Careers: Vocation Vacations - Sign of the Times

Brian Kurth of Vocation Vacations has certainly found a way to tap into early 21st Century career angst.

His brilliantly simple mission (and business strategy) is to cater to people's vocational restlessness by letting them "kick the tires" of their dream jobs. What's your fancy - race car driving? pastry chef? landscape architect? a voice-over artist? a sommelier? He's got you covered.

Kurth has assembled an ever-growing network of professionals in careers mainstream, bohemian and in some cases, well, eccentric perhaps... at present count about 150 different vocations are covered, but growing rapidly. Over a 1-3 day period, these learned maestros will hold your hand, answer questions, calibrate your aptitude, give you insider secrets about how to prepare (including your resume and how to network), and in many cases put you in the cockpit.. or kitchen...or laboratory... OK, so maybe you can't do brain surgery or air traffic controlling on Day 1, but you'll sure get a feel for it.

About 75% of Kurth's clients are seriously considering changing careers, apparently. In fact, USA Today quotes a survey by RoperReports that found almost as many people want "learning" as "relaxation" in their leisure planning. Whether Boomer mobility or Gen X/Y entitlement, he's onto something. Hey, the dude's even been on Oprah.

What's interesting is that Vocation Vacations to date has had nearly zilch competition, something which will surely change. In any case, expect to see Kurth's selected career offerings, professional mentors - and customers - grow appreciably. It looks like "passion, profit and fun" never go out of style.