Rebuild Your Brand: Recovery, Employment, & Social Media
Going to treatment for alcohol and substance abuse can be one of the most challenging and unsettling times in someone’s life. There are countless unanswered questions that arise during their time as they try to get their lives back on track: When am I going to get out? What am I going to do for work? Where am I going to live? What do I want to do with my life? Should I go back to school? Who am I going to hang-out with? Am I ever going to have fun again? These questions and hundreds more constantly rack the brains of those new to recovery as they try to navigate their new life.
Starting over for anyone is never easy. The wreckage of their past has usually left a trail of bitterness and resentment in their wake. Relationships that have turned sour, friends that were stolen and lied from, unpaid debts, court fines, the list goes on and on. Rebuilding their life means making right the wrongs they may have done in the past. Others’ perception of them may not be the best for a while, but that’s okay. They will have a clean slate once they make their amends. They have a new chance to be whoever they want to be. They can do whatever they want to do. They have the opportunity to rebuild their life and reputation.
One of the first things most people need to do when they get out of treatment is find a new job. Everyone needs money to live, and most people come out of treatment broke and in debt. The good news though, according to SAMHSA, is that:
Work is one of the best predictors of positive outcomes for individuals with substance use disorders. Individuals who are employed compared to those unemployed are more likely to demonstrate:
- Lower rates of recurrence
- Higher rates of abstinence
- Less criminal activity
- Fewer parole violations
- Improvements in quality of life
- More successful transition from long-term residential treatment back to the community 1
Thus, finding a job is paramount to one’s recovery and livelihood in the early stages of their transition back to society. In order to find a job, they have to go through the process of sending out resumes, interviewing, submitting background checks, and nowadays, potential employers snooping through their social media pages to see what kind of person they are behind the interview facade.
The statistics regarding social media snooping during the hiring process are staggering. According to the 2020 Manifest Recruitment Survey, “90% of employers look at potential employees’ social media accounts, 98% of HR professionals perform online background research about potential new hires, and almost 80% of businesses say they have rejected a job candidate based on social media content.” These numbers can be especially discerning for those coming out of treatment. Years of substance abuse and constantly being under the influence may have resulted in immature, inappropriate, or downright offensive social media posts that remain on their social media profiles. Pile on the fact that they may not even remember these posts due to their state of mind and their chances for landing the job they desire could decrease drastically.
LifeBrand’s AI-powered technology platform is the solution to this issue. Here at LifeBrand, we use cutting-edge technology to enable individuals to connect their social media accounts to detect and remove potentially harmful or inappropriate content from a users’ social media pages in a safe, secure, and compliant manner. Coupled with educational programming that teaches clients the benefits of building a positive online presence and the importance of finding a meaningful career path, residential/outpatient treatment centers, halfway houses, and peer recovery coaches can implement our technology as a vocational initiative for their clients as they navigate through early recovery and as they are reintroduced to the workforce.
Rebuilding your brand online has never been easier. Sign up today at www.lifebrand.life.
References:
1 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: Substance Use Disorders Recovery with a Focus on Employment and Education. HHS Publication No. PEP21-PL-Guide-6 Rockville, MD: National Mental Health and Substance Use Policy Laboratory. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2021.