Resiliency theory explores what is needed to support individuals to develop the capacity to sustain their well being as a result of exposure to significant adversity. This chapter examines what factors contributed to job seeking becoming a significant adversity and depleting participants’ resiliency. We then explore what impact the resultant depletion of resiliency had on individuals. We found that there were consequences to the physical and mental health of participants, including the inability to present well in an interview situation. We then identify what helped some participants cope with the adversity and recommend supports to develop more resiliency in job seekers.

The personal barriers identified were:

9.1 Contributing factors. Factors that appeared to contribute to participants changing from healthy and resilient job seekers into discouraged job seekers.

9.1.1 Multiple challenges and/or disabilities

9.1.2 Multiple concurrent or consecutive negative events

9.1.3 Unsuccessful attempts to return to work

9.1.4 Retraining/more education without employment

9.1.5 Medication adjustments/side effects.

9.2 Impact of decreased resiliency.

9.2.1 Psychological

9.2.2 Difficult Personal Presentation. How lack of resiliency can lead to job seekers not being able to present themselves well.

The strategies and resources that helped participants to negotiate and navigate their ways to mental, physical and psychological health included:

1. Learning how to deal with chronic challenges and/or condition:

1. 1 Acceptance of challenges and/or disabilities.

1. 2 Improved capacity to deal with challenges

2. Taking control of the situation.

3. Learning about your self.

4. Learning to be pro-active and to self-advocate

5. Joining support groups.

9.1. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS.

9.1.1 MULTIPLE CHALLENGES AND/OR DISABILITIES.

As indicated in the chapter which describes the characteristics of participants, many had multiple challenges and disabilities. We found obtaining appropriate medical and other support for both mental and physical challenges led to considerably longer recovery or stabilizing time than if they had only one area to focus on.

Monica. That I have to make an adjustment from being a person with these conditions (she goes through the list of conditions that she has the least recent one is diabetes at 3 1/2 years). It seems as if you keep adding things combating more illnesses. Most relatively new – most of life I was relatively healthy.

9.1.2 MULTIPLE CONCURRENT OR CONSECUTIVE NEGATIVE EVENTS, LEADING RO A SIGNIFICANT BREAK IN ACTIVE JOB SEEKING.

We found that a number of participants had many events that seemed to have occurred in rapid succession, or at the same time. This resulted in a long break in employability due to the need to focus on the demands of the multiple difficult events. Many participants had initially experienced a single reason for being unemployed, e.g., the need to care for a parent, recovering from a car accident. However, before the participant could recover sufficiently from the one event, another one would occur, preventing them from returning to employment as planned. For example, the parent the participant was caring for would no longer need support but the participants' children would now need extra support or the participant would be diagnosed with a chronic health problem, unrelated to the initial negative event. The time away from job seeking stretched from months to years and unfortunately for a few, decades.

9.1.3 UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS TO WORK.

Some participants experienced a succession of lack of adequate support or successful planning for returning to work, leading to virtually giving up in spite of wanting to work. Participants would experience an event/diagnosis and recover to the point they believed they could return to work. Unfortunately, without the necessary supports, such as a plan for gradual return to full work duties, they were unable to cope with the demands of the workplace; consequently loosing jobs. This resulted in reduced confidence to the point that they were reluctant to try again.

9.1.4 RETRAINING/MORE EDUCATION WITHOUT EMPLOYMENT

Many of the Discouraged Job Seekers had spent years and taken out thousands of dollars in loans to re-train or further their education in order to get a new job. Over half of the participants we interviewed had done this. None of those we interviewed found their re-training had the desired result. Participants had taken courses that led to professional certification, believing the certificate was the gateway to professional employment. Participants found a disconnect between having a professional certification and employers’ willingness to hire people with significant challenges and/or disabilities.

Sally: Schools will take people in knowing full well that no one's going to hire them

Interviewer: How is that a problem?

Sally: It is when there's someone paying a lot of money for a degree and then when they get out they find out that there isn't a job. I know you all want to accept people like the human rights and everything, but….

