By Elisabeth H. Sanders-Park, CWDP, JCTC
Tough Transitions Expert – Career Thought Leaders Consortium
President – WorkNet Solutions
Email:
Twitter: www.Twitter.com/elisabethspark
Linkedin: www.LinkedIn.com/in/elisabethharney
Phone: 951-682-4881
I consult to a lot of organizations serving clients with significant employment barriers. In addition to felony convictions, mental health problems, and gaps in employment, most of these clients have little work history, less formal education, no career vision… and they need to start working very soon. On top of this, the service providers have little expertise in employment coaching and placement, and almost no exposure to career development. There is concern about whether these people are employable at all, and an almost unanimous sense that careers are out of the question. But, I know that career development is a viable option, because I see it work its magic all the time. Here are some ideas from my journey. We’ll start with the Career Planning piece.
When people facing the barriers mentioned above are offered employment services the focus is often on quick job placement, with anyone who will have them, and “any job is better than no job”. Rarely are they encouraged to dream, clarify their interests and long-term goals, or do career planning and exploration. The service provider generally begins with the job market, gathering open market leads, then works to fit the client into whichever opening they might be able to do. It’s no wonder there is little buy-in from the client, and that resistance and sabotage run rampant. It’s also not surprising that job retention rates are abysmal. Imagine the difference if we took a career development approach… beginning with the client, assessing their most important fascinations, skills and values, encouraging them to dream again, re-defining work as something they can delight in rather than simply endure. Walking these clients through career planning and exploration, allowing them to dream big, may be met with initial resistance and disbelief by the client, but it’s worth it. I say, “I can help you get a job that’s ‘a job’ that will get you an income. Or, in about the same amount of time, I can help you get a job that you actually like, that leads to something you care about. Which do you want?” In every case, the client has admitted that if they are going to work, they might as well like it… and we dive into an interactive, ever-relevant assessment process that is clarifying and constantly engaging, even to people who do not enjoy test-taking, self-exploration or anything that feels like school. Here are some specifics:
Re-Define Work – It is said that, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” So we first help clients cast a positive vision for the role work can play in their lives. We remind them that whatever it is they love to do, would do for free… someone is getting paid to do. Why not them? People get paid to talk on the phone, create, tear things apart, meet new people, be outdoors, read, draw, you name it! Many of these clients have never been asked about their dreams, or never believed they could reach them. For many, “work” is doing something you don’t like, with a bunch of people you don’t want to be with, in a place you don’t like going, for too many hours, and not enough pay. Who wants to work? We begin by shattering the negative rap work has gotten, inviting the client to dream big, assuring them that their next job can move them toward that dream, and acknowledging that work can be a blessing or a curse in their lives, and they get to choose.
Dream Big & Get Practical – As they digest this new definition of work as a positive part of their life, we begin assessing their most important fascinations, skills, and values. We also assess their “killer skills”, those they have but do not enjoy using, so we can help them actively avoid jobs that rely on them more than 20% of the time. [We do not assess type due to short timeframes, the attention span and processing level of our clients, and the lack of expertise among our service providers. If you have the time, the clients, and the talent to make it valuable, go for it.] Next, we combine the fascinations, skills and values the client wants incorporated into their career planning process, and identify jobs that incorporate as many of them as possible, jobs the client may want to do down the road. Often, the jobs we discover at this point seem a far cry from where they are, but they represent goals the client is willing to work for. We call them Dream Jobs (not fantasy, simply the fascinations-skills-values mix they are willing to work toward over 3 to 5 years). This engages the client, but let’s get practical before it starts to feel like a pipe dream and they resort to getting whatever job they can. Next, we take each Dream Job and create several Backward Career Paths ® by calling and learning the career path of someone who does it. This introduces the client to several ways to get to their Dream Job, and lets them discover jobs which put them on a path to their Dream Job that they can pursue immediately using their current skills.
I once worked with a man who was 49 years old, without a GED. It would have been easy to see him as a candidate for mere job placement, but we are committed to career development. So we helped him assess his fascinations, skills and values, dream big and choose a job that inspired him to move forward. Turns out, he wanted to be a Pediatrician. Now, here’s golden moment. How do we respond? It would have been so easy to help him see how “unrealistic” this was (by the way, I had to remove the word ‘unrealistic’ from my vocabulary because too often when I said it, I meant, “I don’t see that happening for you, and I’m not working toward it, so choose another goal.” I’m not assuming you do the same, but if you use ‘unrealistic’ in this dream-crushing way, you might remove it). So, Pediatrician… how exciting. What about being a Pediatrician is interesting to you?… the medical field, prestige, helping people, working indoors, the white lab coat. Alright then, you seem inspired. How can we get you started in the field, on the path, using your current skills?” We took leaps and bounds back from Pediatrician, and within a month he was hired at a hospital as a Groundskeeper. Within 22 months, he had completed his GED, met a cool guy in a white lab coat who didn’t have a four-year degree, changed his dream, and become a Radiology Technician. Let them dream, get them started in their Field of Fascination, and see what happens!
In a recent training I conducted, I encountered a Job Coach frustrated by a certain client and his dream. “This guy reads at a third grade level, and it isn’t going to get any better, but thanks to CSI, all he wants to be is a Forensic Scientist. I’ve met with him twice, tried to get him to give it up, and he won’t.” At the end of the training, this coach shared his most important lesson… “For my clients, the Backward Career Path is the way forward. You’ve all heard me complain about a certain client. The truth is, I don’t think he will ever be a Forensic Scientist, but now I am willing to let him have his dream. I realize that he could be a Cleaner at the Courthouse and love it. He could courier specimens somewhere in the field and be happy as anything. I’m going to help him figure out how he can use the skills he has in the field he loves.”
Career development, its hopeful spirit and practical techniques, should be offered to more people who ‘just need to get a job.’ When it is, we see wonderful results for the individual whose life will never be quite the same, and in the numbers. Here are few recent examples I have had a hand in.
#1: The largest network drug and alcohol recovery centers in the U.S. offers a 6-month, residential recovery program. Many of the people they serve also struggle with mental illness, and have criminal backgrounds. Like so many agencies, they are very good at their core mission, but lack expertise in employment. In 2006, we partnered with them to design and implement a WorkNet career development “re-entry” phase to help graduates catch a vision for how work integrates into their life and recovery, make wise decisions about careers and jobs, become career resilient, and experience a supported transition back into the community and workforce. To date, we have established re-entry phases at 10 centers. 299 graduates have chosen to engage, with 71% completing. Of those who competed, 70% are working, with 38 of them in entry-career jobs on a path to their chosen career goal. Already 15 people have achieved a raise or promotion.
#2: A men’s prison in Jacksonville, FL offers a WorkNet career development program on Monday nights. It’s been running for about a year and has become one of the most popular courses. Already the prison’s recidivism rate has dropped from 68% (within 3 years), to 8% (within the first year). This is amazing! Career development, and the faith-based approach the prison is taking, is making an exciting difference! [This prison is one of 8 newly organized “faith-based, character-building” institutions in FL which are seeing a dramatic decrease in recidivism. There are 16,000 inmates waiting to transfer to these facilities].
So, infuse these ideas into your career planning process, even if you or the client thinks it won’t work. You’ve got nothing to lose and so much to gain. Next time, I’ll pick up another part of the wonderful process of career development and share how we make it work for people with significant barriers.
This article appeared originally in the Career Planning & Adult Development Network Newsletter.
