The European Action for Employment in Recovery (EAER) is  completed. The EAER partnership , funded through the ERASMUS+ Programme of the European Union (EU), started more than 2 years ago, mid 2018. An excellent time to interview Carla de Vreij and Pieter van Schie and look back on the challenges and work of the EAER Partnership. A journey about good practice, people in recovery, employability, reintegration to the labour market, Corona and professional use of social media. How can we get people in recovery back into the jobs they deserve?

In Recovery and in the Job You Deserve 

The aim of the EAER project is to raise awareness of appropriate social media use and it’s value in developing a digital professional social identity and branding one’s self ( #SocialMe ), particularly regarding job searching among people in recovery and their professionals and trainers.

Can you tell us what are the EAER lessons learnt?

,,The EAER Partnership learned us a lot’’, says Pieter van Schie, director DFW2W. ,,When Chris Messenger (Scottish Drugs Forum) and I were brainstorming and wrote down our project ideas we initially identified couple of bottlenecks. The importance of being a professional social media user as regards to job seeking and entrepreneurship is insufficiently understood and recognised among the people in recovery. They usually only used social media for fun. And this was more or less the same for their trainers and mentors. So, we started writing that the solution probably was in branding yourself positively, but we did not have a clue yet how to brand ourselves, away from a person in recovery with its’ positive and negative stigma. And ultimately get people working in the job they want and deserve… That was not something we already had worked out. I think one of the biggest lessons is that when you are implementing the training that you always have to start with a discussion about the negative impact of social media and you also have to address the stigma around people in recovery in general. A discussion like this breaks down barriers and shows everyone involved that it’s your own choice to be (more) social media active. This discussion gives way to all the tips and tricks which are presented later in the workshops and tools provided.’

‘Digital Access is a human right’? 

Pieter:  ,,Yes,  we found during the project learning mobilities and face-to-face events, but even more so, later during the Corona times, at the Zoom meetings that digital poverty was a major issue.  Experience shows that the majority of  People in Recovery lack basic access to Wi-Fi at home or access to smart devices, the very means to create a digital footprint. They remain digitally invisible unseen and unheard… ‘’ Pieter continues: ,,Digital access and training is a basic human right and an essential part of everyday work and social culture. Certainly now in the shadows of Covid-19 and the current lockdowns all over the world it is even more so.’’

Carla de Vreij, Chairwoman DFW2W adds: ,,We need to digitally support People in Recovery. They do not only experience economic and social disadvantage but digital poverty as well. We are in a digital era and regardless of your opinion of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, etc., more and more job adverts, job searches and applications are exclusively completed online. So we found out the urgency of the Digital Professional Identity support packages we have developed in this partnership.’’

Carla states at the end of the interview: ,,I like to think that thanks to the EAER products we offer some solutions are given to people in recovery and trainers, so they have the opportunity to take part in any social media conversation out there on the net and can look for work on line as well. We have started to  include a new group of individuals in the digital world. That is very positive’’

EAER GoToWebinar

Click here to look back on the EAER GoToWebinar Multiplier Event of February 9th 2021

Our relationship with the digital world has changed vastly over the past twenty years. Today, over half the world’s population uses social media in some way – to connect with friends, share stories or for other purposes like education and entertainment. We did some interview with our delegates of the Zoom EAER Day to get some opinions

EAER Day on SocialMe

Our online profiles are digital representations of ourselves – leading many employers to use social media to find out more information about a potential candidate and whether they would be a right fit for the job. Just as we would want to make a good first impression during the application and interview process, we now also need to make a good impression online, especially if we use social media and our profile’s are publicly available. This is where the newly launched EAER ‘Social Me’ toolkit on digital professional branding for people in recovery, written by the Dutch Foundation of Innovation Welfare 2 Work, comes in.

During the EAER Zoom Day, moderated by Pieter van Schie we talked about that ‘Digital access is a basic human right’. Caroline agrees. She found out that when she could not pay her pre-paid membership she had to go to the McDonalds to get access to internet. A couple of times she found out that she missed a very good job opportunity (because she was not able to get access every day): ”It’s more or less a vicious circle: No money, no access to internet, not able to call potential employers, not able to find new job opportunities to get a chance on salary”.