Paying back student loans that had not led to employment further increased participants’ sense of discouragement. After enrolling in three different professional certification courses, Sally had found that the jobs she could do with her various challenges required a Master’s degree. However, she was not willing to make another foray into student loans.

Sally: I owe so much in student loans now why would I want to spend another $20,000 to be in the same place I am now next year - not off income assistance?

9.1.5 MEDICATION ADJUSTMENT/SIDE EFFECTS.

A number of participants had long term side effects from medication. Some were permanent: others required adapting to reduced activities. Many people with challenges and disabilities experience this. Participants we interviewed often had to cope with more than one or two interacting conditions requiring different medications, with different side effects. The impact of medication on some participants often required constant vigilance. The need to check blood levels, monitor moods, monitor changes in energy, etc. required significant effort, which meant a decreased ability to attend to the rest of daily living, including job seeking.

Living with long-term unsuccessful job seeking appeared to deplete participants’ resources and reduce their ability to be well in many areas of their lives.

9.2.1 PSYCHOLOGICAL

Participants who indicated they had not previously experienced mental health problems before becoming unemployed for a long time identified the following conditions:

• Stress and depression
• Self-doubt and low self-esteem
• Anxiety and even panic attacks

9.2.2 DIFFICULT PERSONAL PRESENTATION

After we interviewed each participant we took time to reflect on the experience with them. We tried to thoroughly understand each of their stories and their views and develop a clear picture of who we encountered. There were participants whose situations “made sense” to us: we recognized, as they often did, why job finding was so difficult for them. However, there were others whose training and experience led us to “perceive” that their barriers were surmountable. Why did we feel this way about people who indentified themselves as discouraged job seekers?

Our conclusion was that the impact of long-term frustration and the negative experiences of being unemployed had taken their toll on these participants and that their personal presentation was “difficult”. Our reactions to them were immediate. Walking into the room a participant would exude an “aura” of resentment, frustration, or other negative descriptor. For some this continued throughout most of the interview, softening after they felt more comfortable. With others, their anger would build throughout the interview and by the end we, the interviewers, were left exhausted.

There is concern that bringing this topic up could come across as ‘blaming the victim‘: regardless, we felt compelled to examine this area.

We tried to put ourselves in the place of employers. We agreed that if there were two applicants that appeared equally qualified and one was more difficult in how they presented themselves and one was more affable, it seemed evident that we would hire the more affable.

The importance appearing to, and being easy to talk to became clearer when we later interviewed employers. Generally, they stated that strong consideration is given to whether a potential employee would fit in to the workplace when deciding whether or not to hire someone[1]. The job skills the employee was bringing were important, but whether the new employee would fit in and get along was equally important.

The implications of having a difficult personal presentation are not restricted to employability. As we learned from our interviews, Income Assistance recipients may come across as having a difficult presentation, which may have consequences. Recipients have entitlements. We are not suggesting that recipients with difficult presentation are not in receipt of what they are entitled to: Rather it may be that the relationship is challenging resulting in the Employment Services staff and recipient not being able to go that extra distance that would help the recipient’s entry into the workforce.

One participant acknowledged that she is difficult with her Income Assistance workers. Coincidently, she is one of the participants we perceived as likely to be employable. She also told us how she does try:

Sally: I do try to carry a ”I hope you have a nice day” kind of attitude most of the time. I do try to be nicer on the phone and I truly believe that I leave a good message on the phone or the answering machine.

She has recognized that she does not communicate positively all the time and has asked to be accompanied to appointments with her income assistance worker.

Interviewer: So you go in with your aunt?

Sally: Yes my aunt says it just feels very cold. It's... it's like you're wasting your time she figures: nothing's going to happen she says. “You are both cold to each other: neither one of you wants to give in and it's like you're wasting her time”. And I'm like; she's wasting my time because nothing ever happens when I go in.

We are aware that some people might have conditions such as autism could result in a perception of difficult presentation. We learned that these conditions may go undiagnosed well into adulthood. We suggest consideration be given to formal assessment when someone is exploring whether a barrier to success in job seeking is difficult personal presentation.

