HARD WORK, NOT HOLIDAY

There's no such pampering with a VocationVacations' career sampling. Its apprenticeships with a "career mentor" have potential innkeepers up at dawn, and wannabe horse trainers mucking out (cleaning) stalls.

Last year, Marshfield, Mass., resident Sue Burton Kirdahy, 38, bought a TV producer gig at Brave St. Productions in New York City ($1,119). It was a break from her marketing job at JPMorgan Chase. "I was walking through the mausoleum-like halls of JPMorgan, and I was thinking, 'What am I doing here?' " she says.

While she hated logging frame-by-frame details of video footage — "very, very tedious" — she got hooked on other aspects, including the creativity and variety of co-workers.

"The phrase television producer cuts a broad swath," says Burton Kirdahy, who is married with two sons. "What I loved is that even in a small amount of time, I was exposed to a whole bunch of aspects of that career." Also, she says, she paid to be there, "So you feel open to ask questions."

She liked the answers and now is a freelance marketing consultant and TV commercial producer. And this month, she's signed up for a VocationVacations session with a stand-up comic.

Brave St. co-founder Tammy Leech, who calls the vacations "a condensed internship," mentored Burton Kirdahy and 10 others in the past several months. Such mentors are paid, but Kurth would not say how much. "They're not going to buy the vacation home of their dreams based on their mentoring fees," he adds.

The company seeks mentor companies, but gets unsolicited inquiries, as well. John Ivanko, co-owner of Browntown Wis.-based Inn Serendipity, recently asked about being a mentor, and in July had his first "vocationers."

Ivanko says the fee will help the small B&B he runs with his wife, but he also wanted to give back. "People helped us along the way. We wouldn't be here if we didn't have people who mentored us."

Kurth says he's working to expand his roster of jobs — marine biologist is a possible new selection — but some fields are off-limits. Kurth says he has declined mentoring offers from more than one pornography producer. "We jokingly said, 'We'll hold off until we create VoyeurVocations.' "

FEELING LIKE DILBERT

Kurth says the idea for VocationVacations first came to him in 1999, while stuck in traffic on Chicago's Kennedy Expressway. He was working at former regional phone company Ameri-tech as director of product management and feeling, he says, like the comic strip cubicle-dweller Dilbert.

"I was a few extra pounds heavier, losing my hair and rapidly feeling older than I should have been," he says. "I didn't hate my job and my boss, but I was really unhappy ... So I was daydreaming about what it's like to be a dog trainer or work in the wine industry."

A few weeks later, he registered the VocationVacations.com Web domain, then did nothing with it for five years.

In between, he joined a dot-com, was laid off and took a cross-country road trip, ending 2003 working at a Portland, Ore., vineyard.

"I went from being a (manager) at a Fortune 500 company to schlepping wine out of the back of a Tahoe — and loving it," he says.

In his spare time, he crafted a business plan and opened VocationVacations in January 2004 with 10 Oregon "job experiences." He now offers stints in 33 states but would not disclose financial specifics.

Kurth is working to establish VocationVacations as a career brand and expand into areas such as TV and publishing.

He has a deal with Warner Business Books for a guide to pursuing a dream job. He also worked with Brave St. to create the Travel Channel show "This Job's a Trip," loosely based on VocationVacations.

"We are building out VocationVacations as a lifestyle business model similar to the Martha (Stewart) model," he says. "When Martha Stewart first started out, she had her core business — catering and entertaining. We have our core business — the VocationVacations experiences."

LOOKING FOR A CHANGE

Helping VocationVacations is that more Americans seem to feel the cubicle walls closing in.

Only half of workers are content with their jobs, according to a 2005 survey by business research group The Conference Board.

"We've been growing increasingly less satisfied with our jobs," says Lynn Franco, director of the board's consumer research center. "The pace and demands have changed. It's now about answering e-mails and cell phone calls 24/7."

About two-thirds of VocationVacations' clients want a major job change, Kurth says. The others "tend to be curiosity seekers. They want an experiential vacation. They're not the ones to go golfing or sit at a beach."

Some are prodded by others: Kurth says he does a brisk business in gift certificates bought for burnt-out buddies and family members.

Ryan, the banker-turned-dog trainer, said his hectic work schedule led him to VocationVacations. "I was earning more money than I'd ever earned in my life, but I just didn't want to do (the job)."

Ryan, who is married and has two sons, says he's healthier after defecting from the white-collar world. "I was on the verge of being put on blood pressure medicine," he says. "Now, my blood pressure is about perfect. All my friends say to me, 'You look so different.' "

Jennifer McGilloway, a senior manager at a Pennsylvania pharmaceutical firm, checked out VocationVacations to "just see what else was out there. I'm 35. I don't have kids. I'm not married. It's a good time to look."

She says she considered more "outlandish" options, such as a dude ranch owner or brewmaster, but tapped into past desires with a mid-July gig at Brave St.

"Like many people, I went down a different career path than what I originally dreamed. I always thought I'd be in TV or write for a newspaper," says McGilloway, who started in the drug industry about 12 years ago as a proofreader. "You realize what a company offers, and you get comfortable."

Sometimes the career tastes turn out to be a reality check, says Kurth: "Some folks walk away and say, 'This may not be the dream job after all.' A bed and breakfast owner is one of the most romanticized vocations. Some people realize it's more work than they thought."

That's better than not exploring options, says Srikumar Rao, author of "Are You Ready to Succeed?" He says many people "ruthlessly crush" dreams of a new career.

"Some people say, 'I want to be an actor or chef, but I won't be able to make money,' or they simply ignore those urges," he says. "But with work hours being what they are, you should be passionate about what you do."

Ryan was bitten by the dog training bug (and one dog) during his vocation vacation. But it took more than passion to get his Beyond Dog Training service up and running. Certification required a six-month dog-training program, and he stayed in touch with his VocationVacations mentors for start-up advice and networking contacts.

Without VocationVacations, "There's just no way I would have had the confidence and support to make the move," he says.

He admits that he didn't fully appreciate what he was getting into.

"I now work three times harder than I ever did as a banker," he says.

"But I love it."