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Not ten things. Not a hundred. One. Register with staffing agencies. They're free, they place career changers like you into corporate operations roles, and they break the catch-22 of needing corporate experience to get corporate experience.
You're not starting over. You've been running operations for 20 years—vendors, logistics, teams, budgets, compliance across five sites. The corporate world does the exact same thing. They just use different words for it. Below: the words, and the one phone call that changes everything.
Step 1 — Takes 2 Minutes
When the staffing agency asks "tell me about yourself"—or anyone asks, ever—this is what you say. Read it once. Say it out loud. Done.
Memorize this I've spent 20 years running multi-site operations—vendors, logistics, budgets, and staff across five locations at once. Most recently I've been running popup dining programs inside Fortune 500 corporate offices, working alongside their facilities teams and operating to their SLAs and vendor standards. I'm fully bilingual in English and Spanish. I'm looking for an operations coordinator or facilities coordinator role where I can bring that same discipline into a corporate environment.
While you're at it, update your LinkedIn headline to:
Operations Coordinator | 20 Years Multi-Site Management | Vendor & Logistics | Bilingual EN/ES
Step 2 — Do This Today
It's free. They match you with contract-to-hire roles (3–6 months). Company likes you? They hire you permanently. You get paid the whole time. And you get "corporate operations" on your resume—which changes everything.
DC-Baltimore metro presence. Specializes in admin, operations, and project coordinator placements—exactly the target roles. Apply at addisongroup.com.
Baltimore office on Exeter St. Places admin, operations, and coordinator roles. Good for mid-size companies.
Baltimore office. Healthcare, biotech, logistics, government contracting. Strong DC-Baltimore pipeline.
1
Copy the headline above. Paste it in. Remove "restaurant" and "hospitality" from your profile. Takes 5 minutes.
Free
2
Walk in or apply online. Bring a baseline resume—rough is fine, they'll reformat it. Use your pitch when they ask about your background. Then follow up with your recruiter every 7–10 days if you don't hear back. All free.
Free
3
Be specific: "operations coordinator," "facilities coordinator," "vendor management coordinator," or "site coordinator." These titles match your experience exactly. Baltimore or DC area. $50K–$70K range.
FreeThat's It
Memorize the pitch. Register with the three agencies. While they work on matching you, apply directly on LinkedIn and Indeed for "operations coordinator" and "facilities coordinator" roles in parallel—even one application a day. The goal is six months of corporate operations on your resume. That's what changes the conversation.
Expect slow weeks. Follow up with your recruiter every 7–10 days. The persistence is the job.
If You Want More
Don't read these now. Come back when you're discouraged, or when you land an interview. They'll be here.
When You're Discouraged
The two-step plan above looks clean. Here's what it actually feels like: you're going to wait. The agency will say "we'll be in touch" and you'll wonder if anything is happening. You're going to get interviews where someone 15 years younger asks you to explain what a KPI is. You're going to feel like a fraud using words like "logistics" and "operations management" even though that's literally what you do.
This is normal. Mid-career transitions like this often take 3–6 months, and agencies may take 6–12 weeks to surface a good match. Don't take the silence personally—keep checking in with your recruiter every 7–10 days. Persistence wins.
The first role might pay the same as what you earn now. That's okay. You're not buying a paycheck, you're buying a new career trajectory. Coordinator roles in this market typically move into the $65–80K range within 2–3 years of solid corporate experience, and the ceiling keeps climbing as you specialize. That's why you make the move.
Show up. Follow up. Give it 90 days before you judge whether it's working. Do the things above and keep doing them. That's the job.
When You Land An Interview
"Why are you leaving hospitality?"
Don't say burned out or hate the hours (even if true). Say: "I've spent 20 years building operational skills—vendor management, multi-site logistics, team leadership. I'm ready to apply those skills in a corporate environment where I can grow long-term."
"You don't have corporate experience."
"For the past several years my clients have been Fortune 500 facilities teams. I ran popup dining programs inside their buildings, working alongside their ops and facilities staff every day—to their SLAs, their vendor contracts, their compliance standards. I've been operating inside the corporate environment; I just wore a different badge. I'm ready to wear yours."
"Tell me about a time you..."
Use STAR: Situation, Task, Action, Result. Keep it to 90 seconds. Always include a number (5 sites, 15 vendors, $X budget, 20 staff). Numbers make stories real.