A few years ago, Alyson D’Alessandro decided it was time to really shake things up. She had recently gotten divorced and decided to move closer to her family. She didn’t need to change careers, but she wasn’t thrilled with her current position, and a new job opportunity at her alma mater opened. A bonus? Accepting the role meant moving closer to her family as well.
“Before taking this new job, I worked for a technology company on an educational project involving coding bootcamps. When that project was canceled, I worked as an admin for an engineering team,” D’Alessandro said.
This fifty-something-year-old has held a variety of jobs throughout her life, including journalist, magazine editor, layout designer, and multiple customer service and administrative roles.
Switching careers mid-stream
“I didn’t have to change careers,” she said, “but this opportunity came at the right time. Clemson University is my alma mater, and I’d always wanted to return and work here if I could find the right position.”
D’Alessandro had done similar work before. “My previous jobs required a lot of attention to detail, deadline management, developing relationships with colleagues, understanding different sets of rules, and the ability to complete complex applications requiring lots of documentation,” she said.
The biggest challenges she faced? Concern about the timing working out. “I started the job a week after I moved,” she said, “so I spent a lot of time organizing everything so I could start in the right mindset.”
She needed to learn several different software platforms specific to grant management. “I’m a visual/tactile learner and learn best by watching and doing,” she said. She spent several months having her work monitored and double-checked until she mastered the processes.
D’Alessandro didn’t need to take any specific steps to prepare for her new role as a grants coordinator in the university’s College of Agriculture, Forestry & Life Sciences. She plans to obtain a Certified Research Administrator (CRA) certification in 2026.
Biggest fears
Her biggest fear about changing careers now? Starting over at her age. “I had a one-year probationary period,” D’Alessandro said, “and I was worried about losing the job in that first year after making so many huge personal changes.”
Not a fear, but a definite difference compared to her other jobs was the age gap between D’Alessandro and her colleagues. “Almost all of them are younger than I, including my direct manager and my department director,” she said. “However, despite the decade-plus age gap, all but one of my colleagues have years of experience in this field. My department director is in her mid-40s but has nearly 12 years of grants experience.”
While she might be the oldest person in her department, D’Alessandro’s experience only makes the team stronger. “I’m one of the only people in the department with corporate job experience,” she said. “My four co-workers have spent their entire careers in academia, nonprofits, or small businesses, so they’ve never seen how large companies work. I also think that having 30 years of experience working in different fields for different people has increased my resiliency and adaptability.”
A new career’s rewards
Everyone who knows D’Alessandro understands how the job aligns with the skills she already has. And people were happy for her that she could return to North Carolina to work because they knew how big a part of her life Clemson has always been.
Although she has little to do with each grant’s actual substance, D’Alessandro derives great satisfaction from seeing a grant get awarded. “I think the best part is developing good relationships with the professors and researchers I work with,” she said. “Sometimes, they ask to work with me on a particular project, which doesn’t always happen because I have a pretty balanced workload, but it’s nice to be requested.”
She believes that everything worked out the best way it possibly could have.
Advice for other 50+ people considering a career change
“Don’t be afraid to do it,” said D’Alessandro. “If it’s something you think you’d enjoy, that fits your lifestyle or uses skills in which you have proficiency, go for it.”
D’Alessandro feels accomplished and proud of her contributions, which hasn’t always been the case in other jobs. “I feel like this position is the culmination of many of the skills I’ve collected over 30 years of work experience in multiple fields and industries,” she said.
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