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Helping Diverse Clients Overcome
Job Search Problems
Helen LaVan, PhD, LPC, NBCC
Professor DePaul University
1 E. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, Il 60604
312-362-8539
hlavan@depaul.edu
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Helping Diverse Clients Overcome Job
Search Problems
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Long History Of Unemployment
Poor Prior Evaluations
Insufficient Experience
Recruiter Not Getting Back To Candidate
Fear Of Drug Tests
Fear Of Psychological Profile
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Helping Diverse Clients Overcome Job
Search Problems
7. Don't Know Career Options Or Likely
Employers
8. Criminal Record
9. Poor Credit History
10. Depression Or Other Psychological Problems
11. Problem: Difficulty In Diagnosing/Solving
Personal Problems
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1. Problem: Long History Of
Unemployment: Resume Strategies
• Don’t use dates with each entry. Use one date
for entire Employment History.
• Overall dates—No months in employment
section of resume.
• When listing dates worked, use a range of years
rather than months. For example, write 20082010 rather than 5/2008-1/2010.
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Problem: Long History Of
Unemployment—Avoidance Strategies
• Work with your current employer for reduced
schedule.
• Build and keep your network before you need it.
• Stay active in professional associations.
• Volunteer in community, school and civic
organizations.
http://www.volunteermatch.org/search
• Engage in temporary or contract work.
• www.ifreelance.com
• www.sologig.com/All+Jobs/
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Problem: Long History Of
Unemployment—Interview Strategies
• "As you know, the current situation resulted in mass
layoffs. I took some time off to reflect and focus the
direction I wanted to proceed in. I began
researching industries and actively interview and
that's why I'm excited to be here today.”
• An answer like that demonstrates that you've done
your homework and are looking for a long-term
position that meets your requirements, rather than
rushing into any paying job.
• If you became unemployed as the result of a mass
layoff rather than a performance-based firing, make
this known in the interview.
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2. Problem: Poor Prior Evaluations
• Check this is actually being communicated, since
prior employer has vested interested in getting
individual reemployed with new employer.
• Explain poor fit for prior job.
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3. Problem: Insufficient Experience
•
•
•
•
Volunteer.
http://www.volunteermatch.org/search
Internship—even short term unpaid one.
http://www.simplyhired.com/a/jobs/list/qinternship/l-Milwaukee%2C+WI
• Temporary work or projects.
• http://www.freelancewriting.com/freelancewriting-jobs.php
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4. Problem: Recruiter Not Getting
Back To Candidate
• Do not be set on one company or opportunity.
• Let company rather than self-evaluation of
qualifications.
• Reapply.
• Send something to attract attention, such as
article, coffee gift card.
• Try to identify either hiring party or recruiter
and communicate but not stalk.
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5. Problem: Fear Of Drug Tests
Detectability.
Pay for private drug test.
Products to self-test: Saliva or urine.
Know legal consequences which can vary by state,
municipality and company policy. Some
companies do not have a Zero Tolerance policy.
Consider possibility of false positives.
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Substance
Alcohol
Amphetamines (except
methamphetamine)
Methamphetamine
MDMA (Ecstasy)
Barbiturates (except
phenobarbital)
Phenobarbital
Benzodiazepines
Approximate values for detection periods
Urine
Hair
Blood / Oral Fluid
6–24 hours[3] Note: Alcohol tests may
up to 2 days 12–24 hours
measure EtG which can stay in urine for
up to 80 hours
1 to 5 days[4]
up to 90 days 12 hours
3 to 5 days[5]
72 hours
1 day
up to 90 days 1–3 days
up to 90 days 24 hours
up to 90 days 1 to 2 days
2 to 3 weeks[6]
Therapeutic use: up to 7 days. Chronic
use (over one year): 4 to 6 weeks
up to 90 days 4 to 7 days
up to 90 days 6 to 48 hours
Cannabis
2 to 7 days, up to >30 days after heavy
use and/or in users with high body fat
Cocaine
2 to 5 days with exceptions for certain
kidney disorders
2 to 3 days
2 to 4 days
up to 90 days 2–3 days in blood, up to 2 weeks in blood of heavy users[7]
However, it depends on whether actual THC or THC metabolites
are being tested for, the latter having a much longer detection
time than the former. THC (found in marijuana) may only be
detectable in saliva/oral fluid for 2–24 hours in most cases.
