Alan Kearns
Canada’s Career Coach & founder
Alan is Canada’s Career Coach and the Head Coach and founder of CareerJoy™. He is one of Canada’s foremost experts on all things relating to careers. Alan was educated as an Optician, and made a career transition into the recruitment industry. He was one of Canada’s most successful recruiters and founder of TalentLab. Having made a career transition himself and recognizing the gap in the market for professionals who were looking for unbiased professional advice and tools to help manage their career, he founded CareerJoy. Alan has more than 17 years of experience coaching professionals with major career decisions. He hosts Canada’s top rated career Podcast CareerJoy Conversations. His guests have ranged from John Stanton founder of The Running Room to Jim Citrin best selling author of The 5 Patterns of Extraordinary Careers. He has a weekly column in Workopolis and speaks to organizations and conferences across Canada on topics related to professionals and their career.
Alan was voted one of the Top 40 entrepreneurs under the age of 40. He is interviewed regularly in the media about the latest issues and trends within the Canadian workforce. He has been featured on Venture, The National Post and The Globe & Mail and is the career expert for Workopolis Canada’s number 1 career site.
Alan is certified in the Highlands Career Assessment Methodology and was a founding member of the International Association of Coaches (IAC)
Complete this sentence. “If only I ———, I’d be the happiest person alive”
If only I could eat Kraft Dinner (and ketchup) with my children after an afternoon run and then a nap, I’d be the happiest person alive.
Top 5 movies.
The Winslow Boy … Pulp Fiction … Billy Elliot … The Snapper … Tucker – A Man and His Dream
If you could be a character from Star Wars, who would you be and why?
I would be R2D2. Mainly because he doesn’t rust, but also because he’s bold, persistent, mobile, loyal and innocent and he never forgets his purpose. Snow, salt, sand … the show must go on! And remember … weebles wobble but they never fall down …
What’s your favourite thing to do on a hot summer day?
Swim with the kids in the pool and read a good book.
What’s your most endearing quality?
Oh, where do I start … humility for sure! Next to that, I think it would be my curious nature.
What’s your biggest pet peeve?
Smokers in a restaurant. Well actually not them but the reek, yes REEK, that the smoke fumes leave on my clothes, hair, skin and pores. Isn’t there some new kind of smokeless cigarette or maybe a personal plastic dome that could come with every pack. Then they could make them with different colours depending what you’re wearing … blow up the dome and light a match … presto – personal nirvana your own little smoke filled world! Did I say reek?!?!
Have you ever hung wallpaper?
No, but I have signed a heck of a lot of cheques.
Describe a dinner spent with your favourite historical figures.
Winston Churchill, Sting, Jesus, Handel, Walt Disney, Henry Nouwen, C.S. Lewis, Charles Colson, Margaret Thatcher, Phil Jackson, Pierre Trudeau, and all the chicken wings you could possibly eat.
Did you ever sell anything door to door?
No, but I spent one day on Yonge Street selling flowers. Hey, the ad said “MAKE $5.00 AN HOUR”. Then I told my mom and that was it for my esteemed career as a Chief Love Enhancement Officer.
