Sean Aiken

Yes, I AM reading three books at a time. Depends on how long I am sitting or standing still....

Anyway, this one captured my attention because let's face it, I have job-committing issues. I truly believe that you can work and be passionate about it and love it. Should love it anyway. But that it shouldn't consume you.

This book is about a wild guy who graduated from college, traveled for a year, and still didn't have a clue as to what he wanted to do for his work. Lots of preconceived notions about work that are changing over the generations and working through that is challenging. So, he thought up this idea that he'd try out a different job every week to narrow down what he wants to do. I'm at about week 21. He is in Canada. He states in the book that he is blogging through the experience but I haven't looked it up yet. So far his insights are interesting but there is a love interest that has occurred that I'm afraid is going to skew all the results.… (meer)

Un joven canadiense termina la carrera y no sabe qué hacer con su vida. Se le ocurre probar 52 empleos, uno por semana, a lo largo de un año, para lo cual monta una za href="http://www.oneweekjob.com/">página web en la que recibe ofertas de trabajo. Y se pasa un año currando por Canadá y Estados Unidos.

La idea del libro es buena, si no sé qué hacer con mi vida, voy a probar unas cuantas cosas para ver qué me llama más la atención. Lo malo es que el autor no es un gran escritor ni es especialmente interesante. Lo único que me gustó fueron las pequeñas cifras referidas a cada sector en el que trabaja.

Por supuesto, el autor sólo consigue trabajar en cosas que no requieren especialización alguna: mascota de equipo de hockey, aprendiz de panadero, community manager de un evento... No hay tiempo material para llegar a saber algo interesante de cualquiera de los trabajos. Una semana no da para mucho.

El libro habla mucho más de la relación del protagonista con su reciente novia, a la que conoce en las primeras etapas del viaje y con la que debe mantener una relación a distancia, y de cómo se siente a cada maldito minuto, que de los trabajos en sí.

El libro no lo merece, aunque tiene algunas partes interesantes.… (meer)

Sean Aiken graduates in a valedictory position from college and can't decide what to do with his life. If only he could try out a job before he commits to it...and thus the idea is born. He travels around Canada and America performing 52 different jobs, one a week.

Sean Aiken is so upbeat, I really didn't want to like him, with all his optimism and good naturedness...but he is impossible to dislike, because of the aforementioned qualities. He is reflective and very mature for 25. His journey is really interesting.… (meer)

The idea of this book intrigued me: A young man, uncertain about what he wants to do with his life, decides to try 52 jobs in 52 weeks. Sean Aiken accomplishes this goal and shares his experiences in this book.

Sean is searching for something he can be passionate about, and finds that his passion is, in fact, what he was already doing: exploring, connecting with people and doing something meaningful (his wages being donated to charity).

The book provides interesting glimpses behind-the-scenes of different jobs, which I enjoyed. As a baby boomer with an important job that I adore, I found it hard to identify with Sean's struggle. I think, in general, younger readers or those in career/life transition would get more meaning out of the book than I did. As I said, though, I did enjoy the stories of Sean's experiences even though his life lessons didn't add insights to me personally. I liked Sean and found myself more interested in whether he and his girlfriend Danna would survive his year-long project than in what he was learning about finding meaning in your work and life. But, I'm his Mom's age, so this isn't surprising....or a criticism of the important lessons Sean is sharing.

Thanks to the world of internet and mass market media, Sean is able to make his One Week Job Project a success, receiving several job offers via e-mail and cell phone. In this way, the book is an interesting look at the way technology has changed our world and opened up possibilities that past generations didn't have access to.… (meer)