Discouraged Job Seekers reading this may see themselves in this section; workers involved in service delivery may find resonance. A problem once identified offers the possibility of change.

We were inspired by the strength and tenacity we heard from participants. The pattern that we identified as most valuable is learning how to contend and thrive with a challenge or disability. Following are some examples of the wisdom and information participants shared regarding how they developed the capacities to get through their employment barriers.

1. Dealing with chronic conditions:

1.1 Acceptance. As it is with many changes in life there is not an easy line to draw between ‘having some problems’ and accepting that a major change has occurred in your life.

Monica: Most of my conditions are relatively new - it’s an adjustment –it takes some people years.

During the time we were interviewing her Monica had gone from almost applying for income assistance to being enrolled in a retraining program. This came as a result of a process of her accepting that she had become ‘disabled’. Accepting this diagnosis allowed her to obtain the supports in place for people with disabilities, such as a program to help her retrain. When we met her for the second time she was very excited about her future career possibilities. She was ‘full speed ahead’.

1.2 Improved capacity to deal with challenges. Learning how to cope with chronic illness as it relates to employability did take years for some. However after they had integrated their learning, many felt it made them more resilient and reliable as potential employees. Many participants who had experienced significant life altering events felt that they had become stronger as a result. They felt their coping skills had increased to the point that they were more complete and capable people.

Being able to identify the best way to deal with a challenge or disability, adapting to reduced energy, and the most effective use of medication were some key aspects to participants’ development.

Fran: It took me many years and many attempts to learn when I needed to take my medication. I needed to learn the signs that would bring flashbacks. At first, I just ran home at the first sign of feeling unsteady...now I know when I need to take a beak. I couldn’t handle my condition very well before, but now I have learned how to.

2. Taking control of the situation. Some participants did this by learning about their conditions, and its needs, and re-framing it. Joan had thought a lot about her condition, a rare auto immune disease whose symptoms were not easy to explain to people. She had spoken to many others with difficult conditions that were not easily identifiable as a ‘disability’. Joan chooses to use the term ‘unwell’ to express the fact that some people may not be diagnosed with a physical disability but their body has reduced energy. She feels this term is more encompassing and identifies what the problem is and allows her to focus on finding the right solution.

Paula decided that she was overly focused on job seeking and decided to ‘take a break’ from active job seeking. She felt that if she spent a month on developing all the other aspects of her life she would be able to return to job seeking with a healthier, stronger sense of self. Although this is not a feasible option for all, it would appear to be a helpful ‘rebalancing’ or “taking control” of ones life.

3. Learning about your self. One participant applied for a job that she did not get, but used the interview experience to help her change re-focus for employment. The interview process included a personality inventory. The interviewer shared that the inventory indicating she is an introverted person: she had been applying for customer service jobs. She is now clear about how she can cope with jobs that require a great deal of interpersonal skill. She needs time for quiet, where she is on her own. It has helped her ‘be at her best’ in spite of still not finding work.

4. Learning to be proactive and self advocating.

We heard that people with challenges and disabilities do not just have to learn to cope themselves: they also need to deal effectively with the reactions of others.

Joan: I think other people are more intimidated by it (her illness) than I am, because I am used to it.

Joan has learned how to approach this situation, and recognizes that the person with the challenge or disability can make their lives and those of others in the community easier by speaking out about their needs.

Joan: “They can’t deal with what they don’t see or know. We can still work, we can still contribute and I think we are more well-rounded because we have gone through this (illness)”

5. Joining support groups. The Brain Injury Association of Nova Scotia, DisAbled Women’s Network, the Mental Health Association, and John Howard Society were mentioned by participants as being essential to their being able to content and thrive with their challenge or disability as they try to enter the labour force.

1. Education material on the impact of long-term job seeking and unsuccessful long-term job seeking should be developed and shared with members of the job finding community and with discouraged job seekers.

2. The importance of developing resiliency needs to be shared with discouraged job seekers and all members of the job finding community.

3. Develop forums for job seekers to support each other.

4. Develop specialized supports for people with multiple disabilities