Can You Search for a New Job During Addiction Treatment?
Whether you are looking to get into a new line of work or are currently unemployed, finding a new job during treatment for substance use disorder (addiction) is a step in the right direction and something that will help you to sustain your recovery. If you are currently employed but need to find a new job to further your career in a direction that is more suited to what you want, then making that change during recovery from addiction can be empowering and help to build a foundation for future success. So, a job search during addiction treatment is possible.
If you aren’t employed and are receiving substance use disorder treatment, it can be a great time to start looking for work once you begin to successfully manage your addiction through behavioral therapy, holistic treatments, and aftercare programs.
Addiction can make a person feel stuck in place, and that feeling can extend to your job. During an addiction to drugs or alcohol, many of the other important things in your life can be neglected or come to a standstill including your career. Your focus can turn toward getting more alcohol or drugs, using alcohol or drugs, and recovering from the aftereffects. It can make many important areas of your life suffer and when you start the process of long-term recovery, it can become clear that you need to find a new job even while you are busy with addiction treatment at rehab or during aftercare programs such as sober living homes where job searching is encouraged.
Union First is an employee assistance program that specializes in helping people with every important aspect of addiction recovery including job protection, rehab placement services, telehealth access, training programs, and provides individual case management. Union First helps you to get behavioral health treatment including addiction treatment and is your partner in the workplace helping bring to light the challenges of mental health in today’s age. We will help you to protect your job while you undergo behavioral therapy and be by your side if you are trying to find a new line of work, ensuring that you have favorable outcomes.
Click here for job protection & behavioral health, call Union First today at (855) 215-2023.
7 Steps to a Successful Job Search While Getting Treatment
So, you’ve decided to search for a new job while you are receiving professional therapy and treatment for addiction. We have created a simple 7-step guide to help you in your job search so that you can get the job that you really want in the field or industry that you prefer.
As your substance use disorder starts to give way to improved motivation and you are feeling better than you have in a long time, it can be time to start your job search knowing that you’ll soon return to your normal life again after rehab. If you want to find a new job while undergoing mental health treatment, follow the 7 steps below.
- Take an honest look at your strengths and weaknesses: Honesty about your work strengths and weaknesses can go a long way to determining what career will best suit you. Look at your work history or look at areas that you excelled at in your schooling and also areas that you didn’t like or just were not that good at. These strengths and weaknesses will help to point you in a career direction.
- Create an amazing resume: Creating a perfect resume is not about just having one resume that you send to potential employers but rather about having several versions that are geared toward different types of jobs. Create a resume that is more attractive for the field that you want to work in, focusing on skills and experience that apply to your new job. Make sure you do a thorough spelling and grammar check at the end.
- Focus on networking: Networking can be an excellent way of finding new job openings in your chosen field. As many as 60 percent of people find out about available jobs through networking. This can range from just talking to family and friends about wanting to move into a new career to going to events in the industry and finding someone that can help to mentor you.
- Be aware of your social media presence: These days, ensuring that your social media profile is appropriate for the type of job you want is important. The world is more connected through social media than ever before and you have to make sure that your profiles are projecting the type of person that is professional and ideal for the job you are after. Monitor your profile and even set up alerts through Google Alerts to be able to act if something comes up.
- Focus on a particular company: Once you figure out what company you’d like to work at, how far you’re willing to commute, and all of the smaller details, then focusing on trying to get a job at that company can make life easier. Use resources like Glassdoor to help you figure out if the company is a place you really want to work at. Once you figure out which company or companies you’d like to work for, then you can use LinkedIn or Jigsaw to find contacts within the company. Reach out to them through email and letter, and check their job listings. Even if they don’t have a position at the moment, you will be one of the first people they think of once a position becomes available.
- Make yourself accessible: It’s important to have a LinkedIn profile and have your social media profiles open to public view. Making yourself accessible to employers can help you to find a job; being invisible online makes it hard to employers to find you.
- Prepare for your interview: Research possible questions that you might be asked and prepare answers beforehand. Preparing for the interview can help settle your nerves and help to make your answers focused. Research the company you are interviewing at to understand its culture and align your strengths with what the company is looking for.
Get Treatment and Get Back on Your Feet with Help from Union First
Our employee assistance program is focused on helping members get behavioral health treatment including addiction treatment and supporting them in the workplace through robust training modules and advocacy on mental health and employee needs in today’s world.
If you are still considering getting addiction treatment while in your current job, Union First can help you to find the best rehab center in your area while protecting your job while you undergo therapy and treatment. We give you individual case management to ensure that you are getting the most out of our employee assistance program. We also help you with access to telehealth so no matter where you are, you can get professional therapy and counseling when you need it the most.
Become a Union First member today to take advantage of our employee assistance program geared toward mental healthcare or contact us if you would like more information on how we can help you as an employee suffering from mental health disorders such as addiction.