For Some, Vacation Plans Include Finding New Career

by Finding Dulcinea    July 29, 2008

Posted by Anne Szustek to findingDulcinea

Layoffs, impending retirement, and even simple boredom are prompting some to wonder what their lives could have been had they chosen to wander down another career path. Career-counseling companies and television shows are cashing in on the trend.

For as little as $549, VocationVacations offers those feeling trapped in their careers—or those just toying with a change—time to, as company founder Brian Kurtz says, “test drive” a new job. Kurtz says on a CNBC clip, “This economy has been the nudge. It’s been the kick in the you-know-where.”

Many of his clients worked in the mortgage industry. But other “Vocationers” are burned-out legal, medical and IT professionals—sectors relatively untouched by the credit crunch.

Some baby boomers take up a new career path after facing an ethical impasse. Inc. magazine cited a recent study that showed some 8.4 million baby boomers have taken up “encore” careers, often in social service sectors.

Such was the case for Robert Pondiscio, a former communications executive for BusinessWeek who joined the NYC Teaching Fellows program. “Like many New Yorkers, I'd spent a lot of time thinking about ways to give back in the months following September 11,” he writes.

Others do it for entertainment. Bob Blumer, a former music business manager, hosts “Glutton for Punishment,” a cable program where he learns a new culinary-related trade each a week, such as working as a breakfast line cook and as a Las Vegas bartender.

Find out more at findingDulcinea.com

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