July 2004
How Well Do You Dance Naked?
By
President of Workforce Associates
and author of
NetWork: Maximizing Your Career Resources on the Internet
Available online and in print from Author House
July 2004
How Well Do You Dance Naked?
By
President of Workforce Associates
and author of
NetWork: Maximizing Your Career Resources on the Internet
Available online and in print from Author House
When I checked this book out of the library recently, several people looked at me funny. Even my friendly library clerk had a quirky smile on her face, as if to ask me if I was contemplating a new career as a topless dancer. For several months it sat on my shelf, neglected. And then I happened to see it while looking for something else. Whatever that something else was disappeared from my radar screen as I read with complete concentration this fine book that I’d like to share with you.
After observing that most career self-help books do not deal with the emotional issues and personal aspects of job searching, Robert C. Chope, professor of counseling at San Francisco State University, decided to remedy that situation. Drawing upon over 20 years of experience as a practicing career psychologist and as a teacher of career counselors, he wrote Dancing Naked: Breaking Through the Emotional Limits that Keep You from the Job You Want, published by New Harbinger Publications.
In his book, Dr. Chope builds upon the basic premise that people form a "career identity," an idea of what jobs they are trained for, what careers are acceptable to pursue, and what positions they are personally suited for. When this career identity is disrupted through job loss, career dissatisfaction, promotion, or even retirement, it can thrust individuals into an emotional crisis, requiring a stripping away (the "dancing naked" of the title) of the defenses that keep them from finding a satisfying career.
Dancing Naked offers readers tools for understanding and dealing with the emotional stresses, including self-doubt and anger, that can come with a career search, helping them build a flexible career identity grounded in positive career beliefs and skills rather than credentials and training.Emotional stages of job loss
According to Chope, feelings about job loss go through four stages:
- Shock
- Denial
- Hope that things will work out
- Depression when hopeful expectations are not realized.
Chope says this pattern usually takes about four or five months to play out. Since a typical job search can drag on for up to seven months, it’s no surprise that many job seekers become dispirited by the process. Unemployment can create a full-blown identity crisis, and job seekers may undergo a grieving process similar to grief over a death or a terminal illness.
Signs of depression
Chope described some of the symptoms people report during unemployment:
- Sleeplessness
- Night sweats
- Changes in appetite
- Excessive alcohol use
- Not taking care of themselves
- Sensation of a weight on the chest.
What’s more depressing is that these signs may continue after re-employment.
Even after a person has found a new job, depression may persist. According to Chope, when people have found new jobs, they are concerned about losing them. They are afraid they will have to go through the whole process again -- but this time, they'll be older and won't have the needed skills. People with these fears react by:
Chope’s comments have been verified in a recent study published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology. Examining the connection between job loss and depression, researchers interviewed 756 people who had recently lost their jobs and were looking for new jobs. They were from diverse educational backgrounds, and their average age was 36. "Unemployment can start a vicious cycle of depression, loss of personal control, decreased emotional function and a decline of physical health," said Richard H. Price, Ph.D., lead author of the study and professor of psychology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
- Toeing the company line
- Not being as creative as in previous jobs
- Becoming more self-protective.
The researchers found that the chain of adversity - job loss, financial strain, depression, loss of personal control, decreased emotional functioning and declining physical health - continued for more than two years, even after re-employment. "These findings suggest that increases in depression and loss of personal control with those who lose their jobs can have adverse affects on health and emotional functioning for longer than the initial triggering event - job loss - possibly interfering with finding another job," Price said.
Dancing Naked offers eight rules that can help readers weather the career search, including accepting the instability of the career world, using people and other resources effectively, being imaginative, and minimizing stress in your life. Exercises throughout the book help readers identify their fears and pinpoint their goals.
The three main sections of Dancing Naked contain copious exercises. Do them. They're generally interesting, sometimes fun and will spark all sorts of new ideas about the work you want to do and how to find it.
The exercises help drive home Chope's list of eight rules that he recommends you follow during your job search to establish your beliefs about your career and also to battle the self-doubt, anxiety and anger that being out of work can foster.
Rule #1: Have you accepted the instability in the career world around you? Are you able to refrain from blaming yourself for your predicament? How well are you handling the uncertainty of the search?
Rule #2: Hare you using the people around you? Do you stay in touch with people, especially those who can help you?
Rule #3: Are you using the resources around you? Are you out there being visible and present? Or are you holed up, hunkered down, and awaiting your demise?
Rule #4: Are you using your imagination? How truly creative have you been? You may need to consider Plan B, which includes bridge jobs and other short term possibilities.
Rule #5: Are you rethinking your employment goals?
Rule #6: Have you become panicky?
Rule #7: Are you minimizing your stress level? Do you feel a sense of personal or vocational shame that you can’t seem to get it together to get the job that you want?
Rule #8: Are you sure that this is the best time for you to be in a job search? Have you completely let go of your former job?
Empowerment during job loss
It's important to remain hopeful during times of job loss and unpredictability. Chope suggests the following tips for finding a new job:
- Network with people
- Be imaginative and creative
- Consider alternatives to one traditional job such as three part-time jobs
"People should pursue their own uniqueness," Chope said. He also suggests that people stop negative self-talk. A huge amount of depressed thoughts can be wiped out just by stopping negative talk. People also need to attend to their appearance and attempt to look better, promote healthier habits, create self-affirmations and believe in their own abilities. "If you think you can, you might. If you think you can't, you're right."
Keeping Your Job Search on Track
Chope’s book skips tips on resumes, cover letters and other nuts and bolts. Dancing Naked also features plenty of stories about real people. The stories are particularly useful for job seekers, because every one of them involves someone who had reached a breaking point in their lives, either because of their job or because they didn't think they could get the job they wanted. All of them are able to conquer their problems and find satisfying work. Seeing such challenged people turn things around may prove inspiring.
So get this book, work through it and take it to heart. You'll end up excited about your possibilities and better prepared for them. You may even feel comfortable dancing naked -- but I’m not suggesting you consider it as a new career.
Follow through Chope’s philosophy of continuing to network. Job Hunt.org has an excellent list of professional associations and societies throughout the country with career opportunities online or ideas to help you find jobs. There are also sections of this powerful website that have lists of job websites by state and general professional category as well as ideas for tapping your alumni association for names of fellow grads who have jobs in places and companies that you’d like to be part of.
Happy job hunting during the month of July. Please continue to send me your resumes. I always enjoy getting them and helping you reach your potential. All the best --
Jane M. Lommel, Ph.D.
jlommel@WorkforceAssociates.com
Copyright © 1995-2007 Gary Johnson Communications. All rights reserved. BraveNewWorkWorld, NewWork, NewWork News, Careers in the NewWork World, WITNE, and WITNE: Women in the New Economy are trademarks of Gary Johnson Communications.