Overcoming Employment Barriers

Millions of job seekers face employment barriers. While some barriers may be caused by other people (discrimination) or circumstances beyond one’s control (chronic health issues or natural disasters), most barriers represent self-inflected red flags created by poor choices, questionable skills, sketchy experience, difficult personalities, and mediocre efforts. Few job seekers are victims of a lousy job market, bad employers, or dumb luck. It’s a candidate’s own cumulative red flags or potholes in life – job hopping, incarceration, termination, time gaps, negative attitudes, and limited education, skills, and experience – that make employers suspicious, hesitant, reluctant, and then resistant to interview and hire such risky people.

Similar to addictions, old habits are difficult to break, and denial prevents many people from changing their red flag behaviors. But few employment barriers are ever insurmountable. Most self-inflicted barriers pose challenges that require changes in attitudes and mindsets – renewed understanding, purpose, determination, and the drive to succeed.

This user-friendly guide, overlaid with a strong cognitive therapy theme, initially profiles each barrier as a series of introspective questions and then provides descriptions and analyses followed by sound advice on how to best overcome the particular barrier. Organized by different types of barriers and related red flags, the book includes:

- 12 barriers related to skills and work history
- 27 barriers associated with attitudes and behaviors
- 8 barriers focused to health, wellness, and disabilities
- 80 barriers centered on job search knowledge and skills

How do successful job seekers approach their job search, communicate with potential employers, complete applications, market resumes and letters, and get job interviews and offers? How do they handle rejections and bounce back? The 127 barriers outlined in this book go a long way to answering these important questions.