(MONEY Magazine) – Two years ago, when grim-faced corporate executives showed up unannounced at United Airlines' frequent-flier subsidiary, MPI of suburban Los Angeles, many employees were worried. Their fears were soon confirmed: United said the following day it would restructure the firm, and eventually moved most of the operations to other cities and laid off 65% of the 869 workers. ''It was a tremendous shock,'' recalls Paul Beck, 38, then an MPI manager. ''Some people were crying, and everyone felt panicky.'' Beck wasn't worried, because he had been told privately he would be kept on, but the announcement reinforced his growing conviction that the airline industry was too volatile for long-term comfort. So four years after joining United -- and 14 years after leaving his first career as a junior high school English teacher -- Beck began job hunting. ''As MPI's liaison among customer service, marketing and data processing,'' he says, ''I had skills that might be valuable elsewhere. Also, we didn't want to move from our Long Beach home.'' Within four weeks, he hit pay dirt. Two of Beck's former bosses had left United earlier to join AFSA Data Corp. of Long Beach, which administers student loans for banks. In August 1990, Beck became AFSA's director of operations with a 5% raise to the mid-$60,000 range and greater responsibility (he supervises 105 people, up from seven at United). Since AFSA's loan volume has doubled to more than $7 billion in the past five years, he sees more opportunity -- which is especially important now that his wife of seven years, Sarah, 45, a former data entry manager, is at home with their nine- month-old daughter, Lauren. Still, he keeps his job-finding skills honed. ''My long-term goal is to be responsible for the bottom line of a division or small firm,'' he says. ''I hope to do that at AFSA. But you can't take anything for granted in your job these days.''