Rob told a similar story during the Zoom call: ,,I found out that when I called why I was not invited for a job interview that ‘me not being present on social media was odd and that they advice me to built a presence – showing my skills and work I do for the community’. Selma said it’s not fair and also not allowed to reject ‘ for a lacking social media presence’: ,,Ofcourse it’s never so spoken out, because then the potential employer would be in trouble.But it’s clear that each employer looks at what you are doing on social media.” Pieter, the moderator of the day’:,,It’s in our Social Me workshop: Not being on Social Media is basically a red flag”.

Social Media is Serious Business

Yvette: ,,For me it’s clear: SocialMe’ is serious business. You need to put in time and do your home work to know what you have to do on Social Media. As a person, seeking for a job, you present yourself as a potential employee. This day made it very clear for me: You always have to be professional on screen as well… I expect to make a lot of use of the Social Me support packages.”

Caroline: It was very interesting to hear all the pointers and tips and tricks, certainly now during Corona times and the current lockdowns. It was a lovely EAER day. I thought it was very interesting and learnt a lot of being more professional on social media’.

EAER Platform

EAER Project Website

The EAER Good Practice Guide we have developed and is already published in English is for people who have a history of drug and alcohol problems and those who are current problem substance users experience significant social and economic inequalities and are often marginalised within society, particularly in terms of their access to opportunities in education, training and employment. The European Action for Employment in Recovery (EAER) is a partnership project funded through the ERASMUS+ Programme of the European Union (EU).

The Good Practice Guide

In some areas, problem substance use is closely connected with poverty and deprivation and so economic activity rates are often low in the same geographic areas where problem substance use is high. A lack of social and geographical mobility means that people with a substance use problem can face significant barriers to employment. On a personal level, long term drug users may have experienced a cycle of disadvantage, where poor early education and school experiences lead to low participation in post-school education and less work experience and so less vocational training. People’s employment prospects are greatly reduced as are other factors including confidence and understanding of
the labour market. They can also face significant stigma from employers that drastically reduces their opportunities and ability to contribute.

People in treatment and recovery from problem substance use likewise face significant barriers to training and employment. This guide has been created to offer a supportive and pragmatic guide to identifying and aligning appropriate training, support and qualifications for vulnerable individuals participating in employment support
programmes. This guide can be read as a standalone document or in conjunction with ‘Employability and Recovery in Europe – examples of good practice’ which describes some of the issues people face in entering and maintaining a
place within the labour market and the supports and resources which can help people achieve this.

Below the Dutch Version, English and Portuguese version. You can contact us when you want the PDF sent to you (for free): Click here

We are approaching the final stages of the EAER project. On February 17th 2021, the Dutch Foundation of Innovation Welfare 2 Work organised ‘Digital EAER Day 2021’ to showcase all the work we have done. The EAER days were designed to connect the EAER programme with the local and regional Social Networks for people in recovery. The digital event turned out to be ‘lovely’.

EAER Final Stages

The first Dutch EAER days were on October 10th, 2019. The second Dutch EAER days were held on Wednesday February 17th, 2021. It was very important to organize this 2nd event in the final stages of the EAER project. The European Action for Employment in Recovery (EAER) project is a partnership of four European organisations with the aim to use collective knowledge to create resources that would help people in recovery access employment and to share knowledge and practice with other organisations working in employability projects with people who have a history of problem drug use. The partners have produced some amazing intelectual outputs which were showcased during the 90 minutes of the Zoom meeting.

EAER Day Highlights

The Dutch EAER Day digital zoom event of February 17th 2021 highlighted the resources created for the .@EAERpartnership project and presentations including:

• An Overview and Examples of good practice in Employability and Recovery
• DPI SocialMe Supportpackages
• SocialMe Workshop(s)

Feedback

The feedback at the end of the Dutch digital EAER Day event was very positive. On a scale from 1 tot 5 stars, 27 participants rated the presentations on 4,5 stars. We expect that the local and regional Dutch organisations will use the guides, tools and instruments developed by the EAER partnership.

‘I expect to make a lot of use of the Social Me support packages’

‘It was a lovely EAER day. I thought it was very interesting and learnt a lot of being more professional on social media’.

On Tuesday 9 February 2021, between 9:30 am-12:30 pm the final online event of the EAER Project showcased all the work produced by the partnership.

