Rob Ridlehoover

Rob’s Career Guide — Finding the Next Ten Years

Written: September 2026 · For: Rob Ridlehoover · Prepared with: Tracy

This is a map, not a to-do list. It lays out the kinds of work that fit you, what they pay around Columbus, which ones come with benefits, and how to tell a good fit from a bad one before you’re in it. Read it once all the way through, then come back to whichever track catches your attention.

Pay figures are from salary sites in 2026 (sources at the end). They’re ballparks to sort options, not promises. Always check the posting.

1. What you actually bring

Your old résumé says “Sr B2B Migration Project Lead.” That’s accurate, and it hides almost everything a new employer would want to know. Here’s what those 27 years really were:

You were the calm, trusted person in the middle of someone else’s stressful change. Customers were moving their business-critical data to a new network. You were their main contact before, during and after. You ran the weekly calls, explained a technical process in plain English, wrote the emails and surveys that got hundreds of their partners to act, and reported where things stood. You kept it organized so they didn’t have to.

That is client relationships, project coordination, clear writing and reassurance under pressure. Those skills travel to almost any organization.

And that’s only the IBM part. Add what you’ve done around it:

What you do What an employer hears
Talk to anyone and make a real connection Relationship building, customer and community engagement
Compassionate, want to help people solve problems Patient/member/guest experience, problem resolution
Journalism degree, the go-to editor friends call for articles and important letters Writing, editing, proofreading, communications
Photograph people and homes; expert in Lightroom and Photoshop Photography, photo editing, visual content
Office coordinator at a photography studio: scheduling, helping renters with their projects Scheduling, front-of-house operations, client support
Built websites in HTML, CSS and Squarespace Website updates, content management, digital skills
Organized, great with spreadsheets and Word Tracking, reporting, documentation
Reliable and punctual The thing every hiring manager is actually worried about
Loves trivia, follows current events Curious, well-informed, easy to talk to (and a good side gig, see §8)

Your archetype: the connector

You aren’t a salesperson and you aren’t a back-office specialist. You’re the person who makes the experience go well for other people, the one who answers the question, smooths the problem, writes the clear note and remembers the follow-up. The best roles for you put that at the center of the job and don’t measure it in dollars closed.

2. What you’re looking for (the filters)

Every option below is checked against these:

  1. Not commission- or lead-driven. Adjacent to sales is fine (helping customers, supporting a team), but your pay doesn’t depend on closing.
  2. Helps people in a way you can see.
  3. Room for creativity: writing, photos, design, or solving problems your own way.
  4. Benefits, especially health insurance (see §3).
  5. Reasonable pay for about ten more years of work.
  6. Not big-corporate. Nonprofit, public, education, healthcare, small business, or a small team inside a larger place.

3. The benefits question — the real constraint

For most people in their last working decade, health insurance until Medicare at 65 is worth more than a few thousand dollars of salary. Plan around it.

Why it matters more in 2026. The extra federal help for marketplace (Healthcare.gov) plans ended on December 31, 2025. For 2026 the old income cap is back: earn one dollar over about $62,600 for a single person or $84,600 for a couple and the premium credit disappears entirely. An employer plan avoids that problem.

Some good employers give benefits at part-time hours. For example, the Columbus Metropolitan Library offers medical coverage to employees working 20 or more hours a week. Universities and public employers often have similar thresholds. Always ask: “What’s the minimum weekly hours for health benefits?”

Public employers come with a pension (OPERS). Jobs at the State, the City of Dublin, Ohio State, public libraries and school districts in non-teaching roles usually go through the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System instead of Social Security. What that means for you:

Bottom line: a $50K job at a public or nonprofit employer with good insurance and a pension can beat a $60K job with no benefits.

4. Track A — Helping people directly

The premise: your best trait is making people feel looked after. These roles are built around exactly that.

A1. Patient experience / patient liaison (hospitals)

You help patients and families navigate the hospital, handle concerns, collect feedback and fix problems before they become complaints. Compassion and calm are the job.

A2. Volunteer coordinator / community engagement

You recruit, schedule, train and thank volunteers, and you are the friendly face of the organization. It’s scheduling and spreadsheets plus people, which is your whole skill set.

A3. Library and visitor services

Helping the public find what they need, running programs and events. Your love of trivia and current events is an asset here, not a hobby.

