Career Regrets

Nearing the end of my working years looking back so many regrets were made; starting with the career avenue my parents chose for me. History and theater were my passions; dreams were floating in my teenage head about acting in a Broadway musical or comedy or teaching junior high students in American History. My parents were paying for my education to a two year Junior College where my career path would continue where my high school education ended; being an executive secretary was my future.  Now Forty-six years late, I am still a secretary aka Administrator Assistant.

Unfortunately I chose the road most taken as illustrated in Robert Frost's poem, The Road Not Taken.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

My first full time job was a legal secretary for a lawyer who also sold insurance; it was completely boring and within a year I was a junior secretary/receptionist with a financial firm.  Another year and another job with global company which was headquartered in Boston in the Prudential Building; my title was Executive Secretary to the Vice President of Marketing. This job was not entirely boring as I found market research intriguing and a skill that would be used for years to come. Marketing and Advertising would continue to be a passion but my first experience was too early in my life to be appreciated. 

What type of job would make me satisfied? A job which would offer me intellectual stimulation and be in a glamorous industry. One Sunday morning in the Boston Globe Classified Ad section, there was an ad for clerical support in the CIA which caught my eye and applied. To my surprise, I was called in for an interview where the recruiter explained the job could send me any where in the world. How exciting I would be working with spies and help keep my country safe.

The majority of the people I told about my job opportunity was aghast; how could I even consider working for a government agency which massacres people throughout the world. I can now admit that letting other people made my decision was a huge regret. My life may have been so different if I had made the decision to take the job. This regret would be the first of several that other people would decide my career road.

When I do retire next year, the regrets will be in the past and will just another baby-boomer woman who put family first.