When Jackie Doyle created and ran a management development program at Prudential, she placed trainees in positions nationwide to learn all aspects of the business, from finance to marketing. Many trainees excelled by stepping out of their comfort zones and beyond their college majors.
Helping people find their career paths inspired Doyle to change her own. Her career services work has taken her to the Middle East and back. Along the way, she earned a master's degree in management and certifications in life coaching and several personality assessments, including the Myers-Briggs. As coordinator of Career Services in the Lee Business School, she wants to help students realize there's more to resources for them than reviewing resumes.
Why career services?
When you're young, people tell you what you're good at. You continue to do it and get better at it. What we do well may be our skill, but it may not be our passion. As a career coach, I met a lot of people in their 30's who made a lot of money but didn't like their jobs. I wanted to catch people earlier on to help them find their career paths. There's often no one true career, but there can be one main road with many exits along the way.
Why 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÍòÄÜ¿Æ´ó?
The thing that attracted me the most was my newly created position. I love to be involved in startups. I wanted to have some say in what's being created and developed. I had a desire to work with students, and I have experience on the employer side of things, having worked in corporate, nonprofit, and educational sectors.
Where did you grow up?
Everett, Mass., five miles from downtown Boston. Everett was where I slept; Boston was where I lived.
What's the biggest misconception about your field?
That we are only there to help seniors write resumes and cover letters and find jobs. I believe career services is meant to help students understand who they are and their preferences from the beginning of their academic careers.
Proudest moment in your life?
What I am probably most proud of is my ability to keep growing and redesign myself all the time.
One tip for success?
Know that it's never too late to do anything that you want to do. Be sure that when you make decisions, make them so you won't have regrets and wonder what would've happened. Even when things don't work out, you can move forward knowing more about yourself.
If you could fix one thing in the world, what would it be?
People not being present in the moment. I wish people would really engage with the people around them with fewer distractions.
What would people be surprised to know about you?
Once I knew I wanted to become a career counselor, I was willing to live any place in the world. I got rid of everything I owned and moved to Abu Dhabi by myself. I worked at Zayed University for three years.
What kind of colleague would you want to be known as?
As a collaborator who helps make each place a little stronger and helps others to grow. I've trained my replacement many times. I always want to leave behind something that can be sustained.
What can't you work without?
The people I serve, my clients: students, faculty, employers. And Jazz 88.3 Newark.
Who is your hero?
My dad. He taught me that if you can read, write and think, you can do anything. He had a 10th grade education, but he was one of the smartest people I knew. He said it doesn't matter what you read as long as you read.
Hobbies?
Reading and jewelrymaking. I moved here with 50 pounds of books and beads.
-- Compiled by Karyn Hollingsworth, communications director for the Lee Business School
