Talk About Temporary Work

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — Unsure of what he wanted to be after he graduated from college, Sean Aiken decided to travel across the country, sampling one job each week for a year. He’s worked in a tattoo parlor, a bakery, an advertising agency and a hospital foundation. Recently, his travels took him to a Truly Nolen office in Hollywood, Fla.

Aiken, a 26-year-old native of Vancouver, British Columbia with no previous pest control experience, spent a week working as a technician and salesman for the company. Under strict supervision, he assisted with a home fumigation (tarp work only, applying no pesticides), helped inspect a church for termites and made several sales calls.

Aiken said his favorite part about working at a pest control company — something he’d never considered before — was that the industry offers many different types of work.

“There’s a lot more to it than on the surface,” he said.

He said he enjoyed helping people solve problems, working outside and doing something different each day. The fumigation project got a little hairy though; the tarps proved a bit hard to handle on a windy day. The lesson there: “If it comes down to it, let the tarp go.”

“To actually see the damage termites can do is really quite incredible,” Aiken said. “They’re like a machine. They don’t stop.”

Barry Murray, Truly Nolen’s director of marketing and public relations, saw Aiken on CNN one Sunday, sent him an e-mail, and had him come to work the next week.

“My first thought was, ‘He’s out of his mind,’” Murray said. “He was great. He was shocked that the pest control industry was as fun as (it can be). His response to me most of the time was, ‘This is really cool. This is much neater than I thought.’”

Oh, and for the record, he did get to drive the company’s trademark mouse car.

“It was very cool. People kid of give you looks left and right. It’s kind of fun, actually. It puts smiles on people’s faces,” Aiken said. “Pest control’s in the neighborhood. It gives you something to smile about even though you have termites.”

Aiken received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from the Capilano College School of Business in Vancouver two years ago. After graduation, he didn’t know what he wanted to do, so he put off the decision. He traveled.

He found himself depressed about facing the real world and the routine that meant. He wanted to do something he enjoyed, something he loved, and wanted to choose it for himself.

“I can see my life laid out for the next 40 years, and that saddened me,” he said. “I want to do something I love doing.”

So he and his videographer friend Ian MacKenzie started the One Week Job project. The idea is simple: Aiken spends one week at a job, learning about it and talking with the people there about their career choices. Then, after seven days, he moves on. His employers donate his wages for the week to charity.

MacKenzie makes movies of each job, and the men post them at www.oneweekjob.com.

“I’ve found I’m passionate about the project, and taking the opportunity to be in these situations week in week out and learning as much as I can,” Aiken said.

So far, he’s learned that the real world isn’t as scary as he thought it was, and that many of the people he works for and meets harbor similar feelings about work and finding a job that fulfills them.

“It’s realizing most adults still don’t know what they want to do, and it’s a continual process,” he said. “There’s no need to be scared because you are who you are, that’s where you are and people are people.”

So far, his favorite jobs have been working in a brewery and at an advertising agency. But, he said, he realizes that there is no perfect job for him.

“The job that’s going to be perfect for me at the end of 52 weeks isn’t going to be the one that makes me happy five years from now. It’s not like this is my work, this is my life. It’s like, this is my life.”

The project ends in March of next year, and Aiken said he plans on writing a book about his experiences and doing a speaking tour.

And then? “Get a real job.”

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For more coverage of Aiken, check out:

• The New York Times
• and National Public Radio