There is a second act
The purpose-driven job is possible at any age, write Craig and Marc Kielburger.
Joanna Bowen had to start over in her late 30s. The job she loved for 13 years in international development was abruptly eliminated, and she feared there would be nothing else like it.
“It shook my core about my life and what my purpose was,” she told us.
After hunting in vain for a meaningful new gig, Bowen made the brave decision to go back to school. She pursued a longtime passion at Vancouver’s Institute of Holistic Nutrition. In a classroom abuzz with youthful energy, learning how to boost people’s health through food, her spark was re-lit.
“I had direction again,” Bowen says. “I felt I was alive.”
Millennials aren’t the only generation seeking meaning in the workplace. More than twothirds of Canadians take a fork in their career paths at some point, and almost half change fields three times or more, according to a 2014 Workopolis survey. It’s a bold move that involves significant sacrifices of time, money and security — and it’s not solely driven by job loss.
Going back to school is an opportunity to re-educate yourself for an occupation that’s infused with purpose, so you gain much more than just a paycheque.
Karen Graham knows this well. The pharmaceutical consultant who lives in Orillia, Ont., has gone back to school twice — the first time was to be a career counsellor and life coach, helping others transition to rewarding new jobs. “People are waking up and asking, ‘Is this really how I want to spend a third of my life?’”
Graham guides clients so they find careers that make use of their passions and interests — and feel every day they’re contributing to more than just a retirement fund.
Three years ago, Graham walked her own talk. She enrolled at the local campus of Georgian College for certification as an addictions counsellor. At 54, she was the oldest person in the class. But she was rejuvenated by the younger students and the potential to earn a living supporting others.
We spend the majority of our waking hours at work, for four decades or more of our lives. Why not get paid and feel like you’re giving back at the same time?
In the U.S., organizations like ReServe and Encore.org and are popping up to link experienced workers from the 55-plus set with new careers serving their communities. Laid-off experts in information technology are now showing local charities how to build databases, and accountants have taken early retirement to teach financial literacy to lowincome individuals.
While Canadians await similar groups, they can use the federal “lifelong learning plan” to make a withdrawal from their RRSPs to finance a return to school.
Carole Angus made the switch from goldsmith to special education teacher all on her own, one course at a time. She took a low-paying, part-time job as a classroom assistant in an innercity Toronto school to be sure her new path was the right one. Then she plowed slowly through her degree program.
“My jewelry career was leaving me empty somehow,” she remembers. “But as a teacher, my work mattered. I knew I could do this for the rest of my life.”
Back in Vancouver, Joanna Bowen has launched a new online nutrition clinic. Bowen now knows it’s not only pinto beans and avocados that maximize human potential, but also having a career with purpose. It’s amazing what one can learn, at any age, by going back to school.