Hi Nola,
I graduated Ohio State with a degree in PR, but never worked in that field. I got married and worked retail in larger stores. I eventually worked my way into retail mgmt of smaller stores like Fayva Shoes. This gave me the transferable skills of hiring, firing and budgeting. Unfortunately, my first husband walked out and I couldn't work retail hours. I went to work for Xerox where I did more customer service.
I remarried; continued to work at Xerox. My 2nd husband was in the military and we moved around a little bit so I was unemployed about a year. Once we resettled, I found a payroll specialist job. While there, I was promoted to supervisor of various departments including recruiting, tax services,etc. I stayed 13 years.
During that time, my 2nd husband moved back to his parents 400 miles away. I couldn't just pack up and leave the house, he wasn't working. Work was a 50 mile round trip commute that wasn't working with kids and him not being there. So I had to start looking for another job. It was tempting to do "poor me", but I was paying mortgage, car payments and taking care of my kids w/o child support.
One day, an HR position opened up close to home and I was able to show how all of the skills I developed over the years was a fit. I had hired, fired, did payroll, supervised, recruited, trained and developed, budgeted, etc... - everything they needed their HR manager to do, I had done without the title.
So bottom line, I had to keep moving forward, not all of those jobs were great. Some were horrible, but I didn't have time to feel sorry for myself, I had people (kids) counting on me. So while yes, many a night I cried because it WAS hard - the day rose I moved forward.
I adore my job now, it's what I always wanted.
