Discovering your passion

Bartender, baker, pizza maker. Exterminator, ad exec, courier de bois.

Sean Aiken tried them all. Not knowing what he wanted to do after he graduated from university, he embarked on an interesting experiment: trying out 52 jobs in 52 weeks.

“I chose a general enough degree, Business Administration,” says Mr. Aiken, bound for Dalhousie to speak to students who are sitting where he was three years ago—about to graduate but not really sure about their future career. “I definitely had options, but I didn’t want just any job. I needed to see what I wanted in a career to be happy.”

Stuff his dad said

Plus, “stuff his dad said” was resonating—“It doesn’t matter what you do, just make sure you’re passionate about it,” he says, quoting the elder Aiken.

Through those 52 weeks, he found out some things about himself. He didn’t like going back to the same place everyday, sitting in the same chair, doing the same task. “In my mind I was fast-forwarding two years and imagining myself looking at the clock all day and wondering, when’s lunch?” But he did like juggling tasks, meeting a variety of people, finishing a project and then embarking on the next.

The job he enjoyed the least was picking cattails from a swamp—the white core is sold to high-end restaurants. And surprising himself, one of the jobs he loved was selling real estate, in Hollywood no less.

Multi-media

After the 52 weeks, he discovered he had created his own job and one that wasn’t on his list—talking about his experience and helping others find their passion. The 52 jobs-52 weeks journey has turned into a book, The One-Week Job Project (Random House); a documentary film One Week Job; and a tour of 35 college and university campuses in Canada and the United States called Discover Your Passion. That’s what will bring Mr. Aiken to Dalhousie on Monday, March 21. He’ll speak to students about his experience, show his film, and discuss the transition from university to the working world.

“I remember being overwhelmed, not knowing what to do,” he says. “I thought I was the only one who was struggling to figure out what I enjoyed and what I was good at. I needed to develop that important self knowledge. Once you have that, the rest falls into place.”

A 52-week experiment may not be for everyone, acknowledges Mr. Aiken, 29. But there are other ways to gain job experience without a heavy investment, by job shadowing, or volunteering or doing internships.

“I think the thing is to explore and push yourself. To put yourself in a situation where you can develop self knowledge. And now is the time to do it, when you don’t have the responsibilities of later on in life.”

Sean Aiken’s Discover Your Passion tour comes to Dalhousie on Monday, March 21. He’ll speak from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in Ondaatje Auditorium, Marion McCain Building. Students can register for the event by visiting myCareer.