Successful second acts

For Beverly Israely, 40, it was her daughter's request that made it clear she needed a job with some flexibility. While she was interviewing for jobs last year after a two-year break from the workforce, Israely's 5-year-old asked who would take her to school if she went back to work in an office.

"I said, `I will,'" says Israely, who spent five years working in the nonprofit world before getting an MBA and spending a decade working in real estate banking.

When she was ready to return to work, Israely first looked at nonprofits but decided she might not earn enough to cover childcare and other expenses. Just when she considered going back to real estate banking, a friend recommended recruiting, and even mentioned a firm she thought Israely might like. She wasn't sure if it would be right for her, but Israely met with the firm, GloCap Search, an executive recruiting firm that focused on privat equity and hedge fund recruiting.

"I told them I couldn't help them unless they were interested in starting a real estate (recruiting) practice," she says. And they were. "All of the stars aligned for me." Her boss, a father of three whose wife has a full-time career, told Israely early on that he didn't mind if it took her a few extra months to ramp up. "It was work I wanted to do; when I go to work, I am so psyched to get into it - it doesn't always feel like work," she says of the job she started in spring of 2006.

Israely does take her children to school each morning and is home most nights before 6 p.m. For the dinner, bath and bedtime routine. After the kids are asleep, she reads files, reviews resumes and, sometimes, conducts candidate interviews. She loves that she has the ability to control her time and manage balance - and still have a satisfying and challenging career. "It's a great career for a mother," says Israely.