Looking Forward to Work: How a Fulfilling Career can mean the Difference between Addiction and Sobriety
By Daniel Jordan
The following is an interview with Rosemary Patterson, a Career Assessment and Awareness Specialist at Sunshine Coast Health Center. In this interview, Rosemary explains the importance of having clients discover their interests and aptitudes before embarking on a new or different career path.
What is your role at Sunshine Coast?
My role is to help clients find a realistic and satisfying career choice. Typically, these clients are currently unemployed or are in occupations that, for whatever reason, are not satisfying. We even have clients who are in retirement and are looking for something new. Quite often our clients may have a career in mind but they may not be aware of their own weaknesses that may make them unsuitable for certain occupations. Conversely, other clients may be in jobs for which their aptitudes far exceed the requirements for that particular occupation. These clients tend to be bored at work or, at the very least, feeling stuck. So I help clients, through a thorough assessment of their abilities and their interests, find their “ideal” career.
How do you do that exactly?
I basically use two instruments. The General Aptitiude Test Battery (GATB) provides individuals with a list of their strengths or vocational aptitudes. This is a reality check as it tells clients what they are good at as far as career-related abilities. I also use the Canadian Work Preference Inventory (CWPI) which pulls out interest patterns as they relate to vocation. Then I compare the results of both of these test using a computer program which takes the clients aptitudes interests and matches them against the interests and aptitude patterns of all the jobs in Canada based on the National Occupational Classification.
So, essentially, what I do is present a list of occupations to the client that fits their interests and abilities. A lot of tests only test for interests but don’t worry about aptitudes. So a person who took the test could go off and take some very expensive training and then drop out, not due to a lack of desire, but because they did not have the abiliity, or aptitude, to succeed.
Can you run me through the process?
Certainly. I first do a quick pre-interview where clients tell me what jobs they might be interested in, jobs they may have thought of us kids or since they entered the workforce. Then I run through a series of tests that help reveal their aptitudes, or strengths. I then run these results through the computer. I then sit down with the client and review the results. Rather than give them one career recommendation, clients receive a number of choices that they can go away and think about. I try not to make the decision for them because it is an awareness raising, rather than a prescriptive (telling them what to do), process. Then clients can go home and review their options and, if they choose, discuss these results with their partner and family before making a decision.
Did you have to take any special training?
Yes. I had to become certified in both the GATB and CWPI. However, before I could even be accepted into these certification programs I had to show I had a background in testing and debriefing test results which I had as a district school psychologist in Surrey. The certification starts with a 3-day seminar followed by a theory exam which demonstrates that you understand the statistical basis of these tests. Then you have to carry out three client assessments which are rated by a panel of experts. Only after succssfully completing these requirements are you considered proficient enough in the GATB and CWPI to administer anad interpret them.
Do you find any sort of pattern with the clients you see at Sunshine Coast?
Many of the clients I see at Sunshine Coast show high aptitudes for leadership and innovation but are in jobs that are reptitive with authoritative bosses. In other words, they are “idea people” working in jobs that are repetitive and boring or are natural leader in jobs where they encounter a lot of supervision. This is a definite pattern I have noticed.
I also have a lot of people working in “boring” jobs simply because they make a lot of money, don’t know their strengths, or have low self-esteem. For example, I had one client whose job it was to put oil pumps back together in the oil field. He was hopelessly bored. However, his aptitude test showed that he could have mastered high level university training. He was considering going back and taking some higher level courses to move up into a more intersting position. However, he was getting paid good money so I don’t know if he ever did go back to school and find his “true calling.”
Many of our clients don’t realize they have strengths, they think they are stupid. Then they have all of these problems with drugs and alcohol which makes them feel even feel worse about themselves. They may have had trouble in school due to specific learning disabilities that were never diagnosed. Perhaps their learning disabilities made it hard to put pen to paper. But it turns out that they score high, for example, on spatial- related abilities that come in handy when fixing things, putting things together, photography, etc. The work I do with clients can help them connect to these hidden talents.
Do you see a correlation between addiction and their careers?
An unsatisfying job can cause a great deal of frustration. They get angry. Say you have a person with low social abilities who is a teacher. He or she may get angry and frustrated with their students and blame them for a lot of his own problems when, in fact, he/she should really be in a job working with “things” rather than with “people.” Since the time we spend at work occupies so much of our working hours, it is not hard to see why people may resort to drugs or alcohol to deal with a poor career choice.
Can you tell me a success story?
Recently, I heard from one of our clients who was a drug dealer before he started treatment. During the process of my work with him he was able to see that he actually had a number of strengths that would make him an ideal tradesperson. So, the last I heard he was drug-free and was serving an apprenticeship as an electrician. This turn-around may not have been possible had he not realized that he had aptitudes for this type of work.
Interviewer: Thank you, Rosemary, for sharing your thoughts on this important topic
Rosemary: You’re welcome.
About Rosemary Patterson, Ph.D.
Rosemary is a former School Psychologist and now a Career Awareness Specialist. Rosemary is certified to administer and interpret the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) and the Canadian Work Preference Inventory (CWPI). for more information about Rosemary check out her website at rosemarypatterson.org .
About the Author
Daniel Jordan is the General Manager of Sunshine Coast Health Center and hopes that these postings will help take away some of the mystery often associated with addiction and its treatment.
Tags: addiction, Canadian WOrk Preference Inventory, career assessment, career awareness specialist, CWPI, GATB, General Aptitude Test Battery, national occupational classification, Rosemary Patterson
