educators at her school.If she hasn't already, she could visit these Quintessential Careers resources to enhance these activities:
  • Developing a Strategic Vision for Your Career Plan
  • For Job-Hunting Success, Develop a Comprehensive Job-Search Plan
  • The Art of Career and Job-Search Networking
  • Career Assessment Tools & Tests for Students, Job-Seekers
• Further build her online presence. Although she has a LinkedIn profile and her resume is online through emurse, she might consider doing even more to build her Web presence. She could consider creating a personal site that could house a career portfolio, including her resume. She may want to review our articles, Making Social Networking Technology Work for You: A Recruiter's Perspective, Taking Networking to the Next Level: Getting Your Name Out There, and Web 2.0 Dominates Trends in Internet Job-Hunting.
• Build her brand. Personal branding goes hand in hand with visibility, and it will enhance her online presence even more. Some branding resources include our Career Branding Tutorial and our articles, Building Your Brand: Tactics for Successful Career Branding and A Dozen Things You Must Know About Communicating Your Career Brand.
• Ensure that her career-marketing communications are in tip-top shape as she embarks on her job search. Should could review our Resume Resources and Cover Letter Resources.
• Check appropriate job boards. She may want to look for human-resources jobs on our Jobs in Business, Management, Finance, Accounting, Marketing, and Sales.