Recovery experience translatable to resume?

allnurses Guide · Oct 13, 2015

Hi All,
I am a new grad and looking for my first job. I am not picky, but I think psych would be the best fit at this time. I am having trouble fleshing out my resume, it looks kind of measly to me. Virtually all my significant employment has been under the table for my whole work life, almost 30 years. There are two home care jobs on there, employed by the family.
I was a tattoo artist for many years and while it is clear to ME that much of that skill set is transferable to nursing, I don't feel confident that an employer will read that, so it is not on my resume.
I am wondering if there is a way to convey the value of experience in my nine years of addiction/mental illness recovery to a resume. This has involved a lot of time spent giving regular support and helping other addicts in crisis. I do have experience working with homeless in shelters, which I put on my resume to apply for psych jobs.
Personal recovery experience is my biggest asset for a job in psych. How do I make it work to GET me a job?

I think having personal experience in Recovery is a great asset for psych. On your resume I would put something to the effect that you have done crises counseling at homeless shelters and through 12 step recovery groups. When you are asked you can talk to the person interviewing about your personal journey. Just one word of advice - no need to go into all the gory details of your life. Just I am in recovery myself and have 9 years of sobriety" BTW - be careful who reveal to as it could land you in a monitoring program. If you already have you license and no criminal record keep your head up and stay humble.

Hppy

allnurses Guide · Oct 13, 2015

While you may consider your personal recovery experience your "biggest asset" for psych nursing jobs, employers will not share that view. I would suggest you search for a nursing job the same way all the other new graduates do. And you might consider working in some other field than psych; in my experience, people who are drawn to psych because of their personal difficulties and experiences often end up finding the personal experience creates difficulties for them (and their work settings).
Some substance abuse recovery programs do prefer to employ people in recovery; that might be an option for you.
Best wishes!

I beg to differ as I was hired as a addictions nurse at the same facility where I went through outpatient treatment and worked there for 6 years before deciding to leave on excellent terms with my employer. They hired me when other facilities would not and they did know all the gory details. I was actually being monitored at the time as well and they were super in helping me get back on track with my career.

Big Blondie, ASN, BSN, MSN, APRN · Oct 13, 2015

I do not recommend putting it on your resume' Your attributes are fine. As far as being hired by where you went to treatment, they knew you. I believe the OP is talking about applying for jobs with employers she has no affiliation with. I had a potential employee put that he had smoked pot before on his resume' HR had a fit. Nothing I could do for him at that point. That was many moons ago but is an example of what not to do.

elkpark · Oct 13, 2015

I beg to differ as I was hired as a addictions nurse at the same facility where I went through outpatient treatment and worked there for 6 years before deciding to leave on excellent terms with my employer. They hired me when other facilities would not and they did know all the gory details. I was actually being monitored at the time as well and they were super in helping me get back on track with my career.

Beg to differ with what? You say that you were hired to work in addictions. I specifically said that "some substance abuse recovery programs do prefer to employ people in recovery; that might be an option for you."

Ayvah, RN · Oct 14, 2015

I would add your work as a tattoo artist as it does show job stability (if that was not 'under the table' work)

jdub6 · Oct 16, 2015

No no no! Never on resume. I agree that the homeless shelter experience etc could go on there, but nothing about your personal struggles. Even if the employer is recovery friendly they may worry that you will be too open with pts if you disclose on a resume. And it will close doors. For example, when I was in monitoring I was required to disclose (during interview, not on resume) and had one mgr tell me that she was so glad I was honest up front because addicts just do not belong in nursing, and often she finds out people have years of sobriety when they relapse which is inevitable....Those were almost her exact words. Now, I was glad in a way that SHE was up front because I would never want to work for someone so closed minded and ignorant about addiction and recovery. But, you Erik run into this a lot "we just never hire addicts" "it's our policy" "we've been burned too many times" etc.

Now, there may be a few jobs where it is appropriate to disclose near the end of the interview process...for example if you plan to work in a rehab. Some may even ask if you are in recovery. But if this happens I recommend emphasizing your long period of sobriety, why you will never go back, and what you learned. I would avoid specifics. But this scenario would be very rare. When in doubt, say nothing. If applicable to the job you can always just say you have worked with addicts and have learned xyz from it.