Secretary meets director after a filling meal - it's a good start to a career (6,3)
I believe the answer is:
launch pad
'a good start to a career' is the definition.
(something which initiates someone's career)
'secretary meets director after a filling meal' is the wordplay.
'secretary' becomes 'pa' (I've seen this in other clues).
'meets' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'director' becomes 'd'.
'after' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'a filling meal' becomes 'launch' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'pa'+'d' is 'pad'.
'pad' put after 'launch' is 'LAUNCH PAD'.
'it's' is the link.
(Other definitions for launch pad that I've seen before include "explorer's starting place" , "Good place to begin" , "Structure on which a rocket sits" , "that's a good start" , "Where to use rocket" .)