When a case involves questions about someone’s ability to be employed, to be hired and what they can earn, the case often revolves around how a person executed a genuine, diligent job search. In employment litigation, it is the key issue about mitigation of damages. In family law cases, this is a critical question to establish or modify the amount of support or maintenance.
Job seekers or petitioners must demonstrate planning, discipline and consistent activity to make their case. Genuine and successful job search activity quickly overwhelms even the best organized person. It absolutely requires written plans and tracking activity that are prepared and stored using a simple spreadsheet or software tools; these can be printed as well.
The first thing a lawyer should ask is if the job seeker or client has a well-thought out plan. A plan should include:
- Where they want to be.
- What kind of job they want.
- What strengths and assets they bring to the employer
- What challenges and gaps they need to overcome
- What type of industries or markets they want to be in.
One of my clients began her search with just such a plan. After a brief career as an accountant, she had not held a paying job in over twenty years. She raised her children and was the primary caregiver to her elderly father, managing his medical and physical care and his finances. She knew a lot about the special needs and intricacies of working with the elderly and the stress it caused their families.
She needed to support herself and wanted to use her unpaid experience because she was no longer a CPA. Before she started her job hunt, we took an inventory of her skills from her prior career and from her other roles at home and in the community. She then:
- Contacted the AICPA to see what she needed to do to upgrade her skills in accounting.
- Scheduled several hours a day on both the Internet and through networking, to research careers serving the growing senior population.
- Learned about certifications in these careers
- Scheduled conversations (phone and in-person) and follow-up with connections
By planning her job search, she knew who to target, starting with lawyers and organizations serving seniors and those with special needs. This brought her to a part-time job that started a new career in elder care. Just as she hoped and planned for, she is gaining credible experience and new skills. She is on her way to being self-supporting within the next eighteen months.
If your clients don’t know how to begin this process or haven’t looked for a job in a while, there are good career/job search counselors or coaches who can help. Make sure they engage one because they will be more successful and demonstrate their willingness to help themselves.
Part 2 of this blog will outline the questions job seekers need to ask when creating an end goal and what activities they need in order to be successful in their job search.
How did you plan an end-goal for your job search?
