Brian Kurth - Test-Drive Your Dream Job: A Step-by-Step Guide to Finding and Creating the Work You Love

The names of certain persons and some personal details about them have been changed in order to protect their privacy.

Copyright 2008 by Brian Kurth

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Will Wiebes method, on pages 174176, has been adapted from I have something to discern, Personalite et Relations Humaines (PRH) International, 1996, Methodical Personal Formation Program, #6, Copyright 1996 PRH International. Adapted with permission.

Business Plus

Hachette Book Group

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New York, NY 10017

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Business Plus is an imprint of Grand Central Publishing.

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First eBook Edition: January 2008

ISBN: 978-0-446-51119-3

This book will show you how to test-drive your dream job by creating a VocationVacation of your own. It will show you how to find a mentor, how to prepare for the vocation, and most important, what to do once the vocationing is over. It will map out the small steps you can take to move from where you are now to where you want to be.

Along the way youll meet lots of people who have done itthe former real estate agent who opened her own clothing boutique, the former therapist who became an airline pilot, the architect and air traffic controller who together opened an artisan bread bakery. Youll hear from them and many others about the fears and challenges, the mistakes and lucky breaks, and the surprises and accomplishments they experienced.

You dont have to be a risk-taker or a Type-A personality to turn your dream of rewarding work into a reality. All you need is the desire to change, patience, and a little help from TEST-DRIVE YOUR DREAM JOB.

Brian Kurth

Vocationing works! Heres the proof:

The experience of a lifetime!

Connie Madison, horse trainer vocationer, Roseville, MN

How do you thank someone who has changed your life for the better? My winemaker mentorship did just that and opened my eyes to what the reality of my life can and will be!

Brenda DiMuro, winemaker vocationer, Seattle, WA

VocationVacations gives our members a chance to test-drive a vocational interest before they jump in and leave their current job. It perfectly fits our members need to investigate and evaluate.

Kathi Jones, executive director, Microsoft Alumni Network

Becoming a baker seems doable to me now!

Lea Chadwell, baker vocationer, Winston-Salem, NC

I have a passion for taking a different look at my life (yes, even at seventy years old!) because of my vocationing experience.

Jim Franklin, brewmaster vocationer, Port Townsend, WA

Thanks to my vocationing experience in 2005, I am pleased to report I have taken the plunge and now work as a full-time professional photographer!

Dan Chaffee, photographer vocationer, Kansas City, MO

VocationVacations has helped me make the move from being a happy enough international banker to a really, really happy dog trainer. I still cant help but smile when I say that... Theres just no way I would have had the imagination or the courage to make this shift had it not been for the experience of VocationVacations and the encouragement of the mentors and the career coach I worked with through VocationVacations.

David Ryan, dog trainer vocationer, Rye, NH

After spending two days with my mentor, I decided to pursue my dream job as a concierge. I did it! Ive now transitioned from the music industry to the hospitality industry. This is an example of what a VocationVacation can do to help pave the way.

Corazon Chacon, hotelier vocationer, New York, NY

I see the starting point for my dream now and the process necessary to get it going!

John Lenzi, restaurateur vocationer, Bronx, NY

My mentorship was an incredible career-immersion experience. I can think of no better gift for the new graduate, the retiree, or anyone contemplating a midlife career course correction!

Sue Burton Kirdahy, TV producer vocationer, Boston, MA

To my parents, Harold (Hub) and Evelyn Kurth, who inspired us to dream and gave us the love and encouragement to make those dreams real.

It has taken the proverbial village to develop this book, the VocationVacations company, and the vocationing process. Sadly, I cannot acknowledge everyone individually. I can, however, thank those who have offered the biggest contributions.

First and foremost, a huge thanks goes out to the VocationVacations mentors all across the United States who prove daily that the vocationing process is viable, powerful, and effective. Mentors lovingly give their time, energy, and commitment to help others take their first step toward changing their lives by exploring their dream jobs. I offer special thanks to Myron Redford at Amity Vineyards in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, who was the very first mentor to sign up with me in 2003, a full six months prior to the companys introduction. Myron saw the vision and trusted this dot-com refugee to pull it off, and is still mentoring today. To the hundreds of other mentors who have followed Myron, I thank you for your passion and commitment to the vocationing process.

To our rapidly growing number of clients (vocationers), thank you! Build VocationVacations and they will come was my motto when I launched the company as a hobby business in January 2004. And come they did! Special thanks to Gail Haskett for booking the very first VocationVacation in March 2004 (a brewmaster VV for her husband, Steven). Little did she know that my dream was coming to life when she booked Steven into his dream job experience.

Build it and they will come, I thought, but I needed people to help me build it. And I found them. Many dedicated, insightful people shared my early vision and pitched in to help me prove that vocationing was an idea whose time had come. In roughly chronological order... My thanks go to my friend Berit McClure who wrote the first press release that we sent out to fifteen West Coast newspapers in January 2004 and then worked to create a PR buzz about the company. An enormous thanks goes to Melissa (Missy) Townsend who came on board in June 2004 to just help out a bit and has stayed for three and a half years of unwavering dedication, passion, and hard work. Missy is my confidante, my fellow dreamer and strategist, and, most importantly, my friend. To Kelly Kirkendoll Shafer, my former boss at Ameritech in Chicago, I offer unlimited gratitude for doing an early test-drive VocationVacation, and then piloting the PR efforts that brought the company so much invaluable media attention. I offer limitless thanks to Will Wiebe, who threw caution to the wind when he signed on as VVs first affiliated career and life coach while also managing his own coaching firm. Will has offered endless enthusiasm and moral support to me, the entire VV team, and hundreds of vocationers. I offer huge thanks to Lisa Morgan for coming on board in early 2005 to assist in scouting mentors and building business partnerships. Lisas ability to shake the trees and build relationships is invaluable. I send a big thank-you as well to Hinda Bodinger for her determination and creativity in scouting mentors and helping with business development and academic relations. Hinda was integral to the success of VocationVacations early days. I am very grateful that Jen Ross picked up a copy of