The Career Doctor™

by Dr. Jacqueline Hornor Plumez

Looking for a first job? Thinking of changing careers? Facing a lay-off? The Career Doctor™ is a Larchmont psychologist specializing in career counseling. If you'd like to ask a question of your own, use the anonymous form, and she might answer you here. Read more about the Career Doctor here. Contact information is here.

DO YOU MAKE UP THESE QUESTIONS?

Dear Readers:

I am always pleased and gratified to have people tell me how much they enjoy the column. Sometimes they say that a particular answer helped them understand a situation they were facing, or helped a friend make a good decision. But often someone will ask, "Do you make the questions up?" So, in case you have wondered the same thing, here's the truth:

I have been writing career advice columns for 20 years -- for magazines, the Gannett newspaper chain and now for The Larchmont Gazette. That means I must have answered 800-1,000 questions. I consider myself creative and imaginative, but whoa -- it's hard enough coming up with all those answers. I could never have come up with all the questions too!

When I started writing this column for the Gazette, I wondered if there would be enough interest from Larchmont to keep it going. Much to everyone's surprise, the letters came streaming in, not just from Westchester County, but from all over the country and all around the globe! I've answered lots of questions from India, China, England, etc. It's always interesting to see how the cross-cultural names of the jobs or degrees may vary, but the issues and solutions are almost always the same.

The real question is, how do they find me? I just googled Career Advice and The Career Doctor didn't come up on the first two pages. But, dear readers, you have direct access. So know that if you send a question, it will find me and I will try to answer it unless I've answered a similar one recently -- or if it is one of my least favorite questions that keep cropping up like, "How much do physicians make?"

So the next time you read a column and wonder, did she make that up? Rest assured that it either came in the mail or from my practice. Send me a challenging question. I hope to have 800 more answers in me.

The Career Doctor

The Career Doctor™ is Larchmont psychologist and career counselor, Dr. Jacqueline Hornor Plumez.

Her office is at 90 Beechtree Drive in Larchmont, 914-834-1982.

For more information go to www.jacquelineplumez.com.