Discovering The Mature Lifestyle
Bloomington man still works full-time, exercises at 92. Page 5
Careers
September 15, 2016
September Issue
Searching for work: ‘I just want to make a contribution…’ BY SUE WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER Mary Rieb e’s s even-page r esume includes her ha ving a mast er’s degr ee a nd Ph.D. degree in business; leadership, business a nd en trepreneurship exp erience; honors, gra nts a nd a wards; s eminar a nd speech p resentations a t w orkshops a nd conferences; and board memberships. The catch? She can’t find a job. Riebe, a r esident of M innetonka, g rew up a t a time w hen w omen’s c hoices w ere limited: you could be a n urse, a t eacher, a secretary, or you could join the military. “I wanted to be in business,” Riebe said. “I did temporary jobs at first.” Eventually, she was hir ed t o do p ublic relations for International Dairy Queen in 1972 and was p romoted to director at the age of 26. Then she was hired for a supervisory role at McDonald’s in 1979. Later, she was recruited in 1980 as a field marketing manager for Carlson Companies. Her next job was director of marketing at Davanni’s Restaurant Group from 1983-85. She thought about starting a consulting business. She visited an industrial psychologist and found she s cored high in t eaching at the university level. “I’d ne ver t hought a bout t eaching a t a uni versity,” she s aid. B ut she did s ome teaching in ma rketing management at the University of St. Thomas. “It was the hardest I’ve ever worked,” she said. She b ecame f ounding dir ector o f t he Center for Women Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurship Education at Metropolitan State University in M inneapolis f or t hree years. She als o was a t S outh C entral C ol-
Mary Riebe has two advanced degrees and a plethora of business and entrepreneurship experience. She’ s made numerous professional presenta tions and received multiple honors and a wards. No w she just needs a job. (Submitted photo) lege in M ankato, t eaching a ma rketing program. Then she decided t o get a Ph.D., which she did a t t he University C ollege C ork in
Ireland. The Ph.D . t hesis was t o b e 300 pages lo ng. “ I’m no t a r esearch wr iter; I like t o wr ite f or p leasure,” Rieb e s aid. “ I quit twice, but I came back to pursue it.” With Irish partners, she developed and operated a c ompany t hat o ffered walking tours of Ireland. Her st udies t here w ere “ a pa radigm shift,” she said. “I used my findings to implement a nd gr ow my b usiness,” Rieb e said. “I have a voice for women.” From 2005-08, she was ex ecutive director o f under graduate a nd grad uate business programs and a f ull professor of business a t Cha tham U niversity in P ittsburgh, a nd als o was f ounding dir ector o f the Center for Women’s Entrepreneurship at Chatham. By 2009, t he job ma rket was tig ht. “ I had a lot of contacts,” Riebe said. “I applied at more than 100 places in marketing, entrepreneurship a nd t eaching. I t hought I was well positioned.” Riebe had ho ped t o st art a cen ter f or entrepreneurship in M ankato. S he had a plan showing how the center could break even in two years. “My benefactor said the plan was o utstanding,” Riebe said. “It was my last hurrah.” When that job fell through, she put her Brainerd, Minn., home on the market and traveled the country, staying with friends. By t he time t he ho use s old, i t was do wn $300,000 in value, she said. In February, she received an email from a university in the West Indies, saying they had a professor’s position opening in marketing. The p osting was t o c lose in 24 ho urs. She applied for the job and flew to the West
Indies March 1 f or four days to interview and deliver a presentation. “I had a gr eat interview and I was t old the presentation was great, one of the best they’d ever seen,” she said. Five weeks went by, a nd t hen she was t old t hey’d s elected another candidate. “This has no t b een a f un journey,” she said. “I’ve b een told t hat it’s not my fault, that th is i s wh at h appens wi th a t errible economy. I got caught in the middle.” She c laims she has a pplied f or a t le ast 150 different jobs. But, according to Riebe, the unemployment rate for people in their 60s stands at 37 percent. “We’re just really ignored, even though we’re competent,” she said. “It’s depressing. There a re a lo t o f p eople lik e me , b ut no one talks about it. I’m qualified. I just want to do something to make a contribution.” In a w orld o f a utomation, she no tes that t he entire application p rocess o ccurs online. The same form is to be filled out, whether y ou’re a pplying t o b e a co ok o r president of a company. “The cover letter is read by a computer,” she said. “There is no ac knowledgment of receipt of an application.” Riebe, w ho is sin gle a nd t he s ole su pport for hers elf, s aid she no w is liv ing off the kindness of friends and Social Security. “I have good friends who support and believe in me,” she said. She fills pa rt o f h er tim e b y takin g a n impressionistic painting class. Her message to employers is this: “Don’t discriminate against someone in their 60s. That issue is not being addressed. It’s really a tragedy of t alent. We have a gr eat work ethic.”