NEW YORK (MONEY Magazine) -
Brenda Carter worked as an executive, specializing in purchasing, for more than 30 years before seeing the inside of an unemployment office. She had just started a new job at R.R. Donnelley when the firm announced massive layoffs.
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Eric Fulmer - He credits his new job to his energy and enthusiasm -- and his networking.
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Brenda Carter - Though unemployed, she stayed current in her field and learned new skills.
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Connie Guglielmo - A job-hunting and support Web site helped her impress the man who hired her.
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Eric Green - He cinched the new job by moving 700 miles in three weeks.
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Rebecca O'Mara - Volunteering for a Hispanic group led to her meeting executives.
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Gilbert Wilson - He used his technical skills to get his foot in the door.
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At the age of 53, Carter found herself out of a job. "It didn't seem so bad," she recalls. "I got a package and I decided to take a little time off." That was in June 2001. Before she knew it, her time off had turned into a year.
Carter posted her résumé with several retained executive-search firms, which are hired and paid by a company looking to fill an open position.
"It means they have the jobs already," she explains. "That's a real advantage, because at my level those kinds of jobs aren't advertised."
Acutely aware of her younger competition, she spent time mastering new computer programs. Toward the end of the year, she began consulting for Mercury Marine; after two months, they offered her a position as commodity manager.
| THE JOB OUTLOOK
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There were many reasons for Carter to refuse: a three-hour commute, two or three weeks of overseas travel a month and a lower salary. But her family needed her income, so she said yes. She kept her résumé up to date and stayed in touch with the search firms.
A full year later, the phone rang. The caller was Anthony Jones, a recruiter at Minority Executive Search in Cleveland. He'd been retained by Johnson Controls, an automotive systems company, to hire a director of purchasing and logistics for North America.
Jones deserves credit for spotting Carter's qualifications and making the match with Johnson, but it's Carter who ultimately sold herself. She stayed current in procurement and operations, and was not shy about sharing radical ideas about teamwork with her interviewer. She exuded confidence.
"I do very well at interviews," the new grandmother confirms. "Always."
Continued...
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