I was never sure what I wanted to be when I was in school or university. Through research and discussions with colleagues, clients, and students over the years, I realized I wasn’t alone. Most students, then and now, leave high school as dropouts or graduates without clear goals. Unless they are in programs closely aligned with employment, like medicine, engineering, accounting, or architecture, the same can be said for most university students.

 

When I left the Canadian Armed Forces to join Employment and Immigration Canada in November 1974, I still didn’t know. I thought joining a unit researching and producing career information might help me decide. I stumbled upon my calling when Stu Conger challenged me to create CHOICES, which became an international success. Given my prolonged career indecisiveness, assisting people to find their way to careers they love is among the noblest callings I can imagine. Career development can change lives. At scale, it can change society.

 

To illustrate, consider the relationship between career choice and job satisfaction. About 20% of workers love their jobs (Job Satisfaction Survey, 2023, Randstad Canada). About the same percentage hate their jobs (Gallup). The remaining 60% are somewhere in between. I asked ChatGPT what it would mean to Canadian productivity if 5 percent more Canadian workers found jobs they love. Here’s the response.

 

“CHATGPT: To estimate the increase in productivity if 5% more Canadian workers loved their jobs in 2024, we need to link job satisfaction to productivity gains and then apply that to the GDP.

 

Canada’s labor force is roughly 20 million workers. Research shows that job satisfaction can significantly improve productivity. Studies suggest that workers who are satisfied or engaged with their jobs can be 12-15% more productive than those who are not. 5% of 20 million workers = 1 million workers. If 1 million more workers loved their jobs and saw a productivity increase of 12-15%, we would apply this percentage to the GDP per worker. Canada’s 2024 estimated GDP is $2.85 trillion. Dividing by the labor force of 20 million gives us a GDP per worker of $142,500. If 1 million workers became 12-15% more productive, the gain per worker would be a 12% increase: 12% of $142,500 = $17,100 per worker. 15% increase: 15% of $142,500 = $21,375 per worker. Multiply the productivity increase per worker by 1 million workers: At 12% increase: $17,100 × 1 million = $17.1 billion. At a 15% increase: $21,375 × 1 million = $21.4 billion.

 

Conclusion: If 5% more Canadian workers loved their jobs in 2024, this could lead to a productivity boost of $17.1 to $21.4 billion. The impact on the Canadian economy would be substantial.”

 

Imagine 25 percent more high school students graduating with a clearer sense of their career goals and choosing postsecondary programs that lead to jobs they love.

 

I have always thought we should teach students what everyone needs to make promising career and life choices, not just prepare them for standardized tests to qualify for the wrung on the academic ladder. Subjects like emotional intelligence, multiple intelligences, character development, emerging workforce and societal trends, financial management trump quadratic equations, and much of what we learned for exams and haven’t needed since.

 

The projects I led were not part of the academic curriculum. Their goal was to help students explore themselves and their career and lifestyle preferences and empower them to make decisions aligned with their interests, skills, aspirations, and emerging world of work opportunities. I take genuine pride in the fact that CHOICES, The Real Game Series, and The Blueprint for Life/Work Designs were created, tested, and ultimately deployed to most secondary and postsecondary schools in Canada through not-for-profit collaborations of education, career, and workforce development leaders from every province and territory. Over five decades, millions of Canadian students and adults have benefited from these programs. Although career development wasn’t in the curriculum, enough educators realized that students with a sense of direction, purpose, and agency tend to be more engaged academically. They also learned that when the “best minds” from across the country collaborate on a promising initiative, it will exceed what any jurisdiction could produce on its own. When 12 countries collaborate, history is made.

 

I was only interested in initiatives that could benefit students everywhere in Canada and ideas with the potential for change on a grand scale. No one ever accused me of thinking small! I invited prominent leaders in the U.S. to collaborate with Canada. CHOICES became the system of choice and was deployed in schools and colleges statewide in 12 states and school districts in every U.S. state and territory. Millions of students have experienced CHOICES in the half-century since its launch.

 

After securing the support of the Canadian Government and the Canada Career Information Partnership, I reached out to the National Occupational Coordinating Committee in the U.S. to partner in developing The Real Game Series (TRGS). NOICC funded Occupational Information Coordinating Committees (SOICCs) in every state and territory. I was known to NOICC because 12 of its SOICCs selected CHOICES as their career information delivery system. NOICC Director Juliette Lester saw the potential of a partnership with Canada and encouraged her network to engage.

 

We alternated joint Canada-U.S. advisory group meetings for TRGS in New Orleans, Banff, New York, Memramcook, Washington, DC, and Ottawa. Insights from American teachers were included in Canadian editions, and game-changing ideas from Canadian teachers were embedded in U.S. editions. Over 15,000 schools in Canada and 35,000 in the United States adopted The Play Real Game (grades 3 & 4), The Make it Real Game (grades 5 & 6), The Real Game (grades 7 & 8), the Be Real Game (grades 9 & 10), and The Get Real Game (grades 11 & 12). Assuming only three classes of 25 students played these 15 to 30-hour games, 3,375,000 (45,000 x 3 x 25) students played one of the games each year. Many students experienced several programs as they progressed from primary through secondary levels. For many, this was their favorite activity during the school year.

 

Word spread about the Canada/U.S. partnership, and before long, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, and Greece wanted in. Eventually, another 50,000 schools and millions more students benefited from their nationally adapted editions each year. National partners shared innovations they brought to these programs with other partners for future releases. No other experiential career development program has succeeded in engaging tens of thousands of volunteer co-development partners (teachers, students, parents, researchers) and reached as many career-seekers.

 

I’m proud to have served as an Officer in the Canadian Armed Forces. I’m proud of CHOICES, The Real Game Series, The Blueprint for Life/Work Designs, Canada Career Information Partnership, Canada WorkinfoNET, my role ambassador with Career Cruising (now Xello), Transitions Canada Coalition, Career Callings, and HIEC’s Parents as Career Coaches Podcast. I’m also proud of projects I felt were worthy but, for one reason or another, didn’t launch. I’m proud that Australia modeled its Blueprint for Career Development on our Canadian Blueprint, and the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates took on their own Blueprint projects. I’m proud of my contributions to World Bank and CIDA projects in Romania and Turkey. I’m proud of the professional relationships and friendships I have enjoyed with so many incredible people across Canada and worldwide. I’m proud of the unprecedented pan-Canadian partnership model I championed and extended internationally. Most of all, I’m proud that in finding work that has fueled my need for personal meaning, purpose, and relevance, I have helped tens of millions of people imagine new possibilities.