A4. Program coordinator (university or college)

You keep a program running: schedule people and rooms, answer students and the public, write the emails and newsletters, track things in spreadsheets.

5. Track B — Words and pictures

The premise: you have a journalism degree, a good eye and real editing skill. Plenty of mission-driven organizations need exactly one person like that.

B1. Communications coordinator / specialist

Write the newsletter and social posts, edit what others write, take the photos at events, keep the website up to date. This is the role that uses almost everything you listed in one job.

B2. Marketing coordinator for a real estate brokerage or home builder

You’d produce listing materials, coordinate photographers (or be one), write property descriptions and update the website. Salaried, not commissioned.

B3. Photo editor / photographer on staff

6. Track C — Real estate, without the selling

The premise: you already understand real estate from behind the camera. Agents badly need organized, reliable people who aren’t competing with them.

C1. Transaction coordinator

You manage the paperwork, deadlines and communication between agents, clients, lenders and title from contract to closing. Salaried or per-file, not commission-driven. Organized, punctual, great on email: that’s the job description.

C2. Listing or marketing coordinator for a real estate team

Similar to B2, often with photography included. Schedules the photographer, writes the listing, preps the materials.

C3. Your own real estate photography

This site is already being built for your work. It’s a strong side income or a portfolio that helps you land C1, C2 or B2. It won’t carry benefits by itself.

7. Track D — The bridge (highest pay, closest to your old job)

The premise: you spent 27 years onboarding business customers. Smaller companies value that and will pay for it, without a sales quota.

D1. Customer onboarding / implementation coordinator

Guide new customers through setup, run their kickoff and status calls, answer their questions, report progress. That’s exactly what you did at IBM, just at a smaller, friendlier company.

Keep this track as a fallback. If the others pay too little or the benefits don’t work, D1 is where your résumé is strongest.

8. Side work you’d enjoy

None of these carry benefits, but they add income and keep things fun:

9. Ruled out

10. How to decide

You don’t have to pick a track before you start. Apply to the three or four postings that make you think “I’d actually like that,” and have coffee with people who do the job. Two or three conversations will tell you more than this document.

Questions to ask in every interview:

  1. “What’s the minimum weekly hours for health insurance?”
  2. “Is any part of the pay tied to sales, renewals or quotas?”
  3. “What does a normal week look like?” (Listen for how much of it is people versus paperwork.)
  4. “Who would I be helping, and how would I know I’d done it well?”
  5. “Is there room to write, take photos or improve how things are done?”

11. Getting ready

Résumé and cover letter. Your updated résumé and a cover letter template are on the private page Tracy shares with you. The résumé now leads with your skills and your current work, and puts IBM in the context of what you actually did. Tailor the top summary line and the cover letter to each job.

A few résumé choices, and why:

Where your photography shows up. Your photos are what set you apart, so they get their own space instead of being squeezed onto the résumé. Once your site has your own work on its final web address, your printed résumé will get a small “Portfolio” QR code, and you’ll have a one-page portfolio sheet with four to six of your best shots.

Which version to send:

LinkedIn. Your headline is what recruiters search. Something like: Client Relationships & Communications | Writer, Editor & Photographer | Project Coordination Add skills: Client Relations, Project Coordination, Editing, Photography, Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, Scheduling, Customer Experience.

Portfolio. Your real estate photography site doubles as a portfolio for Tracks B and C. Link it on LinkedIn once it’s live.

Searches to save (Indeed, LinkedIn, and the employers’ own sites):

"patient experience" OR "patient liaison" — Columbus, 25 mi
"volunteer coordinator" OR "community engagement" — Columbus, 25 mi
"communications coordinator" OR "communications specialist" — Columbus (exclude: sales)
"transaction coordinator" real estate — Columbus
"program coordinator" — Ohio State, Columbus State
"onboarding specialist" OR "implementation coordinator" — remote (exclude: quota, commission)

Check employer career pages directly. Many jobs never show up on LinkedIn: OhioHealth, OSU (jobs.osu.edu), Nationwide Children’s, Columbus Metropolitan Library, City of Dublin, Dublin City Schools, Columbus State, Columbus Zoo, Mid-Ohio Food Collective.

12. Things to confirm

These will sharpen the résumé and this guide:

Sources