Your Social Work Career Coach - Minimizing the Stress of a Job Search During COVID-19: Together We Can Do It
by Jennifer Luna, MSSW
As we enter this era of the novel coronavirus pandemic, our worlds are beginning to feel smaller. While some may have felt that working from home is a luxury, we are now realizing that we are living at work. When we think about the future of our careers, it may be easy to feel “stuck” and difficult to look beyond our own home offices.
Let’s face it: beginning a job search at any time is stressful, but now it can feel incomprehensible. Many new graduates have had to leave their final field placements early, have gone to online learning, will miss out on graduation ceremonies, and may even feel as if they have been cut loose with no direction. This can be frightening and disruptive, but as social workers, we must remember that through disruption comes transformation. As we move forward on our job searches, we must get “unstuck” and use this time as an opportunity to think about what we will become and how we will get there—and how we want to be known in this crisis and beyond.
Embrace the change, acknowledge the anxiety, and move forward.
The world is experiencing unprecedented levels of mental health crisis, trauma, grief, and economic devastation. Social workers are in a position to be on the front lines of the public mental health crisis that will inevitably occur as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. We can do certain things now to be prepared for the opportunities ahead of us.
Now is the time for social workers to earn certifications or receive trainings that will enrich their practice and serve as great résumé builders. The SOAR online course trains case managers to assist individuals who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness and have a mental illness, medical impairment, and/or a co-occurring substance use disorder to apply for the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) disability programs—Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). This is a free certification and can be found at https://soarworks.prainc.com/course/ssissdi-outreach-access-and-recovery-soar-online-training.
The SAMHSA-HRSA Center for Integrated Health Solutions Telebehavioral Health Training and Technical Assistance Series provides the tools and resources necessary to identify and implement a telebehavioral health program in an online training divided into six sessions. Each session includes a Q&A component with telebehavioral health experts and associated resources. For further exploration and information, see https://www.integration.samhsa.gov/operations-administration/telebehavioral-health.
Additionally, social workers should use this time to become more comfortable with technology. It is important to seek appropriate training and consultation, and to stay up to date with ethical considerations, to ensure they have the necessary skills to provide needed services.
Finally, as we begin to learn more about the coronavirus stimulus package, we should be familiar with how it will help our clients and our profession. Most NASW chapter websites have online (both local and statewide) resources available to keep you informed.
Get Organized.
Stay organized and structure your search with a job search action plan. When one is unemployed, it can be easy to slip into a routine without structure. Some of us may need this state of being for a few weeks to decompress and prepare for the job search. However, at some point, it is time to structure your search and create a plan.
To create your action plan, begin with setting a number of hours in which you will work on your job search, as opposed to a number of jobs you will apply for. If you only choose a number of jobs per week, you will not be able to manage your time well, as some job applications can take hours to complete, and others may take only a few minutes. On the other hand, if you set a number of hours that you will work on your job search, you use your time much more efficiently and intentionally.
Your time may be spent on things like professional networking, applying for and studying for the licensure exam, identifying and researching jobs in your online search engines, identifying key words for your search, and tailoring your materials—such as your résumé, cover letters, and LinkedIn profile. To give this time even more structure, create an individual job search plan chart. There are many examples online, but the chart below will give you an idea of what your plan might look like.
Identify your areas of anxiety and your coping mechanisms.
In every job search, people will identify events that can hurt their self-confidence or make them question their experience, knowledge, or capabilities. These could be certain interview questions, the uncertainty of not hearing back from an interviewer, or even the frustration of filling out applications. When these occur, take a moment to identify them and determine a way to anticipate your reaction, so you can create safeguards to address them. For example, if you find that you begin getting anxious about hearing back from an interviewer, ask the employer what the application process looks like and when you can expect to hear back. If you find yourself frustrated with answering the same questions over and over again on an application, make a template, so that when you get to these questions, you can quickly refer to the answers you have given on previous applications.
Practice self-care throughout the process.
This cannot be emphasized enough. Self-care is critical to us as social workers, and we must integrate it into all of our professional endeavors, including the job search. As you reach your goals, scratch them off the list and celebrate! This could include anything from eating a piece of your favorite chocolate to watching one of your favorite Netflix shows.
Avoid negative self-talk, and don’t beat yourself up over rejection or spend time trying to rationalize why you may not have been a great fit for a particular job. These behaviors will not move you forward—they will make you go back.
Make a plan for what you will do after your job interview. There are all kinds of strategies that you can incorporate, but they should be individualized and, most importantly, scheduled.
Build a support network.
One of the best strategies for lowering your stress in ANY situation is to have a support network. In a job search, this may entail a more strategic approach, but it will make an enormous difference. When we try to accomplish a job search in a silo, we only have ourselves to be accountable to. Or worse yet, we may have others in our lives who don’t understand and place unreasonable expectations on us.
Find a colleague or peer who is empathetic and understanding of what upward professional mobility entails. This person can be a peer who is also seeking a job, a mentor, or someone you admire who is constantly seeking new opportunities. Ask them how they accomplished their goals, and if they would serve as an accountability buddy to you.
One of the best things about our profession is that helping comes naturally, and our values center around human happiness and success. Set a timeframe, include this in your goals, and make time to meet or speak with your support person. Then make the ask. For example, “I’ve always admired the way you seek out new opportunities, and I was wondering if you might be available to hold me accountable in my job search.” Let them know that it would only take 15-20 minutes of their time each week for a few weeks. When they accept, send them a follow-up with a proposed schedule.
After winning the job, pay it forward and help someone else. Remember: luck = opportunity + preparation. Now, more than ever, we must be prepared for the challenges and opportunities that lie before us.
Our clients need us, and we need each other. Onward and forward!
Jennifer Luna, MSSW, writes about social work career development. Jennifer is a social worker, career coach, keynote speaker, and trainer. She serves as Director of the DiNitto Center for Career Services at the University of Texas at Austin, Steve Hicks School of Social Work. Jennifer utilizes a collaborative yet strategic coaching approach to assist social workers in identifying their strongest skills, areas of knowledge, key strengths, and leadership characteristics.