It’s Never too Early to Start Preparing for a Job Search: Strategies to consider By Marci Shaffer, M.SC., Certified Professional Coach, Career Development Manager for
Aspire, January 2014 To hear the words, “You’re hired,” when looking for work are the best two words a young adult could hear. However, it takes a significant amount of work, planning, and motivation before one can get to this wonderful place of employment. In many situations it is the parents, teachers or others who are doing much of the work and planning, while doing all they can to keep a teen or young adult motivated to—Keep Moving Forward. Fact is, if your teen or young adult on the spectrum is looking for their first job, it will be the first of many job searches across their life span. According to the Department of Labor, workers can anticipate having as many as three career changes and over seven different employers during their working years. When combined with research that tells us of unemployment numbers as high as 85% for people on the autism spectrum and difficulty with keeping a job – the stakes are high. That said; when it comes to preparing for the world of work, let’s help our teens and young adults be accountable for taking or not taking action. Allow them to make mistakes and finally, refrain from ‘saving’ them, give them the opportunity to troubleshoot, solve and resolve their mistakes. Developing problem solving, self‐efficacy and resiliency will serve them well whether they are young or older. It is never too early to start developing these traits/characteristics/skills. However, if you are helping an older teen/young adult look for work..... then read on. Below are some strategies to consider when helping your teen/young adult get ready to engage in a successful job search. o Consider building a team around your teen and young adult o Take the time to self‐assess o Create a career and job search journal
1. Consider building a team around your teen and young adult. As the parent, it can be hard for your teen or young adult child to take your recommendations (because after all what do you know? – you’re only their mom or dad). Tap into close family friends who are willing to take on a mentoring role, register with the Massachusetts’s Rehabilitation Counseling Services, find a good therapist who is skilled in working with teens and young adults with autism spectrum or similar profiles, and/or work with a qualified career and job coach. 2. Take the time to self‐assess! I can’t stress this enough. Start by helping your teen/young adult to understand and know themselves, including strengths, challenges, likes/dislikes, sensory needs etc. They’ll need this information to choose the best‐fit job and working environment. Aspire  Massachusetts General Hospital 1 Maguire Road, Lexington, MA 02421  www.mghaspire.org Phone: 781.860.1900  Fax: 781.860.1920 Page 2 of 3 Self‐assessment is not a one‐time exercise. It’s something to do when your teen/young adult leaps into the world of work for the first time, and re‐view across the length of the job search because things change: your teen/young adult learns new skills along the way, they get better at managing change or stress, or they become more independent, for example. Some questions to help your teen/young adult to consider are as follows:  What are your accomplishments and skills (what did you do that took a lot of hard work, commitment and perseverance and what do you know how to do)  What are you good at (these are your strengths)?  What are your personal and career interests (what is the job and industry you’re targeting)?  What are your employment related goals (do you want to learn specific software, work 24 hours/week, work with people, work alone, work in a noisy, fast paced environment, work as a quality engineer?)  What are your areas for development (what do you need to get better at)?  What’s your plan for getting better at those things?  How do you manage stress and anxiety, and what situations or environments tend to bring about anxiety?  What are your strategies for dealing with your stress and anxiety?  How independent are you now (do you drive, travel by public transportation, live in an apartment, live at home, wake up in the morning on your own, manage your own money, etc)?  How do you deal with the unexpected? 3. Create a career and job search journal. Try this –have your teen/young adult incorporate their own drawings or cut out pictures/words from a magazine to represent thoughts and ideas, and create sections for:  Interests, skills and accomplishments  they’ll need this for creating your resume  Targeted jobs and industries. Have them:  create a list of potential job titles and companies  interview people who are working in jobs that are of interest to you  use ww.simplyhired.com to conduct job description and company research  This helps them to focus the job search efforts in areas that are likely to get them the job they want and are prepared for  Ideal work environment. Have your teen/young adult say or write out:  what it looks like, what kind of office they want to have, how many people work in the office or company  what noise level or lights they can tolerate  Stress management strategies. Have them: Aspire  Massachusetts General Hospital 1 Maguire Road, Lexington, MA 02421  www.mghaspire.org Phone: 781.860.1900  Fax: 781.860.1920 Page 3 of 3  get clear on when and why they might be anxious  write down strategies to use to re‐direct or calm themselves  Independent skills. Your teen/young adult will need to:  know and understand your current level of independence skills  know and understand the skills you will need in order to find your desired job  create a plan for the gap between their current and needed level of independence There is little to no chance that they’ll get to “your hired” unless your teen or young adult takes the steps noted above and many more. Self‐Assessment is an important part of the job search; without fully understanding and accepting who you are may result in a failed job search, saying “yes” to the wrong job or even getting fired. Self‐Assessment is an iterative process, fosters deeper self‐understanding, encourages career related research and provides descriptive vocabulary for how to communicate “who they are and what value they offer” to a prospective employer and the company as a whole. Marci Shaffer is the Career Development Manager for the Young Adult Internship Program which is designed for teens and young adults with autism spectrum and similar profiles between the ages of 19 and 30 years old. To learn more about this article contact Marci by email at [email protected] or about MGH Aspire’s internship program visit: http://bit.ly/1bnSGSg Aspire  Massachusetts General Hospital 1 Maguire Road, Lexington, MA 02421  www.mghaspire.org Phone: 781.860.1900  Fax: 781.860.1920