Career Options Magazine

Consultant, CentrePoint

Calgary, Alberta

Education

• Bachelor of Commerce, Major in Entrepreneurship and Innovation
  University of Calgary, 2004

Career Path

If Janelle Woo had let other people define her career path, you’d be calling her Dr. Woo today. Janelle’s parents wanted her to follow in her older brothers’ footsteps and become a dentist. With that in mind, she enrolled in a Bachelor of Science at the University of Calgary after graduating from high school. But just one semester in, she knew it wasn’t for her. “I didn’t like it and I didn’t do very well,” she says. Janelle switched to a business program, where she found an instant improvement. “Business was a lot more fun and I ended up studying harder and got better grades, so it worked out for the better.”

She ended up enrolling in the university’s co-operative education program, which gave her the opportunity to travel across the country and earn money while still in school. Her work took her to Industry Canada in Ottawa, where she spent eight months as an international business development assistant. Janelle enjoyed the government experience—especially the opportunity it gave her to participate in the 2002 G8 Summit. But when she completed her studies in 2004, she wasn’t sure if it was what she wanted to do with her degree. So she applied for a one-year working visa through the Student Work Abroad Program (SWAP) and boarded a plane to Scotland.

“A lot of people were saying that travelling gives you perspective,” says Janelle. “It gave me a bit of perspective, but more than that it gave me a lot of confidence in life. You show up with no job, no friends and a bit of money, and you acquire all that stuff and more.” She found a flat in Scotland and settled into her life there, working various administrative positions through a temp agency.

When she moved back to Canada in 2005, she was still searching for the job that fit. She loved shopping, so she decided to join an executive training program at a major retail corporation in Toronto, hoping to become a buyer. Janelle had been lured in by what she thought sounded like a glamorous position. But in the end, she was underwhelmed by the company dynamics. “That’s kind of when I learned the lesson that… as much as you may like the job description, the organizational culture and environment play just as big a part (in finding job satisfaction),” she says.

Janelle stayed with the executive training program, but moved back to Calgary once it was completed in 2006. She spent the next year working different jobs—including project coordinator for the Petroleum Human Resources Council of Canada (Petroleum HR Council)—getting a taste of what work was like in various sectors. “It was really interesting because I’d worked for government and a for-profit organization, and with the Petroleum HR Council I got to work for a not-for-profit,” she says.

Nine months later, though, Janelle was still looking for her dream job. After a short stint as a process management consultant for a private sector company, she returned to temp work—something she learned to value during her time in Scotland. Before going overseas, she says, “I had the perception that I’m too good for temping. But you know, when you think you’re too good for six months, your bank account really suffers… Temping does not define who you are. It’s a good way to make money, try different things, maybe get a foot in the door.”

That’s certainly the way things played out for Janelle. Bowen, the temp agency she worked with in Calgary, was also in the business of finding permanent job placements. After Janelle had proven herself to be a strong worker, the agency called her one day and told her about an opening for a business analyst at CentrePoint, a charitable organization that provides management support and services to Calgary’s non-profit sector. Suddenly, everything clicked into place for Janelle. “It took my fiancé at the time to say to me, ‘You know, I think you really need to be in a place where you can help people,’” she says. “That’s when I realized that what really motivates me is helping others. When (Bowen) said there was a job opening at a charitable organization, I thought, ‘This could be really good.’”

Janelle won the job in May 2008 and has been with CentrePoint ever since. She’s thriving in an organization that, she says, encourages learning and is willing to take a chance on its employees. As an internal consultant, she learned most of what she does today on the job. “Initially, I was hired as a business analyst,” she says. “I still do some of that work, but my organization’s been nice enough to take risks and wants me to develop, so I’ve grown into this position, which is great. (CentrePoint) was willing to mentor and train me.”

Although Janelle isn’t working in commerce, she says her degree laid the foundation for what she does today. “I don’t go around toting… the things you have to memorize for exams,” she says. “But I remember basic things, like market segmentation and that you can’t be everything to everyone. (When you enter the workforce), you can see how these things work in real life, and those are the kind of lessons that make sense and stay with you.”

Now happily married, Janelle plans on staying with CentrePoint for the foreseeable future. She’s grateful to have found a position where she feels settled and looks forward to going to work every day. But she wouldn’t change the path it took to get there. When she was struggling to find herself after university, friends and family advised her not to focus on finding the perfect career. “These days, nobody really finds the right career and just stays with it from day one,” she says. “People morph, they want to do something else; things change with priorities. I used to be really embarrassed about my résumé because I had switched so many times. But now I see that I had set a personal standard. I was ready to accept that things weren’t going to be perfect all the time. But I also knew I wasn’t going to settle.”

Best Advice
“One of the things I would have done differently is to actually look inside myself and be honest with myself about my strengths, weaknesses and interests. You kind of don’t realize what your strengths are and don’t really admit what your weaknesses are. You think your interests are pretty generic, but they’re not. Something that would have helped me before was to do the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, or other personality or interests tests, and evaluate where my values are. And then do some research into different opportunities. So many of the jobs that I had, I didn’t realize they even existed. I had no idea I could do consulting for charity! And now I’m at my dream job.”