When Cathy Carter-Cline moved to Virginia from Texas, her professional life was on hold.
”I had a successful career in television production in Houston for eight years, but when my husband accepted a job in Washington, D.C., in 1988, I knew it was time to do something I wanted to do: change careers,” said Carter-Cline of Arlington, Va.
The only problem, she says, was that she didn`t know how to make the switch to a writing career, she was new to the community, she didn`t know anyone to network with, and she had no job leads.
Carter-Cline finally sought help at The Women`s Center of Northern Virginia, a private, non-profit counseling agency in Vienna, Va. It serves women who live in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. Some 45,000 women a year use the center for psychotherapy and counseling in legal and financial matters and professional development.
”I needed to build up my confidence,” said Carter-Cline, who has a bachelor`s degree in English and communications from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. ”Your ego gets a real shock when you know you have the ability to do a job-and no one wants to see you.”
During her first interview at the Women`s Center, the counselor told her about its Information and Career Advisory Network (I CAN) to help job-seekers network and to provide them with mentors and job leads.
Through it, Carter-Cline was referred to a volunteer mentor, Maryellen Faga Kieffer, a free-lance writer and editor who had worked in television.
”Maryellen even came to my house and encouraged me and gave me suggestions,” she said.
Meanwhile, Janet Hubbell, director of I CAN, called Carter-Cline whenever she heard of suitable job openings. ”She even read me the job descriptions over the phone,” said Carter-Cline.
The counseling, mentoring and networking she received culminated in the job Carter-Cline now holds as editor in chief of an employee newsletter for TRW Systems Integration Group in Fairfax, Va.
”I had been struggling for almost a year just to get someone to talk to me,” said Carter-Cline. ”I had done everything short of going back to school to get an advanced degree. No employer would see me. I simply couldn`t get in, even though I knew I was qualified. But my mentor showed me how to present myself to an employer and the center opened doors for me. And once I got the interview, I got the job.”
For the last two decades, women seeking jobs and career advancement have been advised to do some serious networking with colleagues and friends and, above all, to get a mentor. And if they can`t find one, the next best advice is to go out and hire one-the payoff is tremendous. Carter-Cline paid $20 to join the Women`s Center and $10 to become a part of I CAN, and if that constitutes hiring a mentor, it is indeed money well spent.
”I have the job I want and the pay is quite satisfactory,” said the newsletter editor.
Of the 45,000 women who seek help at the center each year, 1,000 presently are in the I CAN program, which now is five years old and has almost 500 volunteer mentors. I CAN is open to women who are entering or re-entering the work force, changing careers or want to advance in their jobs.
”The service is absolutely unique in that it gives those in the program direct access, an inside track, to professional women already working in their fields,” said Judith O. Mueller, executive director of the center. ”It matches mentors and advisers and the result is `instant networking.` We don`t do job placement but do provide a constant flow of information about existing jobs from our staff and mentors and from employers.”
Mueller says I Can is about to go national because other women`s centers are interested in duplicating the program.
”Women are recently arrived at the workplace,” says Mueller, who was part of the group that founded the center in 1977. ”We are the pioneers in today`s marketplace. Men have always been privy to information and have always helped one another. What we`ve done is made mentoring instantly available to women.”
Diane M. Michalke, now a real estate management analyst for the Fairfax, Va., county government, is another beneficiary of the program. When she wanted to switch from teaching, ”I went to the women`s center and spoke to several mentors who gave me emotional cushioning and helped me focus on a strategy,” said Michalke, who had taught business courses and has an MBA. ”I needed positive strokes and got them.”
Last November, she got her present job in the county`s assessment office. ”Before I was interviewed, I spoke to two women who work there and learned the inside ropes,” said Michalke. Her present job pays $35,000.
”Now, I`m a volunteer (mentor) for the center,” said Michalke. ”I try to help put women on target-as I was.”
