Career coaching helps those in recovery

“Did you get the interview?”

“I’ve got the interview tomorrow at 2:30.”

Angela Long is elated. While meeting to check in with Aaron, her client, she finds out that he has a job interview with a local manufacturer. Aaron and Angela are both excited. They have every reason to be. Aaron’s life is on a much different track than it was only a few months before. 

Angela is Aaron’s career coach who works for Great Lakes Community Action Partnership (GLCAP) in Fremont, Ohio. For the past few months, Angela has been helping Aaron in his career search as part of GLCAP’s WorkAdvance program, a partnership between GLCAP and the Ohio Manufacturers Association to connect job-seekers to manufacturing careers. 

Aaron might not be in the WorkAdvance program if the two hadn’t recognized one another one night while shopping in the same convenience store. Aaron had gone to high school with Angela, and both graduated in the same class. They happened to recognize one another at the carryout and started to catch up. Angela told Aaron about her work as a career coach—helping people write resumés, submit job applications, and get help with any needs they may have related to employment. 

But Aaron had been through a harder run. Angela soon found out that Aaron is one of nearly 21 million American adults who are recovering from a substance use problem.¹  Several months before the two met, Aaron had already completed a month of detox through Surest Path Recovery Center, and was now attending daily group meetings at Great Lakes Recovery and Counseling Center to help him stay sober. While the Centers for Disease Control reported 107,543 drug overdose deaths in 2023, a more hopeful statistic from the CDC indicates that 3 out of 4 people who face an addiction problem recover.^2,3 Aaron considers himself blessed to be one of those people who are in addiction recovery. He thanks his girlfriend for pushing him to get help.

“It all stemmed from my girlfriend,” he said. “She sent me a text one day that said, ‘You’d better get some help before it’s too late.’”

He made that call for help and entered detox shortly thereafter.

“We users, we don’t want to reach out. We don’t need your help. We can do it on our own. We need to realize we can’t do it on our own.”

“But when I saw the person I loved was about to walk out on me, I realized I needed help,” he said. “It’s a big change in my life. I thank my girlfriend daily. She has transitioned my whole world.”

While his focus was and is on his sobriety, Aaron found out from Angela that he could receive additional support for finding employment. Aaron was ready to take Angela’s help.

Those who are in recovery face certain barriers such as those noted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSA), which reports that many people struggle to find employment due to criminal history, insufficient work history, and stigma.⁴ Employment, however, is an important component for all people in addiction recovery. SAMSA also notes that people with a substance use disorder who are employed have higher rates of abstinence and lower rates of relapse than those who are not employed. WorkAdvance offered Aaron the opportunity to build his resumé, earn money while completing employment-related coursework, and receive other supports to not only better his chances of finding work, but improving his own recovery.

From Aaron’s perspective, learning how to manage money is especially helpful for maintaining his sobriety.
“We shouldn’t wait for that six months [of recovery treatment to end] to come to start looking for a job,” he said. “One of my triggers was money in my wallet. Money in my wallet meant I was going to get high.” 

Those who learn how to manage money while going through treatment have better odds of resisting those temptations, Aaron said.

“You’re training yourself for the next six months to manage that dollar,” he said. “If you do your six months [of recovery] and you get a job after six months, there’s a chance you might relapse, because for one, you’re getting money and you might not know how to manage it. You’re not in group. Group is no longer there.”

Aaron is also thankful to have received support with his resumé. For Angela, organizing Aaron’s history into a resumé was a matter of getting these facts organized on paper and submitted to employers that were a good fit. 

“He’s good with his hands,” Angela said, noting that Aaron had work experience in landscaping and tree trimming, among other skills that translate well into a manufacturing setting.

For Aaron, that help was invaluable.

“I don’t think they’d be calling me if I hadn’t come here.”

After updating Angela on his upcoming interview, Aaron thanks her for the work she did. He still seems to be in disbelief about the good news.

“Today I get the call from this job. It’s like it isn’t real,” he said. “I know there’s more benefits that are going to follow.”

Less than a week later, Aaron is proven right. He was hired, and is getting ready to start his first shift.

Angela is thrilled. 

“I tell them, ‘Yes, I am your career coach. But know that I’m your cheerleader on the side, and I’m cheering you on to that finish line.’”

1 https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/01/04/samhsa-announces-national-survey-drug-use-health-results-detailing-mental-illness-substance-use-levels-2021.html

2 https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2024/20240515.htm#:~:text=Provisional%20data%20from%20CDC's%20National,111%2C029%20deaths%20estimated%20in%202022.

3  https://www.npr.org/2022/01/15/1071282194/addiction-substance-recovery-treatment

4 https://store.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/SAMHSA_Digital_Download/pep21-pl-guide-6.pdf