Profile: A Great Job, But Training For A New Career

Kelli Campbell has found a sweet spot. As a Web administrator at a large financial services company, she's a liaison between IT and marketing, a business and technology combo that gives her more security and pay than relying on pure IT skills. "If I were just doing HTML coding, I wouldn't feel as secure," Campbell says. Campbell estimates that if she had only Web technology skills such as HTML, she would make $35,000 to $40,000, while her business knowledge and people skills help her garner $52,000 year. The job also gives her flexibility to leave the office in the afternoon to care for three young children and finish up her work in the evening and on weekends. But as much as she likes her job, Campbell worries it's the exception. "There are only so many of those kinds of jobs to go around," she says. That's why she's looking several years down the road to what she calls a "midlife, second-career plan." Campbell is giving herself five years to go back to school, after which she'd like to graduate with a master's degree in library science. "Even though the pay is lower, it's a field I've been interested in," she says. Plus, it's a field that increasingly needs a tech touch, she says, "so that's experience that I can bring." Return to main story, You Vs. Offshoring