up to 90 days 2 to 5 days
Codeine
Cotinine (a break-down
product of nicotine)
Morphine
Heroin
LSD
Methadone
PCP
2 to 4 days
1 to 4 days[8]
12 to 24 hours
3 days
3 to 7 days for single use; up to 30 days in
chronic users
up to 90 days 2 to 4 days
up to 90 days
up to 90 days
Undetectable
up to 97 days
up to 90 days
1 – 3 days
1– 2 days
2 to 4 days
24 hours
1 to 3 days
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False Positives In Drug Test
• http://www.askdocweb.com/falsepositives.html
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Substances That May Cause A False
Positive
•Ibuprofen •Vicks inhaler
•Many prescription
medications
•Advil
•B-2 vitamin
•Nuprin
•Allerest
•Over-the-counter diet
pills
•Motrin
•Excedrin
IB
•Cough suppressants •Tylenol sinus gelcaps
•Over-the-counter nasal
sprays
•Unisom
•Aleve
•Amoxicillin
•Nyquil
•Tonic water
•Asthma medication
•Medications for kidney
infection, kidney
•Sudafed
disease, liver disease
and diabetes
•Contact
•Benadryl
•Wellbutrin
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6. Problem :
Fear Of Psychological Profile
Research assessments using Tests In Print/Mental Measurements Yearbook
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6. Problem:
Fear Of Psychological Profile
Practice with freely available assessments.
http://www.rileyguide.com/assess.html
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7. Problem:
Don't Know Career Options Or Likely
Employers
• Career Assessments.
• O’Net.
• Lexis Nexis.
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Career Assessment Solutions
What do you want to learn?
Consider these tools
Description
I want help choosing a new career.
Strong Interest Inventory®
Basic Profile
Strong Interest Inventory®
Interpretive
iStartStrong®
Provides a summary of your basic interest scales, helps you identify which fields might
interest you.
Provides a summary of your basic interest scales, descriptions of your personal work style
and a list of specific occupations that might interest you.Interpretive.
Provides results based on the Strong Interest Inventory, it presents your results as General
Themes (based on GOTs) and Specific Interests (based on BISs) and provides hyperlinks to
related O*NET occupations.
Provides a summary of your results, the effects of preference on career choice. Includes the 50
most popular and 25 least popular occupations for your reported type.
Provides a summary of your basic interest scales, information on your preferred work
environment and management style and a description of your personal work style. Includes a
list of occupations that might interest you and those that probably would not.
Provides suggestions for college major and extracurricular activities based on your interests
and personal style scales.
Provides suggestions for college major and extracurricular activities based on your interests
and personal style scales. Also includes Strong Interpretive report.
MBTI® Career
I want help choosing a new career
Strong Interest Inventory®
that typically requires a 4-year
Professional
college degree.
I want help choosing a college major. Strong Interest Inventory®
College Profile
Strong Interest Inventory®
College Profile with
Interpretive Report
I want help making a career
Career Transition Report
transition.
I want to move up in my current
Career Enrichment Report
career.
I want to develop better
communication skills.
MBTI®
Report
TKI
I want to become a more effective
manager, supervisor or leader.
MBTI®
TKI
I want to improve my working
relationships.
MBTI®
TKI
Provides information on the day-to-day tasks in different departments and helps you
determine which departments you'll find most interesting.
Provides a summary of organizational functions, including information on the day-to-day
tasks performed in your three main areas of interest. This includes a breakdown of the duties
you will probably enjoy and those you may not.
Communication Style Become aware of how your personality preferences influence your your communication style
and learn how to adapt your style to communicate more effectively with others.
Provides information on your preferred conflict-handling style and suggestions on how to
improve your working relationships.
Interpretive
Provides in-depth information on your reported Type, how you prefer to communicate, gather
data, and make decisions. Includes information on your personal style and how it compares
with others.
Provides information on your preferred conflict-handling style and suggestions on how to
improve your working relationships.
Interpretive
Provides in-depth information on your reported Type, how you prefer to communicate, gather
data, and make decisions. Includes information on your personal style and how it compares
with others.
Provides information on your preferred conflict-handling style and suggestions on how to
improve your working relationships.
http://career-intelligence.com/assessment/Career-Assessment-Matrix.asp
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O’Net to Identify Career Options
http://www.onetonline.org/
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Identifying Likely Employers
Using Lexis Nexis
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Identifying Likely Employers
Using Lexis Nexis
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8. Problem: Criminal Record
Companies That Hire Felons
http://www.ranker.com/list/list-of-companies-that-hirefelons/business-and-company-info
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Problem: Criminal Record Expungement
http://www.state.il.us/defend
er/expforms/07instguide.pdf
http://www.wisconsinexpungement.
