Story by Cathi Douglas '80 | Image by Karen Tapia

A Tough Economy Can Require Retooling For a New Reality

Like any good son of Vietnamese immigrant parents, Tam Nguyen ’05 (M.B.A.) aspired to make his mom and dad proud. So when they wanted him to become a medical doctor, Nguyen completed his medical degree.

But along the way, he realized that he wasn’t passionate about medicine. In fact, what he really wanted to do was succeed in business. As a result, rather than completing his medical residency, Nguyen entered Cal State Fullerton’s M.B.A. program and got the training he needed to take over the family business, Advance Beauty College.

Today, Nguyen is president of the college, as well as president of the Vietnamese-American Chamber of Commerce of Orange County, and is seen as a proven young leader in the business community.

“Follow your heart,” Nguyen urged others who are considering reinventing their careers. “Find what you’re passionate about and go for the educational tools that will get you a seat at the table.”

Paddy Gough ’80 (B.A. history) spent 29 years in the Marine Corps, enduring eight deployments and 15 different moves during an impressive military career. Upon his retirement as colonel, he was offered a number of opportunities within the Marine Corps, including several at the Pentagon that would have meant his promotion to general. He and his wife, Karen, however, didn’t relish the idea of another move.

“But I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up,” Gough admitted. Just as he was considering a new career in the aerospace industry, Gough met with top officials at the Orange County Transportation Authority who wanted to discuss possible partnerships with the Marine Corps. He didn’t know that the officials also were sizing him up for a possible new job at the OCTA.

“You never know when you’re going to get an interview,” he warned. “I’d run large and complex organizations within the Marine Corps. They’d obviously done their homework, coming up with a corporate reorganization that transferred five departments into a new division that had my name on it.” Now Gough is executive director of human resources and organizational development at the OCTA.

Their stories may be atypical, but what Nguyen and Gough have in common is the reinvention of their careers, and the fact that they are active leaders in the Alumni Association.

Today, with unemployment rates of up to 15 percent, many people are faced with career retooling as a necessity. Others undergo the process because they are unhappy in their jobs or seeking new challenges.

“Some people want to reinvent themselves, and some people have to,” said Chris Kondo, director of the Sales Leadership Center who teaches marketing in CSUF’s Mihaylo College of Business and Economics. Kondo refashioned himself as an educator as part of a midlife shift from a successful career in global marketing. “It can be difficult. It depends on where you are in life.”

While some people may have to undergo a radical reinvention, others tweak their skills to adapt to a new employment reality, said Tom Boyd, former associate dean for academic programs and faculty development in the Mihaylo College of Business and Economics.

“If you’re not willing to reinvent yourself, your skill set will become obsolete in a changing world,” Boyd noted.

Catherine Van Riette, the university’s adult reentry coordinator, sees a number of returning students who want to retool themselves and their careers. “Returning students are motivated,” Van Riette said. “They’re here because they want to be competitive in the marketplace. Usually they are a much stronger student, very committed. This is not just something someone else is asking them to do.”

Self-reflection is particularly important when considering a career renovation, said Melinda Blackman, CSUF professor of psychology. “You need to understand why you’re doing this, making sure that this is a long-term process rather than a whim,” Blackman said. “There can be a lot of dead ends and rejection. You need to trudge through all the ‘nos.’”

Blackman, too, has reinvented herself from psychology professor to author, writing a diet book and presently penning a romance novel. “Reinventing a career can be difficult if you don’t have the vision or self-esteem,” Blackman said. “You must be your own biggest fan.”

Likewise, a network of friends, colleagues and family is essential to the career reinventor, said Carol Creighton, senior director of academic programs in University Extended Education. “People are confronted with themselves when they’re going through this process. It can be extremely challenging, depending upon your self-confidence and your tolerance for risk-taking.”

Career transitions can be difficult, agreed Jim Case, director of Cal State Fullerton’s Career Center. “But the ambiguity can be exciting as you manage and create your future,” Case said. As they move toward a new career, “most of the time people are happier and excited about their prospects.”