Mainaining A Sustained Work Search (Ppt.2003)
- 1. MAINTAINING A SUSTAINED WORK SEARCH Finding reemployment Laura Braeunig Beth El Community Network January 11, 2011
- 2. DON’T BE FOOLED BY A GOOD DAY "The standard advice to the unemployed is to treat a job search like a full-time job. Yet, only about 7 percent of our sample devoted six hours or more daily looking for work." "The Job-Search Grind: Perceived Progress, Self-Reactions, and Self-Regulation of Search Effort," August issue, The Academy of Management Journal.
- 3. VARIABLES AFFECTING JOB SEEKING INTENSITY Self-regulation Metacognitive activities Learning Goal Orientation Conscientiousness & Extraversion Positive emotions Collaborative self-concept repair Resilience
- 4. SELF REGULATION Reeve (2005) believes self-regulation strategies are learned behaviors which can be taught. Emotional control Individuals who manage stress and negative affect associated with unemployment are in a better position to find reemployment. Motivational control Motivational control in individuals who have the capacity to maintain concentration and effort in the face of difficulties are better placed to find work. Work commitment Having the goal of being reemployed, is positively related to job seeking intensity
- 5. METACOGNITIVE ACTIVITIES Goal setting Plan development Monitoring Analyzing progress Individuals who plan for goal accomplishment and monitor progress toward the goal perform better in training and learning contexts (Schmidt & Ford, 2003).
- 6. LEARNING GOAL ORIENTATION A person’s set of beliefs that reflect the reasons why they approach and engage in academic and learning tasks. A Learning Goal Orientation (LGO) reflects a focus on task completion and understanding, learning, mastery, solving problems, and developing new skills. A Performance Goal Orientation (PGO) is exemplified by a concern for personal ability, a normative social comparison with others, preoccupation with the perception of others, a desire for public recognition for performance, and a need to avoid looking incompetent.
- 7. WHICH GOAL ORIENTATION ARE YOU? Learning Goal Individuals with this orientation: focus on increased competence and mastering something new evaluate competence according to whether a task is mastered or a skill developed more likely to choose difficult and challenging tasks, which enable individuals to develop competencies (van Hooft & Noordzij, 2009) Performance Goal Individuals with this orientation: focus on demonstrating competence and gaining positive judgments and avoiding negative judgments about one’s competencies evaluate competence according to how they compare to others interpret effort and outcomes as diagnostic of their ability (high effort levels ->indicator of low ability ->results in withdrawal from further effort)
- 8. CONTENTIOUSNESS & EXTRAVERSION Conscientiousness, the extent to which people are achievement striving, self-disciplined, and dependable is one such trait. Extraversion, the degree to which an individual is energetic outgoing, warm, assertive, and optimistic showed the strongest relationship with job-search behavior (Turban et al., 2009).
- 9. POSITIVE EMOTION Research by Wanberg et al. (1999) showed that controlling negative, intrusive thoughts wasn’t related to job-search activity or reemployment. However, results from the 2009 Turban et al. study showed that positive emotions played a larger role in job search when the length of unemployment was extended.
- 10. POSITIVE EMOTION There is a tendency for job seekers to let up when they seem to be making progress. This can be particularly problematic among those who are low in emotional disengagement -- that is, those who have little ability to detach from thoughts that may interfere with achieving a goal. ( The Academy of Management Journal , August, 2010.)
- 11. COLLABORATIVE SELF-CONCEPT REPAIR Social psychologists theorize that self-concept formation comes from three sources: Reflected appraisals about the self Social comparisons Self comparisons People desire, seek, and try to create positive reflected appraisals, favorable social comparisons, and self-perceptions that display competence and morality (Rosenberg, 1981).
- 12. JOB SUPPORT GROUP & SELF CONCEPT REPAIR Redefining the meaning of unemployment How have you redefined your meaning of unemployment? Realizing accomplishment List some accomplishments you have experienced before and during your period of unemployment Restructuring time How are you structuring your time to assure a continued search and still engage in a life balance? Forming accountability partnerships Are you connecting with others? Helping others What does helping others do for you?