com/WisconsinExpungement.html
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Problem: Criminal Record
Referral To Social Service Agencies For
Ex-offenders:
http://www.saferfoundation.org/
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Problem: Criminal Record
Referral To Social Service Agencies For
Ex-offenders
http://www.saferfoundation.org/
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Problem: Criminal Record
Referral To Social Service Agencies For Exoffenders
http://www.dwd.state.wi.us/
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Problem: Criminal Record
Fidelity Bonding Program
http://dwd.wisconsin.gov/bonding/
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9. Problem: Poor Credit History
The Fair Credit Reporting Act
• The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the federal statute that
places limits on an employer’s ability to use background
checks on employees and potential hires, will soon add a new
requirement. Employers’ use of background checks, and
credit history checks in particular, has come under
scrutiny. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
has pursued disparate impact claims against employers that
rely on credit checks as part of the employment process on the
theory that the recent economic downtown has impacted
minorities and women more severely, and as a result,
employer screening based on credit history has a disparate
impact on minorities and women.
• http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/meetings/10-20-10/crawford.cfm
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Problem: Poor Credit History
Prevalence
• Credit checks are becoming an increasingly
prevalent practice in the employment sector.
According to a survey by the Society for Human
Resource Management, approximately 60% of
its employer members use credit checks as a
hiring tool, compared to 35% of employers in
2001. Some employers report that they use
credit checks in hiring for all positions.
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Problem: Poor Credit History Lack of
Predictability of Performance
• Credit information does not predict job
performance or risk of crime in the workplace
• Credit reports provide limited and often flawed
information.
• Credit checks negatively impact communities of
color.
• Credit checks can be contrary to state and
federal laws.
• http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/meetings/10-2010/crawford.cfm
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Problem: Poor Credit History
The Fair Credit Reporting Act
• Notice and Authorization. Before an employer can ask for reports about you from any
companies that provide them, it must tell you that it might use the information to make a
decision. This notice is separate from other documents you get — like an application. An
employer may not get a report about you for employment purposes without getting your
permission or authorization first, usually in writing.
• Pre-Adverse Action Procedures. If an employer might use information from a credit
or other background report to take an “adverse action” — say, to deny your application for
employment or a promotion, to terminate your employment or to reassign you — he must
give you a copy of the report and a document called A Summary of Your Rights Under the
Fair Credit Reporting Act before taking the adverse action. Read your report, and contact
the company that issued it if you find inaccurate or incomplete information.
• You also can explain any inaccurate or incomplete information to an employer, but that
won’t fix errors in your report. To do that, you have to contact the company that issued the
report and dispute the information. If an investigation reveals that a correction is
warranted, the credit reporting company or other company providing background
information must send an updated report to the employer if you ask them to. Even if the
information is not corrected in time to benefit you with that particular employer, it’s a good
idea to dispute inaccurate information so it can be corrected before your next job interview
or assignment comes along.
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The Fair Credit Reporting Act
• Adverse Action Procedures. If an employer takes an
adverse action against you based on information in a report, it
must tell you — orally, in writing, or electronically. The notice
to you must include:
• The name, address, and phone number of the company that
supplied the credit report or background information;
• A statement that the company that supplied the information
didn’t make the decision to take the adverse action and can’t
give you any specific reasons for it; and
• A notice of your right to dispute the accuracy or completeness
of any information in your report and to get an additional free
report from the company that supplied the credit or other
background information if you ask for it within 60 days.
• http://business.ftc.gov/blog/2011/06/fair-credit-reportingact-social-media-what-businesses-should-know
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10. Problem: Depression Or Other
Psychological Problems
• Diagnosis by Career Counselor. Consider using
DSM IV, soon to be DSM V.
• Referral to psychologist or psychiatrist.
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Problem: Depression Or Other Psychological
Problems
Depression Diagnosis According to DSM IV
• This disorder is characterized by the presence of the majority
of these symptoms:
• Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day, as
indicated by either subjective report (e.g., feels sad or empty)
or observation made by others (e.g., appears tearful). (In
children and adolescents, this may be characterized as an
irritable mood.)
• Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all,
activities most of the day, nearly every day
• Significant weight loss when not dieting or weight gain (e.g., a
change of more than 5 percent of body weight in a month), or
decrease or increase in appetite nearly every day.
• Insomnia or hypersomnia nearly every day
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Problem: Depression Or Other Psychological
Problems Depression Diagnosis According to DSM IV
• Psychomotor agitation or retardation nearly every
day
• Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day
• Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or
inappropriate guilt nearly every day
• Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or
indecisiveness, nearly every day
• Recurrent thoughts of death (not just fear of dying),
recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan,
or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for
committing suicide.
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11. Problem: Difficulty In
Diagnosing/Solving Personal Problems
• Examples include problems in time
management, financial problems, goal setting.
• Might need life coach or counselor acting as a
coach.
• May have student development/personal
development activities/courses at community
colleges.