After being laid off from his job at a local furniture company due to company restructuring, Chesley native Phil Collins (pictured) jumped at the chance to help his former colleagues find new careers.

While working as an employment consultant in an in-house employment program, Phil heard about the Province of Ontario’s Second Career Strategy, a government initiative to help unemployed and underemployed workers make the transition to new careers in growing areas of the economy.

With plenty of experience researching the local job market and specific areas where workers were needed, Phil quickly got to work developing an action plan for his own future.

A 16-year sideline as a freelance photographer, and a more than 30-year love affair with the camera, convinced Phil that the Digital Photography and Imaging program at Georgian College’s Barrie Campus would ease him into a career behind the lens.

“I’ve always loved capturing life through the camera lens, but I never thought it could be a viable full-time career,” says Phil.

“Through my research I’ve found that there are many options for employment in the field and I’m confident that I’ll have a great career when I graduate.”

The married father of two college-aged children currently rooms with a family in Barrie and travels home to Chesley on the weekends. The mature student is juggling family duties with schoolwork and easing back into the classroom with the help of his professors and classmates.

“I was a little worried about re-entering the classroom after being out of school for more than 20 years,” says Phil. “However, with my existing technical and visual communication skills in digital photography, and help from my

professors and tech-savvy classmates, I’m mastering MAC (computers) and am already up-to-snuff on related software.”

The compressed format of the two-year Digital Photography and Imaging program will allow Phil to build his professional portfolio and graduate into the workforce in just 18 months.