The effects of a career transition program on reemployment success in laid-off professionals.

Abstract

This randomized experimental study examined the efficacy of a career transition program relative to a placebo control in promoting reemployment in 52 unemployed business people. The program focused on resolving emotions about the loss, enhancing self-esteem, increasing perceptions of control and competence, and facilitating cognitive restructuring. At 2- and 4-month follow-ups, rates of full-time reemployment were higher for program participants than for controls (2 months: 61.5% vs.11.5%; 4 months: 72% vs. 38.5%). Both groups became more psychologically adjusted to job loss over time; however, the career transition program was more successful at enhancing perceived control over job loss.

The psychometric relationship between career thinking and salutogenic functioning amongst unemployed adults

“…We also know that non-student adults face unique stress and anxiety about unemployment (Hanish, 1999;Joseph & Greenberg, 2001;Starrin, Jönsson & Rantakeisu, 2001) and that this limits their career choices.…”

“…It creates greater tension Joseph & Greenberg, 2001;Muchinsky, 2006). Older, non-student adults may have spent a lifetime acquiring skills relevant to a profession.…”

“…Including more and discrete groupings may have excluded important information. This argument uses evidence from the literature about how unemployment facilitates high levels of stress, anxiety, worry and threats to esteem (see Hanish, 1999;Joseph & Greenberg, 2001;Starrin, Jönsson & Rantakeisu, 2001) and how longterm unemployment increases depressive characteristics and decreases the chances of re-employment (Vinokur & Schul, 2002). This study failed to establish whether longterm unemployment contributes to reduced career decisionmaking efficacy and salutogenic functioning.…”

Development of the “Getting Ready for Your Next Job” Inventory for Unemployed Individuals

“…This emergent research base along with ballooning unemployment rates creates an opportunity for engaged scholarship (Bartunek, 2007; Van de Ven, 2007; Van de Ven & Johnson, 2006), combining academic knowledge with practitioner experience to create interventions to help unemployed job seekers navigate their job search. Although there are several potential ways of helping job seekers including more extensive interventions (Caplan, Vinokur, Price, & van Ryn, 1989; Joseph & Greenberg, 2001), this article describes the development of a self‐administered inventory to provide job seekers with quick insight into and feedback about aspects of their job search they should attend to or modify. This article contributes to a literature that has no such tool available, responds to scholars who have noted such a tool should be valuable (Saks, 2005), and also illustrates an engaged scholarship approach to scale development.…”

The Kaleidoscope Career Model Revisited

“…Scholars have noted that unemployment is a major life stressor (McKee-Ryan, Song, Wanburg, & Kinicki, 2005) that sharpens attention on future job and career choices. Studies such as Joseph and Greenberg (2001) and Konstam, Celen-Demirtas, Tomek, and Sweeney (2015) have used unemployed samples to examine subjective well-being and career adaptability as well as self-esteem and cognitive restructuring. Unemployed individuals cope with issues of self-esteem and self-worth associated with job loss (McKee-Ryan et al, 2005) and may sometimes pivot to a new career choice based on knowledge of their strengths as well as opportunities in the workplace.…”