Career Options
One-week job hunter wets his whistleIn the last six months, Sean Aiken has embarked on more jobs than most people can expect to have in a lifetime — snowshoeing guide, florist, dairy farmer and yoga instructor, among others. On Monday, he goes to work at a brewery. By KAREN PINCHIN |
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 [ 2007-07-31 ] |
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Steam Whistle Brewing is opening its doors to 25-year-old Sean Aiken and his One Week Job project. Starting on July 30, 2007, Aiken will kick off his first visit to Toronto with a job at the Roundhouse, home of Steam Whistle Brewing, and a chance to try out a week in the life of a Good Beer Folk. (TORONTO SUN/Michael Peake)
Not exactly the sort of resume one might expect from a class valedictorian who graduated from university in 2005 with a degree in business administration and a perfect-grade point average — the sort of pedigree that creates high expectations of success.
“Coming out of school, I felt the pressure; everyone was like, ’What’s Sean going to do with his life?” the 25-year-old said in an interview.
“Basically, when it comes down to it, I think I was scared. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do.”
So, instead of choosing one career, he opted for all of them.
With a pack on his back and a website designed to accept job offers, Aiken decided to spend every week for a year working different jobs, the proceeds of his labours going towards the Make Poverty History campaign.
So far, he said he’s earned about $7,000 to help fight child poverty in Canada, and his employers have tax receipts and some free publicity. What’s more, Aiken — a resident of Port Moody, B.C. — may have found a career in and of itself.
His website, www.oneweekjob.com, has been revamped to host a streaming web-based television show that gets underway Aug. 8, and Aiken also finds himself contributing a regular column on careers to a major daily Canadian newspaper.
“I’m not trying to champion the cause of child poverty in Canada, but this is also an ideal situation,” said Aiken, who’s hoping to write a book to help high school students decide what they want to do with their lives.
“A mistake a lot of people make is that they choose an end title,” he said.
“Doctor, teacher, lawyer, what have you. You get there, but you don’t actually think about the characteristics that make that career. And when you get there, you don’t like it.”
As he hitchhiked across the country, spending his nights in the homes of perfect strangers who welcomed him in and taking on jobs he never expected, Aiken said he found many people his age drawing inspiration from his search.
“I get a lot of e-mails from people in my generation who say, ’Sean, I know exactly what you’re doing,”’ he said. His quest spurred one girl to quit her job and follow her ‘passion,’ he added.
Aiken’s next job, at Steam Whistle Brewing, a Toronto brewery, gets underway Monday. While he’ll be staying at the home of Cam Heaps, the company’s president, Aiken said he’s not sure if the job comes with free beer.
With many more jobs to go, he said he’s trying to help his generation deal with how to reconcile their views on personal success with their dreams of making a difference.
“We’re more aware of how we impact others. It’s looking for a career situation that in which we can be happy and be passionate about, but also how we are contributing to something bigger than ourselves,” he said.
“It’s totally cheesy. But I think cliches become cliches for a reason.”
For now, Aiken said he will continue trying to reconcile his dreams with making a difference with his search for the perfect job.
“My friends are always saying that I live in the clouds,” he said.
“I think my goal is to stay in the clouds.”
Would you ever work for a social or charitable enterprise in the third sector?