- 13. CHECKLIST Variable What it looks like Yes/No Self-regulation Emotional Control Motivational Control Work Commitment Metacognitive activities Goal setting Plan development Monitoring Analyzing progress Learning Goal Orientation Mastering task Increasing learning Conscientiousness & Extraversion Achievement striving, self-disciplined, and dependable Energetic outgoing, warm, assertive, and optimistic Positive emotions Collaborative self-concept repair Redefining the meaning of unemployment Realizing accomplishment Restructuring time Forming accountability partnerships Helping others
- 14. WHY DO ALL THESE VARIABLES HELP YOU? Self-regulation Metacognitive activities Learning Goal Orientation Conscientiousness & Extraversion Positive emotions Collaborative self-concept repair
- 15. RESILIENCE Resilience is not and either/or trait. It is a continuum and people can be taught how to overcome obstacles, steer through everyday adversities, and bounce back from major life-altering events. Pillars with which people can alter their perceptions and reactions to life events: Believing life change is possible Thinking accurately about self, others, and circumstances Refocusing on human strengths
- 16. LIVING YOUR VALUES Values Clarification from a peak experience Recall two or three peak experiences you can easily remember (personal or work related). Ask, “What makes that story or experience significant for you?” (Partner) Listen and note the values that you believe are coming from the storyteller.
- 17. “ To land a job in a tough market, you don’t need to be brilliant, you need to be resilient” .
- 18. References Baron R. A. (2008). The role of affect in the entrepreneurial process. Academy of Management Review, 33, 328-340. Barrick, M. R., Mount, M. K., Strauss, J. P., (1993). Conscientiousness and performance of sales representatives: Test of the mediating effects of goal setting. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 715-722. Bureau of Labor Statistics, bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm April (1-5). Button, S. B., Mathieu, J. E., & Zajac, D. M. (1996). Goal orientation in organizational research: A conceptual and empirical foundation. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 67, 26-48. Creed, P. A., King, V., Hood, M., & McKenzie, R. (2009). Goal orientation, self-regulation strategies, and job seeking intensity in unemployed adults. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94, 806-813. Dweck, C. S. (1986). Motivational processes affecting learning. American Psychologist, 41, 1040-1048. Dweck, C. S. & Leggett, E. L. (1988). A social-cognitive approach to motivational personality. Psychological Review, 95, 256-273. Garrett-Peters, R., (2009). “If i don’t have to work anymore, who am i?”: Job loss and collaborative self-repair. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 38 , 547-583. Judge, T. A., & Ilies, R., (2002). Relationship of personality to performance motivation: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Applied Psychology 87, 797-807. Kanfer, R. Wanberg, C. R., Kantrowitz, T. M., (2001). Job search and employment: A personality-motivational analysis and meta-analytic review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 837-855. Marder, J. (2010). Landing a job in a tough market. gradPsyc . March, 31. Niessen, C., Heinrichs, N., Dorr, S., (2009). Pursuit and adjustment of goals during unemployment: The role of age. International Journal of Stress Management, 16, 102-123. Reeve, J. M. (2005). Understanding motivation and emotion (4 th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Reivich, K. & Shatte’, A. (2002). The Resilience Factor. New York: Broadway Books. Rix, S. (2004). “Update on the Older Worker:2004”, AARP Public Policy Institute Data Digest, (No. 114, 2, 3). Rosenberg, M. (1981). The self-concept: Social product and social force. In M. Rosenberg and R. H. Turner (Eds.)., Social psychology; Sociological perspectives, 593-624. New York: Basic Books. Royster, D. A. (2003). Race and the invisible hand: How white networks exclude black men from blue-collar jobs. Los Angeles: University of California Press. Taylor, P., Kochhar, R., Morin, R., Wang, W., Dockterman, D., Medina, J., (2009). Americas changing workforce: Recession turns a graying officer grayer. Pew Research Center. http://pewsocialtrends.org .
