Seneca Alumni

When a purpose becomes a career

JULIE MORAN-ILLES loves to help people so much that she went back to school and started a new career – after retiring.

The 51-year-old, who spent hundreds of hours volunteering during her 20-year career at Telus, decided to turn this passion into a second career. That’s why she enrolled in Seneca’s Social Service Worker (SSW) diploma program. “I find purpose in helping and giving back,” Ms. Moran-Illes said. “I saw retirement as an opportunity to work for that purpose.”

Ms. Moran-Illes was an older student in her cohort, and this was her first experience with a diploma program. She wasn’t sure what to expect but thought it was worth taking a chance. Seneca’s part-time SSW was the right fit. It includes 600 hours of field work and covers everything from counselling to crisis management. “The connections I made at Seneca with teachers and students stayed with me and changed my life for the better,” she said, adding that her professors all worked in the field and shared their experience instead of just teaching theories.

After Ms. Moran-Illes graduated in June 2020, she continued to volunteer while looking for her first position. Then, she got a call from one of her favourite Seneca professors, Diana Gatti, offering her a full-time position as a program co-ordinator at the West Scarborough Neighbourhood Community Centre. Just like that, Ms. Moran-Illes’ second career began. She is leading a virtual wraparound program to support adults in need of life stabilisation skills from all walks of life, including single parents, people living with addiction or facing other challenges.

“I work with everybody. I have no barriers,” she said. “My goal is to help people help themselves.” Ms. Moran-Illes designs and runs workshops about everything from self-care to financial guidance. She said the best part of her job is being thanked for her understanding, being there and truly caring for everyone. For her, it all comes back to her desire to help. And she’s grateful early retirement set her on this path, sooner then expected. “It’s never too late to make a change,” she said. “If you think you can or can’t, you are right. Follow your passions. They could become your career.”