Sometimes the path to a fulfilling career doesn’t look anything like the one you originally imagined. For Michelle Howard, that path began on a small farm in Michigan, continued through a decade with the United States Postal Service, and eventually led to a career in Human Resources and Civil Service with the City of Oneonta.

Growing up on a small farm, Michelle developed an early love of writing. That passion led her to Grand Valley State University, where she earned a degree in Writing with a minor in English, originally hoping to become a published author. After graduation, she moved to Oneonta, NY and continued pursuing a creative career—but, like many of us, she needed a “day job” along the way.

That day job turned into a ten-year career with USPS, where she worked as a front-window clerk and later became a certified trainer and instructor in Albany. While the job wasn’t necessarily part of her original plan, she discovered something along the way that would eventually shape her career: she genuinely enjoyed helping people.

“Whether it was answering questions, helping someone navigate a situation, or simply being someone they could come to,” she explains, “I found that supporting others was the part of my work that meant the most to me.”

That realization ultimately helped guide her toward Human Resources.

In September 2024, Michelle joined the City of Oneonta as a Human Resources Specialist, finding a role that allowed her to combine her passion for helping others with the opportunity to serve the community she calls home. Her work encompasses a wide range of responsibilities, from employee insurance and benefits questions and recruitment to preparing for exams and modifying or writing job specifications.

The variety has kept her learning—and growing.

That growth was recently recognized when the City’s Civil Service Commission appointed her Acting Civil Service Secretary when the Secretary is unavailable. She describes it as one of her greatest accomplishments with Oneonta because it reflects just how much she has learned about Civil Service and the trust she has earned along the way.

She has also supported several employee sick leave programs, including the Police, Fire, and Administrative sick banks, as well as the CSEA On-Demand Sick Leave Donation Program. For her, these responsibilities represent more than additional duties—they are evidence of an evolving career and the confidence others have placed in her.

And if there is one lesson her journey has taught her, it is that you don’t have to know everything to be good at what you do.

“Being great at my job does not mean that I know everything,” she says. “Being great means knowing when I need to ask questions and seek advice.”

That mindset has made her resourceful and has helped her embrace the learning process that comes with working in Civil Service. When she was new to the field, she made a point of being a sponge—attending conferences, engaging with the NYSAPCSO listserv, networking with other professionals, and learning from the experience of those around her.

Her advice to anyone new to Civil Service is simple:

“It is really okay not to know something. You don’t have to (and you won’t) know everything in a week, or a month, or even a year.”

Stay curious, listen, and ask tons of questions.

Outside of work, her creative side is still very much alive. She continues to write creatively, entering contests and sharing her work with friends and family. She also has an especially unique collection: vintage typewriters, ranging from machines dating back to the late 1880s to her “newest” one, made in 1982.

When she’s not writing or admiring vintage typewriters, she enjoys the outdoors with her husband. Paddle boarding, fishing, and hiking are all favorite ways to spend time outside. Home life is just as lively, with two dogs, three cats, and a pet parrot making up what she affectionately describes as her small zoo.

Looking back at her journey—from a Michigan farm, to writing, to the Postal Service, and ultimately to Human Resources and Civil Service—it is clear that her career didn’t follow a straight line. Instead, each experience brought something valuable to the next.

And perhaps that’s what makes her story such a great reminder for all of us: sometimes the career we end up loving isn’t the one we planned for. Sometimes, it is the one we discover along the way.

For Michelle, that discovery has led to a career centered on something she found she valued all along—helping people.

Her passion extends beyond simply filling positions, too. She believes Civil Service has an incredible variety of careers to offer, and she would love to see more outreach and education about public service in high schools, colleges, trade schools, and military transition programs.

“Recruitment isn’t just about filling the vacancy,” she says. “It’s about helping people realize that there is a place for their skills in public service that they may have never considered before.”

And for someone who once took a “day job” while pursuing another dream, that’s a pretty fitting perspective.

Sometimes, you don’t find your path all at once.

Sometimes, you find it one question, one opportunity, and one new experience at a time.