{"id":21061,"date":"2026-03-11T10:27:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T10:27:32","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-07-06T14:03:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T18:03:27","slug":"a-job-loss-helped-her-find-a-new-purpose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/positive-living\/health-and-wellness\/life-advice\/finding-life-purpose\/a-job-loss-helped-her-find-a-new-purpose\/","title":{"rendered":"A Job Loss Helped Her Find a New Purpose"},"content":{"rendered":"

On a beautiful June day seven years ago, I lost my job. It wasn\u2019t unexpected. The website where I\u2019d worked for 10 years had been sold to a publisher in another state, and my colleagues and I were waiting for the axe to fall. Most of us were laid off that day.<\/a> When it was my turn, the HR manager and I cried a little together. She understood that my situation was different. I was 63 years old while most of the other staffers were in their 20s and 30s, their careers still ahead of them. Was mine over? Who would hire me? How would I earn a living? And who would I be without a job? For 40 years much of my identity had been wrapped up in my work.<\/p>\n

This was in the midst of the economic recession. For the next two years, I job-hunted (no luck), did freelance writing, and volunteered once a week as an after-school tutor. The frantic pace of my life subsided. After many years of commuting, rushing between home and job, between raising kids and pushing ahead professionally, there was quiet. In those silent spaces, I had time to ask myself what I really cared about.<\/p>\n

Intuitively I came to an answer. I cared about young people and was concerned about their future. But that was a pretty broad-brush outline. How could I fill in the details? What contribution could I make to creating a better future for the next generation<\/a>?<\/p>\n

At that point, my husband shared an idea he was mulling. Ken had retired from a varied career in social work, government, real estate, and life and career coaching. We had often discussed that, as bad as the economy was for my job prospects, the effects of the recession were even worse for young people just starting out. Burdened by huge education debt, unable to find even an entry-level job, many were feeling hopeless and stuck. They were in danger of becoming a lost generation. Ken\u2019s brainstorm was to start a free program in which coaches and mentors would volunteer to help unemployed and underemployed young people launch their careers. \u201cLet\u2019s do this together!\u201d he urged.<\/p>\n

It felt right. I\u2019d enjoyed mentoring younger people at work, and this fit with my desire to assist the next generation. We started in a small way\u2013putting up a flyer at the local YMCA to find recent college grads who wanted coaching. Through my husband\u2019s coaching contacts, 25 wonderful life and career coaches signed up to volunteer<\/a>. Grad Life Choices was born!<\/p>\n

Five years later, we have 85 certified professional coaches all over the country (including Alaska) whom we match with college grads in their 20s. The young people find us on the internet and through word of mouth. Coaching is done by phone or Skype, so location doesn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n

So far more than 220 grads have received coaching, and 55% have found career-track jobs within a few months of finishing the program. Ninety percent have rated the coaching positively and say they are closer to their goals.<\/p>\n

Over the course of 12 one-hour sessions, the coaches help them figure out what work aligns with their values, skills and passions, and then assist them in making a plan to more forward\u2013including helping them with r\u00e9sum\u00e9s, networking, interviewing, and job search strategies<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One of our hopes was to level the playing field for economically deprived young people without contacts or support to access good jobs. So we were surprised and happy when it turned out that many of those reaching out to us were first-generation college grads, some even the first in their family to graduate from high school.<\/p>\n

In exchange for the free coaching, we ask all the young participants to \u201cpay it forward\u201d to someone<\/a> who needs their help. We explain that we won\u2019t know whether they do or not, but the potential is there to create a ripple effect of kindness spreading outward in unforeseen ways. In fact, a number have offered to mentor other grads in the program.<\/p>\n

Wendy Schuman is a former editor of Beliefnet.com and Parents Magazine. She is co-founder of Grad Life Choices (www.gradlifechoices.com) and co-author of the forthcoming book, \u201cMillennials in Wonderland.\u201d<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On a beautiful June day seven years ago, I lost my job. It wasn\u2019t unexpected. The website where I\u2019d worked for 10 years had been sold to a publisher in another state, and my colleagues and I were waiting for the axe to fall. Most of us were laid off that day. When it was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_ppma_block_editor_authors":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"","timeOption":"","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":""},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[252,341],"tags":[203,218],"ppma_author":[1198],"class_list":["post-21061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finding-life-purpose","category-living-longer-living-better","tag-community","tag-retirement"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Job Loss Helped Her Find a New Purpose - Guideposts Articles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/positive-living\/health-and-wellness\/life-advice\/finding-life-purpose\/a-job-loss-helped-her-find-a-new-purpose\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Job Loss Helped Her Find a New Purpose\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On a beautiful June day seven years ago, I lost my job. 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