Advice To Jobseekers: Find A Job That’s Fun

By Kaaren Valenta

Michael Gness knew he wanted a career change, but he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do.

“My wife had the answer when we were sitting at the breakfast table one day,” Mr Gness said. “She pointed out that I really like investing, so I should find something to do in that area.”

That, Mr Gness said, is advice everyone should follow. Not a career in investments, but doing something that you really like.

“You have to have some passion for what you do,” he said. “A lot of jobs today aren’t fun.”

Mr Gness will speak on “Change Your Career and Change Your Life” at the Tuesday, March 14 meeting of the Newtown Jobseekers Support Group. The meeting will be held at 7:30 pm in the Monsignor Conroy Room at St Rose School. It is open to everyone who is seeking employment or considering a career change.

A resident of Westport, Mr Gness worked for MetLife for 18 years, helping major corporations throughout the United States design, finance and communicate their employee benefit plans. Most recently he was the marketing director for a survivorship program that included estate, financial, and retirement services, and, in the event of a death, survivorship services to help family members settle the estate.

Mr Gness holds a master’s degree in healthcare administration, but his career with MetLife changed as the company left the healthcare business to focus on financial services over the last decade.

“During the last few years my job involved a lot of travel, living out of hotels,” he said. “Now I get to sleep in my own bed, and I work seven miles from home.”

Mr Gness said he decided it was time to take control of his own “financial destiny.”

“I wanted to be more entrepreneurial, but I didn’t want to have to put up capital,” he said. “I did some research and changed by life by becoming the Fairfield representative for Edward Jones, one of the nation’s largest investment firms.”

Founded in 1871, the company is headquartered in St Louis, Missouri, and has more than 5,100 offices nationwide. It recently was ranked seventh in Fortune magazine’s 1999 “100 Best Companies To Work For In America,” Mr Gness said.

 “The Edward Jones philosophy is to provide personal service to individual investors and small businesses. Today, so much service is an 800-number – press 1 for this, press 2 for that – or by going online. But believe it or not, when it comes to their money, a lot of people want to know who has their hands on it.”

Meeting face-to-face with individual investors provides a job satisfaction that Michael Gness didn’t having working in the corporate world. But it also has required an entirely different mindset.

“You have to be extremely self-motivated to be an entrepreneur,” he said. “You can’t look for someone else to give you directions.  You must develop a business plan, execute it, do the marketing and selling, find the customers.”

There has been a significant shift in the job market during the past decade, he said.

“It used to be that employees relied on big corporations for their careers. Now we are becoming a nation of entrepreneurs. Job growth isn’t in large corporations. They are shrinking to maintain their competitiveness in the global economy.”

Mr Gness recommends that people who are considering a career change should know their own strengths.

“What are you really good at? If you have a unique strength or skill, how can you best apply it to your career?” he asked. “Find out what your alternatives are.”

Changing jobs and careers can be stressful but it is usually rewarding, he said.

“Change is good,” Mr Gness said. “You need to grow, learn, challenge yourself.”

The Jobseekers Support Group is facilitated by Bill Brimmer, a selectman in Newtown. Mr Brimmer is senior vice president and business manager for Manchester, Inc. of Norwalk, an outplacement firm.

For more information, call Mr Brimmer at 270-9885.