4 Job Qualities Parents in Recovery Should Consider
Being a recovering addict is a job in and of itself and it most definitely is not the easiest job that there is. In fact, it is a very difficult one. Being a recovering addict and a parent at the same time is even more challenging. A recovering addict, who is a parent, and who is trying to find a job has to work very hard in all three areas in order to be successful. I hope this brief article inspires success for all parents in recovery.
As the owner of several inpatient, residential rehabilitation centers for drug and alcohol addiction, I have put out the advice to those who have completed my rehab programs to seek out a job and a career passion as quickly as possible. While those who are in recovery and who are also parents and gainfully employed may have the toughest and busiest lives of all of us, they are actually statistically speaking the least likely to relapse! Most of this is because of the responsibility they create in their lives by having a job and kids to take care of. Such individuals simply can’t go back to using and abusing drugs and alcohol when so much responsibility weighs on their shoulders.
I’ve put together a few tricks of the trade for what parents in recovery should look for in a job. This should help in one’s quest to find a job that will not only help provide for the family, but also be conducive to continued sobriety:
- Recently, the well-known online job and career information platform FlexJobs.com conducted a survey of no less than 1,200 working parents. This survey was done to ask them what they felt were the most important factors in deciding which positions to accept and which to discard when it came to qualifications for a good job. The most important point by far was schedule options.
- Money was a big button point too. Like any other professionals in the job force, working parents are concerned with salary, as this will make a big difference in how much they bring home for their family. In a recent survey, income was the third most selected deciding factor in a potential job, and seventy-five percent of those surveyed said that it was a major concern.
- Of all of the different factors that could be deemed “the most important” to parents it was flexibility in the work environment that was the most important, with 84 percent agreeing. This was because parents wanted jobs that had good opportunities for expansion and advancement, and that also had multiple different options of different types of positions to hold.
- Eighty-seven percent of parents said that a less stressful job environment would be more important than overall income at the job. This also is important for parents in recovery. Even if a job isn’t going to make quite as much as another potential job, for a parent who is a recovering addict, the job will still be more beneficial in the long run if it has minimal if any stress and is conducive to sobriety and recovery.
- I believe that perhaps the most beneficial thing that recovering addicts who are also parents should also look for in a potential job is opportunities for advancement. When one has the chance to advance in a career, his or her drive, willingness, energy, and overall ambition and morale is much higher overall. This is a godsend for a recovering addict, as that striving for advancement is very conducive to sobriety and maintaining recovery.
Being a recovering addict and a parent and trying to find a good job is not the easiest thing to do. With the above tips though, one should at least be able to narrow down the list of potential jobs so that one can make a stellar selection. Good luck to all the parents in recovery!
Per Wickstrom is the founder and CEO of Best Drug Rehabilitation, one of the top holistic rehabilitation centers in the country. He found sobriety after a decades-long struggle with addiction and has since dedicated his life and career to helping others find the same life-affirming success he has. For more information, check out Per’sblog or connect with him onTwitter or LinkedIn.
