Journey to My Twilight Career
Never, in my wildest dreams, would I have
guessed that I would be doing this kind of
work at age 74. When, at age 37, I was newly
married with the first of our 6 children on
the way, laid off and directionless after a
year from my first attempt at a career (that
is another story!), when God intervened in my
life and led me into a 30 year career in
construction, project management and finally,
to Facilities Management, which eventually led
me into the Career Coaching field.
During the late 80’s and 90’s, I worked as a
construction project manager for a bank in the
Detroit area. My work took me often into
Detroit. On one of my projects I was struck by
the lack of minority skilled trades persons on
the job, even though we hired a minority
General Contractor. Investigating the reason
for this situation over the next few years was
the birth of my interest in career development
and eventually led me to the desire to enter
the field.
In 2001, after being laid off, I decided I
would try to get into Career Development work
in Detroit even though I had no previous
training in the area. What I did have was a
compelling interest and a little knowledge of
the Career Development field. The best
opportunity I could find with my current level
of qualifications was applying for a Facility
Management position with a company that was
just awarded a 10 year contract to manage all
the Detroit Public School facilities, some 270
of them. The Lord opened this door for me.
I would be working with a diverse population
of skilled tradesmen and women, some 1000 of
them from every one of the 20 plus trades
unions in the city. For the next 8 years I
would go on to promote growth in awareness and
participation of youth in the construction
fields. It would be the last job in my 30 year
career in construction; my best job, my most
challenging job, my highest paying job, the
job where I first experienced work as a
mission, where I felt I was a real part of the
Word of Life’s outreach to Detroit that sought
to break down racial and denominational
barriers, build relationships, evangelize and
work toward Christian unity.
In 2008 I went back to school for some
training as a Career Development Facilitator.
Two years later, I began volunteering as a
Career Coach for the Word of Life, putting in
some 2800 hours over a two and a half year
period. Among others, I worked with Gappers
and UCO members in order to complete the field
work required for the Career Development
Facilitator certification.
In 2010 I began volunteering as a Career Coach
for the Word of Life, putting in some 2800
hours over a two and a half year period. Among
others, I worked with Gappers and UCO members
in order to complete the field work required
for the Career Development Facilitator
certification.
In conjunction with this effort, I became
aware of the services and programs at
Rockport
Institute. Their career aptitude testing
services and Career Coaching program were just
what I was looking for. Completing Career
Coach training gave me the basic knowledge and
skills, with an increasing ability to
interpret the results of my clients’ aptitude
testing, to assist them in coming to
understand their capabilities and design a
career that will both satisfy and challenge
them. Rockport’s Career Choice program
includes all the relevant factors to be
considered in making a career decision.
Making
an impact for Christ in our Work
From a Christian point of view, this
decision is really a matter of Stewardship. It
is a decision that is a combination of our
free will and God’s grace. A process of
discovering, developing and applying the gifts
and abilities the Lord has given us in an area
of our choosing, where we can make an impact
for Christ.
My goal is to help facilitate career coaching
throughout Sword of the Spirit communities and
to encourage others to get training in this
area. I believe the need is great, but so is
the opportunity to advance our call and
mission though work life and service.
.
Joe Firn
is a member of the Word of Life community in
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