- 19. Turban, D. B., Stevens, C. K., Felissa, K. A., (2009). Effects of conscientiousness and extraversion on new labor market entrants’ job search: The mediating role of metacognitive activities and positive emotions. Personnel Psychology, 62, 553-573. Schmidt, A. M., Ford, J.K., (2003). Learning within a learner control training environment: The interactive effects of goal orientation and metacognitive instruction on learning outcomes. Personnel Psychology, 56, 405-429. van, Hooft, E. A. J., Noordzij, G., (2009). The effects of goal orientation on job search and reemployment: A field experiment among unemployed job seekers. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94, 1581-1590. Van Horn, C., Krepcia, K., Ridley, N., (2006). Public and private strategies for assisting older workers. Presentation at the National Academy of Social Insurance 18 th Annual Policy Research Conference on “Old and Out of Work: Jobs and Social Insurance for Changing Economy-How Will Low and Moderate Income Workers Fare?”. John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development. Rutgers. Wanberg, C. R. (1997). Antecedents and outcomes of coping behaviors among unemployed and reemployed individuals. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82, 73-744. Wanberg, C. R., Kammeyer-Mueller, J. ., & Shi, K., (2001). Job loss and the experience of unemployment: International research and perspective. In N. Anderson, D. S. Ones, H. K. Sinangil, & C. Viswesvaran (Eds)., Handbook of industrial, work, and organizational psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 253-269 ). London: Sage. Wanberg, C. R., Kanfer, R., Rotundo, M., (1999). Unemployed individuals: Motives, sob search competencies, and job-search constraints as predictors of job seeking and reemployment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84, 897-910. Warr, P. (2001). Age and work behavior: Physical attributes, cognitive abilities, knowledge, personality traits, and motives, In C L. Cooper & I. T. Robertson (Eds.)., International review of industrial and organizational psychology (Vol. 16, pp. 1-36). London: Wiley.
Editor's Notes
- #4: For those who find themselves unemployed, under-employed , or marginally employed, variables related to successful reemployment include self-regulation, metacognitive activities, learning goal orientation (van Hooft & Noordzij, 2009), conscientiousness, extraversion, positive emotions (Turban, Stevens, & Lee, 2009), and collaborative self-concept repair (Garrett-Peters, 2009). All variables affect motivation and job seeking intensity which is positively correlated with successful reemployment (Creed et al., 2009; van Hooft & Noordzij, 2009).
- #5: Unemployed job-seekers do well to keep two truths in mind: a job search is a bit of a roller coaster, and it's important to keep an emotional balance. The job search process is frequently financially and emotionally draining. People vary considerably in how they pursue jobs and in their success in obtaining reemployment. Job seekers bring a variety of personal resources, including personality, to their search process (Turban et al., 2009). Job-seeking from a self-regulatory and goal setting perspective is considered, “a purposive, volitional, self-managed, and dynamic pattern of activity directed toward the goal of gaining employment” (Kanfer, Wanberg, & Kantrowitz, 2001, p. 412). The job search process is a dynamic, self-regulated process in which people must manage emotions, motivation, and thoughts while engaging in goal-directed behavior (Kanfer, et al. 2001).
- #6: Engaging in metacognitive activities positively affect job seeking behaviors that result in purposeful, directed behavior toward a goal and also allows for the readjustment of goals when necessary.
- #7: Goal orientation is described as a quasi-trait that may be influenced by situational characteristics Practice setting learning goals (specific, attainable, and moderately difficult and should stimulate learning) and receive feedback in a climate that focuses on improvement and development. Focus on learning different job search strategies, on viewing errors as learning opportunities, and on searching for ways to improve job search skills.
- #9: Personality traits are related to job search effort, intensity, and success (Kanfer, Wanberg, & Kantrowitz, 2001). Research by Turban, Stevens, & Lee (2009) showed contentiousness and extraversion were distinct personality traits that influenced job search processes and success. Conscientiousness is a strong indicator of performance (Barrick, Mount, & Strauss, 1993). Turban, Stevens, & Lee (2009) found a direct relationship between job seekers level of conscientiousness and job offers. They proposed that perhaps conscientious job seekers conducted better quality job searches in which they more carefully scrutinized their fit with the prospective employers and more carefully followed up with employers. Extraversion, the degree to which an individual is energetic outgoing, warm, assertive, optimistic showed the strongest relationship with job-search behavior (Turban et al., 2009). Judge and Ilies’ (2002) found consistent relationships between extraversion and motivation indices (e.g., self-efficacy and goal setting). Research by Turban et al., (2009) showed that the effects of extraversion on job search outcomes were fully mediated by metacognitive activities and positive emotions and that extraversion was significantly related to positive emotions. Taken together in process of job seeking, the personality trait of extraversion effects motivation, goal setting, self efficacy, metacognitive activities, and positive emotions.
- #10: One possibility for this may be that positive emotions enabled job seekers to behave more confidently or cope better with stress which allowed for more skillful responses during the interview response (Baron, 2008).
- #13: Choose one of the following questions to answer
- #14: While dispositional factors have been shown to impact reemployment, having a learning orientation in the process of job seeking, utilizing existing social capital, and cultivating resilience impacts motivation and goal orientation positively.
- #15: They are all connected to resilience.
- #17: Stories impart values. What do the stories you create say about what you value?