Slashdot Mirror
Test Drive Your Dream Job
ches_grin writes "'Vocation Vacations' has a simple concept--allow folks to try out a new career before leaving their current job. Participants get paired with mentors in their chosen field and then spend 2-3 days fully immersed in life as a brewer, dog-trainer, sword-maker, or whatever their fantasy gig is. People are willing to pay to do someone else's job." From the article: "The idea is relatively simple. Participants pay anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand (transportation, lodging, etc., aren't included) to experience life as, say, a chocolatier, a fashion designer, or a race-car driver. The time spent immersed in their fantasy job allows them to get a 360-degree perspective without the risk of quitting their own jobs or investing heavily in a new career. "
When do I meet Jenna Jameson now?
Wah Sig!
What about the current employers of the person who wants to try this? I somehow doubt they'd take it well if an employee told them they wanted to try out another job for a few days. Might make them wonder if this employee is thinking of quitting... and they may decide to fire them before they quit voluntarily.
I don't think there's any real way of making it look like a harmless activity if you're the employee wanting to try it. Call in sick for a few days, maybe...?
FACILITATING A FANTASY. Enter a two-year-old Portland (Ore.)-based company called Vocation Vacations, a business that gives people the opportunity to "test drive" their dream jobs. Creating temporary but intense mentor/apprenticeship experiences, Vocation Vacations enlists professionals from a variety of fields -- everything from winemakers and makeup artists to architects and sword makers -- and pairs them with people who fantasize about leaving their day jobs and want spend a few days in a profession that they had previously thought beyond their reach.
Facilitating fantasy, eh? My dream job: Porn actor. Where do I sign?
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Big apple, new Yorik, undig it, something's unrotting in Edenmark.
I look forward to learning how to kill you soon!
"What do you think?" "I think 'What, do you think?!'"
Sure, just come on over anytime.
chillax137
That's it. That's how I make my living.
Work at home! Make money now! Call me!
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
List of jobs to test from the top of my mind:
- President of USA: will find weapons of mass destruction in my ex-employer's building and nuke them to save the world
- CEO and CSO of Microsoft: will make Windows and IE open source
- Owner && President of Playboy Magazine (not just one magazine, the company): will hang around plenty of naked good looking blonde chicks
- Donald Trump: I'll confess it's a friggin' rug and be done with it
Why would I want to work during my vacation? IT'S MY VACATION!
It doesn't matter that it's a different job! It's WORK! And work is something I'm against in any form!
I'll pass.
If anything, it'd be a fun way to gain a wide variety of experiences that would normally be very hard to get - even if you never had any desire to change careers. It'd beat a passive trip to a museum, that's for sure...
Hexy - a strategy game for iPhone/iPod Touch
I'm filling out the on-line app, but for the life of me, I cannot recall what it said on Ron Jeremy's business card. Little help?
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
So would they be able to replicate the full experience in just 3 days?
No one's asked to be CowboyNeal yet! What, did you all just miss the tie-in?
---- Please be nice in case my Slashdot karma ~= my real life karma.
I'm going to start my own vacation company, with blackjack. And hookers. In fact, forget the vacation company.
So I can see how my old job is going.
"Look Lois, the two symbols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change."
My dream job would definitely be slashdot admininstator. (*rubs brown off nose)
Does God treat us as servants or friends? Check my homepage.
It apparently didn't occur to the morons and businessweek to include say, the address to Vocation Vacations website. Easily found of course (vocationvacations.com) but still, you'd think that in these modern times we live in, something like that would be automatically included.
George Bush, for instance, has tried several fantasy jobs. He tried out being a conservative Christian (before the election), being President for a few days (before September 11th), and being someone who would swear to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution" (before each term).
I wonder which job he'll try out next? Oooh maybe President Truman dropping the A-bomb? Or a KING? What fun!!
Whoever is behind this is likely to make a killing at this. There are so many people who hate their jobs but are so afraid to just take the dive, they'd likely be willing to pay a _lot_ to do this. Personally, I don't think this is a particularly useful metric of what another job would be like. As "the tech guy" in an educational institution, I've had numerous students job shadow me, and rarely do I have "typical" days when they are there. Invariably it gets scheduled for days when interesting, but low-impact projects are happening, or when something comes up, "I have a job shadow today, I probably should wait on that until tomorrow" gets said since a lot of my work requires relative quiet and concentration. Who knows though, maybe three days back to back will show a more relevant sample.
It apparently didn't occur to The Cisco Kid to include say, the link to Vocation Vacations website. Easily found of course (vocationvacations.com) but still, you'd think that in these modern times we live in, something like that would be automatically included.
Three years ago a plain old vacation showed me my true vocation-- vacation. Not kidding at all. Work is absolutely for suckers. Yes, I continue to be a sucker, as I gotta eat. But all my efforts, the majority of my thoughts (at their roots), are directed to this one grand hope: to get started on my true vocation. I was born 70 years too early. Robotics, man. I want robot cashiers, surgeons, auto mechanics, chefs, soldiers, aircraft mechanics, software programmers, CEOs. I want robot everything except maybe poets (and perhaps other writers like novelists, screenwriters, etc.,.), musicians/composers, scientists, philosophers, clergy, actors, President/Congress/Supreme Court (all other courts would have robot judges applying precedent; state governors and legislatures: robot), painters & other pictorial artists, fine artisans, software designers and barbers. All others: robot... Day in/Day out, Week in/Week out, Month in....Decade in/Decade out, work to that degree of endless repetition is nothing short of a nightmare, a poison. And yet here we all are doing it. The human creature was not made for this. We were made for the occasional hunt, some fruit picking, some tuber digging, some fishing and a little shelter fabrication & repair. That's it. The rest of the time is supposed to be just hangin out with friends and family, singing, telling stories and jokes, trying out random ideas, traveling, staring into the sky, etc.,. Man, we have to get back to what we were built for. We're hunter/gatherers, not farmers. That's right when all this evil strated. All this heart disease & cancer & what not-- it's work I'm tellin ya... We should pour about 80% of tax revenues into robotics development at universities and corporations, then kick off those workboots or wingtips and LIVE! To hell with the "work ethic" and Joe Blow in Brooklyn who never missed a day of work in 38 years. What bullshyte! To hell with it because it's of hell! This is the obvious secret. The elixir. We just have to wake up to it. Really. Hey, Pradeesh Bangalore-- you want my job? Take it. You're getting the worst of the bargain. Me, I'm going for La Dolce Vita on a Rip Van Winkle level, and my happiness will be beyond description. --bf
Here would be a worthwhile oppurtunity.
Test drive the life of a new parent. Figure out if you really want to invest 18 years of time doing it before you get (yourself/your spouse) knocked up.
I've just scanned the posts for this and I haven't seen a single one which says "What an incredibly simple and useful idea". We have the (very) tired and predictable jokes about pron and the equally predictable comments on the lines of "This won't work".
/. community (yeah! That includes me)
OK. It may have flaws, but isn't the concept interesting in itself?
Sheesh! Sometimes I worry about the