 News and Observer - January 4, 2004, by Karin Rives
Armed
with a degree in chemistry from N.C. State University, Cathy Dyer threw
herself into the lucrative and very volatile pharmaceutical industry in
1996.
She was soon
earning more than $100,000 annually selling equipment to biotech
research companies nationwide. Headhunters kept calling, recruiting her
to ever-better assignments.
In less than eight years, Dyer worked for five
different companies, barely avoiding the ax as employers in the
industry merged and acquired, hired and fired. It was a whirlwind tour
with, it seemed, an inevitable outcome.
"I watched so many of my colleagues and our
bosses lose their jobs," she said. "Sometimes it was for political
reasons and sometimes for economic reasons. And then -- bingo -- it was
my time."
That was in April of last year. For the first time in her professional
life, Dyer couldn't find a job in her field. At 35, the divorced mother
of three applied for unemployment benefits and began to reconsider her
career.
She had toyed with the idea of selling real estate before, but knew it
was a risky field that would yield just gradual profits for newcomers.
Dyer decided to take the plunge anyway, earning her real estate license
in September. She is now an independent contractor with York Simpson
Underwood Realtors in Cary, not far from her home in Apex.
"I worry, absolutely," she said. "And my poor kids this Christmas got virtually nothing."
But there's some good news, too. On Dec. 19, Dyer closed on her first
house, a three-bedroom home in Holly Springs. She received a check for
$1,988.50 from the sale last week -- about what she used to earn in a
week.
A typical real estate agent makes less than $15,000 the first year, she
knows. But once she gets her name out and begins to build a track
record, Dyer believes she will land on her feet. Until then, she's
dipping into retirement savings and cutting back to get by.
Like many workers discarded by corporate America in recent years, Dyer
has become disenchanted with the way businesses recruit and downsize
with little regard for the lives involved.
"It'll be better this time, because this time I'll work for myself,"
she said. "This business is my business and nobody else can decide
things for me."
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