From Transport Planner to Corporate Trainer to Communication Consultant
While at primary school, Janet underwent vocational guidance testing. The career advisers told her that ‘she could do anything’, which she now knows was pretty useless advice. A good student Janet, now 55, reflects on how she ended up building on her best high school subjects, undertaking a Bachelor of Arts followed by a Masters degree. Following a gap of three decades filled with work and child rearing, she then worked towards her PhD. After seven years of postgraduate study and research, she was then able to fully change careers.
Although equipped to choose a career in academia, Janet decided to take a different direction, eventually designing and delivering training programs and consulting in the area she had researched during her PhD.
Apart from a very supportive husband and understanding children, Janet highly valued the advice and mentoring she received from female academics. She continues to be mentored by managers experienced in start-ups who advise her on her business approach.
She also appreciates the value of networking, and “meeting people you don’t know as you’ll never know who you’ll meet, their background and eventually the value of reciprocity. I also use LinkedIn and Eventbrite as a great way to meet new people. I also contact friends of friends to avoid cold calling. If people find it difficult to attend networking events because of shyness, fear, or whatever, a strategy that can help is to ask a friend or colleague to accompany them.”
Janet Brady
Organisational Linguist , Professional Communication Expert
www.janetbrady.com
While at primary school, Janet underwent vocational guidance testing. The career advisers told her that ‘she could do anything’, which she now knows was pretty useless advice. A good student Janet, now 55, reflects on how she ended up building on her best high school subjects, undertaking a Bachelor of Arts followed by a Masters degree. Following a gap of three decades filled with work and child rearing, she then worked towards her PhD. After seven years of postgraduate study and research, she was then able to fully change careers.
Although equipped to choose a career in academia, Janet decided to take a different direction, eventually designing and delivering training programs and consulting in the area she had researched during her PhD.
Apart from a very supportive husband and understanding children, Janet highly valued the advice and mentoring she received from female academics. She continues to be mentored by managers experienced in start-ups who advise her on her business approach.
She also appreciates the value of networking, and “meeting people you don’t know as you’ll never know who you’ll meet, their background and eventually the value of reciprocity. I also use LinkedIn and Eventbrite as a great way to meet new people. I also contact friends of friends to avoid cold calling. If people find it difficult to attend networking events because of shyness, fear, or whatever, a strategy that can help is to ask a friend or colleague to accompany them.”
Janet Brady
Organisational Linguist , Professional Communication Expert
www.janetbrady.com
