Working with addiction. How do you get a foot in the door?

[Dickon]

I went for an interview yesterday as a trainee drugs intervention worker, but sadly didn't get the job. I ended up talking to Alfa in the chat (it's a donating members feature) and he suggested I start a thread about how people started working in the field. I know there are at least a few people on DF who have jobs working with addiction in some way or form, and it would be interesting to know what career options there are, and what one should do to best get one's foot in the door. I'm thinking along the lines of qualifications, voluntary work, etc., etc.

Of course, for personal reasons, I'd be most intrigued to hear about people from the UK, but it would also be interested to hear how things work in other places too, by way of comparison, and for others in my position in other countries.

Dickon

[Ronnie]

I don't know specifically what you would have to do to work in this field but google DANOS ( I'm not allowed to post a link)

Also, can you not ask the organisation that turned you down? And did you not get feedback from your interview. Whenever I have failed to get a job, I always ring them up to ask why.

Good luck
Ronnie

[Alfa]

What kind of drug intervention work eduction is available? Which studies are highly sought after by employers? Are there short studies?

After looking up DANOS, I found that being able to create readable websites is definitely not one of the qualifications. The documents on there are often corrupt and the text is posted in white font on a white background. So when visiting their site, hit [Ctrl][a]

It may be best to gather the info here. So here goes:

Will being an ex-user help me?

The answer is ‘yes’ and ‘no’.

It is a statement of fact that many people who work in drug services are current users of drugs who have never sought or needed treatment. They have never declared their use nor is there any reason why they should unless it is causing them performance problems.

For people who have been or are still service users the situation is very different.

A number of years ago DrugScope suggested a two year rule – that people had to be two years clean before applying for jobs. This is now widely seen as discriminatory and DrugScope repudiates it in the strongest terms. However, many organisations still insist on it and this could cause a severe problem.

For people who are currently stable on a methadone script, there is no logical reason why, given decent management support, there should be blocks to entering employment in the drugs and alcohol sector but they can expect severe problems.

Being someone who had a drugs problem may provide a lot of insight into what other people are going through but without a certain set of skills it won’t help.

These skills involve:

* unconditional positive regard,
* listening,
* problem solving,
* and empathy.

I am an ex-user – when should I start applying for jobs?

There is no right answer to this – when you feel confident that you can do a job well and handle the pressures involved. As there is no formal set of qualifications you might as well start applying now. However, just stating that you are an ex-user won’t be enough – you have to demonstrate that you have all of the skills in the person specification.

Getting experience and making contacts

Volunteering is a practical way of getting experience for full time work. A number of organisations offer training schemes for volunteers – one of the most famous is the Blenheim project in London.

Many organisations outside the sector will have large numbers of clients who have drugs and alcohol problems – volunteering with them will provide a broader range of important experience – this is particularly true of ones that work with people who have mental health problems, offenders and the homeless.

User groups are set up and run by users for users. They often campaign for better treatment and carry out advocacy – generally, they are well linked into local decision making structures so they represent an excellent way of finding out what’s happening locally and meeting people. You can find out if there is one in your area by contacting our local Drugs and Alcohol Action team.


Getting knocked back

A key question to consider is how you handle getting knocked back – it would be naïve to expect to start getting interviews straight away.

The Alliance is a national organisation which exists to support people who are either in treatment or seeking help for drug dependency. It was set up and is run by people with direct experience of addiction management, reflecting the organisation’s core belief that when drug users and professionals work together as equals, it creates a powerful voice to help set high standards for drug treatment.

Types of organisations employing people.

There are many types of drugs and alcohol organisations. Some of them are:

Community Projects: community projects offer a range of services to people who have drink or dug problems. These could involve counselling, structured day care programmes, prescribing, and alternative therapies and so on. They cover most of the UK and are funded by local Drugs (and Alcohol) Action Teams. Staff employed by them include nurses, social workers and project workers.

Drugs Intervention Programmes are criminal justice organisations that work with people who have been arrested and are in the community. They provide a range of support services to help people get into treatment.

Rehabs: residential rehabilitation is for people who had the most severe problems and is normally funded by the local authority. It helps people work out how to live without drug and alcohol problems.

CARATS teams are multidisciplinary organisations providing a range of services to people who are in prison.

Qualifications.

There is no universally recognized entry level qualification into working in the drugs and alcohol sector. There is now an NVQ in health and social care at level three but it is not yet widely available. It is offered by some organisations to their staff but we are not aware of any institutions offering it – (we would love to hear from them).

A number of organisations offer post graduate qualifications; details are contained in the DrugScope pathfinder below.

DANOS - the Drugs and Alcohol National Occupational Standards are becoming the accepted basis for job descriptions and recruitment - make sure any course you do is mapped against them.

This book is advised for job interviews: http://www.addictionarena.com/books/...n9780415235686

Now here is where its getting interesting, but the font of the text is white on white and i can find no links:

There are two DrugScope 'Pathfinder' documents you may find useful.
no.8 A career as a Drugs Worker (July 04) (261kb)
no.9 List of courses (May 05)(184kb)

So check the DrugScope website to find them. Please upload them to the file archive. I see there are a lot of books on there as well on this subject.

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Huge amount of very useful info here.
	Informative and helpful.

[ex-junkie]

needle exchanges. not sure youd be ready to work in one though. some of them are paid jobs, and there is counselling offered upon request in most. (that swim has been to).

not sure how this works overseas, am in australia, and am referring to a couple in adelaide.

goodluck.

swim knows people who have worked in this field, and have mentioned how draining it is on them and their energy levels. all the same, nothing wrong with dipping swiy's feet in it, because swim feels swiy can help alot of people. however, be prepared to walk away if it seems like it could be detrimental to swiy's health.

<3

[Suave]

I volunteered at a needle exchange a while back; got there via a volunteering recruitment organisation called NewLink (NB: I am in Wales and am unable to establish via Google whether NewLink is a UK-wide organisation) and highly recommend work like it, although it's pretty emotionally scarring at times.

Before I was invited to go there I first had to go to a large variety of training courses (e.g. First Aid, Introduction to Counselling, Substance Misuse and so on and so forth), and of course I was subjected to CRB screening - although I was told that prior convictions wouldn't necessarily prevent me from volunteering.

My suggestion would be to try and get hold of a recruitment organisation such as NewLink so that you don't have to organise the training and contacting of prospective employers. I've had a bit of a look-round for NewLink Wales equivalents in the rest of the UK and can't find anything obvious, but I'm sure they're out there!