Mid-Career Momentum - WACAC SLC
WACAC NorCal SLC
Session A | 10:15–11:00 AM
Santa Clara University

Mid-Career Momentum

Creating Room to Bloom in the Middle Seasons of Counseling

Margaret Rothe
WACAC SIG Leader: Mid-Career College Counselors & Professionals

Naming the Middle

Show of hands...

  • Who here has been in counseling 8+ years?
  • Who feels more competent than ever — and also more tired?
  • Who is asking quietly, "What's next for me?"
Mid-career is not a plateau.
It is not burnout by default.
It is a decision point.

The Middle Is Not a Plateau

Mid-career is a unique season with its own gifts and challenges

  • Deep expertise and strong institutional memory
  • Increased invisible labor and complex responsibilities
  • Growing ethical complexity in admissions landscape
  • Reduced novelty, increased responsibility
  • Quiet questions about relevance and sustainability

Professional Seasons

  • Season of Building: Proving competence, learning systems
  • Season of Stabilizing: Finding rhythm, developing expertise
  • Season of Scaling: Taking on leadership, mentoring others
  • Season of Redesign: Creating sustainable impact
What season are you actually in — not what your title says?

Deep Roots / New Questions

Early career= proving competence

Late career= legacy

Mid-career= recalibration

The Mid-Career Paradox

We know more than ever — and question more than ever

We're trusted with complexity — and tired of it

We're asked to lead — while still learning

Creating Room to Bloom

Space

Mid-career professionals must intentionally create:

  • Space for reflection
  • Space for strategic skill growth
  • Space for professional identity beyond daily caseload
Where is your margin?

The Bloom Plan

Four Elements for Mid-Career Growth:

  • One area to protect(energy boundary)
  • One area to grow(skill or leadership)
  • One relationship to cultivate(peer support)
  • One measurable marker of impact

Balance structure and creativity — don't choose between them

Measuring Impact Beyond Title

Mid-career growth requires measurement that is not title-based:

  • Student outcomes beyond admissions
  • Counselor satisfaction metrics
  • Ethical clarity in complex situations
  • Leadership contributions to profession
  • Committee or SIG participation

Why Community Matters

Mid-career professionals do not need more credentials.
We need calibrated community.
  • WACAC Mid-Career SIG — peer support and resources
  • Point of View Survey — understanding our collective needs
  • Pasadena 2026 — Room to Bloom conference session

What's Next

Join the Mid-Career Community:

  • Join our SIG — Mid-Career College Counselors & Professionals
  • Take the survey — share your mid-career experience
  • Pasadena 2026 — May 20-22, continued momentum session
  • Consider co-leading — we need your expertise
If early career is about becoming,
and late career is about legacy,
mid-career is about alignment.

Let's Talk

Discussion Prompts:

  • What is the hardest part of mid-career right now?
  • Where are you feeling stuck?
  • What would "room to bloom" look like in your role?

Time for Q&A and peer connection

1 / 11