The European Action for Employment in Recovery (EAER) project is a partnership of four European organisations with the aim to use collective knowledge to create resources that would help people in recovery access employment and to share knowledge and practice with other organisations working in employability projects with people who have a history of problem drug use.

The event highlighted the resources created for the project and presentations included;

• Examples of good practice in employability and recovery
• An overview of a good practice guide to training, support, and qualifications across Europe.
• EAER online platform which will host the EAER project with a number of interactive features
• SocialMe and digital identity

More then 112 participants register and joined the multiplier event.

EAER partners

The EAER partners are:

• Scottish Drugs Forum (Scotland)
• Dutch Foundation Innovation in Welfare 2 Work (Netherlands)
• Agência Piaget para o Desenvolvimento (Portugal)
• Comunità “La Tenda” Cooperativa Sociale (Italy)

People who have a history of drug and alcohol problems, and those who are current problem drug users face significant social and economic inequalities and are marginalised within society particularly in terms of their education, training, and employment. Long term drug users can face a cycle of disadvantage where poor school experiences lead to low participation in post-school education and less work experience and so less vocational training. Their employment prospects are greatly reduced as are other factors including confidence and understanding of the labour market. They also face significant stigma from employers and others.

The project objectives of the EAER project are:

• To deliver positive and long-lasting effects on policy and participating organisations through building more employability and employment opportunities for people who use or have used substances
• To deliver positive and long-lasting effects on people participating in the programme through increased knowledge, skills, and motivation to improve services

GoToWebinar EAER

As said, more then 112 participants signed up and joined the online event. Speakers were Pieter van Schie (Dutch Foundation of Innovation Welfare 2 Work, Colin Pomeroy (Scottish Drugs Forum), Diana Castro (APDES) and Valentina Chanina(La Tenda)

In 40 milliseconds, we’re able to draw conclusions about people based on a photo… That’s less than one-half of one-tenth of a second. Wow! People do not realize that they need to be their own brand, how being the brand impacts the way you get a job, keep a job and do business’. Online personal branding: social media profiles creation is absolutely essential. The Social Me workshops cover the digital professional branding of People in Recovery entering the labour market and is one of the intellectual outputs of the EAER project developed during 2020 – 2021 and you only have to know all about yourself to create your own professional Social Me(dia) Profile.   

People usually do not realize that they need to be their own brand, how being the brand impacts the way you get a job, keep a job and do business’. Today is the age of the individual: ‘I’. So it becomes more important to create and shape your personal profile and #Brand ‘#SocialMe’.

What is a Social Me(dia) Profile?

Social Media Profiles are a description of individuals’ social characteristics that identify them on social media sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. It’s very important that you consider that your Social Me(dia) Profile Says something about You to employers. If you maintain your social media profile, it’s worth considering what your profile conveys to a potential employer as well as to potential colleagues.

Why is your Social Me(dia) profile so important?

Your Social Me(dia) profile is the first thing people see when they surf on the internet. Your Social Me(dia) profile contains a profile picture and a bio.

What is a Social Me(dia) Profile Picture?

A profile picture is the image that represents a social media account in all its interactions across a platform. Profile pictures are displayed as an avatar next to the account name on posts, comments and mentions (depending on the platform).

What is a Social Me(dia) Bio?

Think of your Social Me(dia) bio as a business card. In order to raise interest among your target audience, you’ll need to promote yourself much like your own brand.  Your ‘Social Me’  bio is an essential component to include to promote your professional reputation. It serves as an introduction to who you are, and allows you to showcase your area of expertise and what you want people to associate with your name.

Present a Positive Picture of yourself

Portray yourself in the most positive and professional light possible. Use your LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and even Facebook Social Media profiles to create a convincing image of you as a very likeable— and hire able —person!  When you already have social media accounts, go over them to make sure they are employer-appropriate. Delete or hide any old posts or photos that are questionable. Or go one step further and create separate profiles that represent your professional interests. Consider everything you add to these accounts with an employer’s perspective in mind. The more thoughtful, knowledgeable, interesting, and above-board your Internet image is, the better…

Social Me

The above blog is an extract from the Social Me workshop, ‘The First Impression’ part of the EAER Workshops, developed and delivered during the EAER Project. Below a great video of Peter Hurley, material we use during our workshop sessions: It’s all about the Jaw !

Watch the video below:

For more information about the EAER project, click here: The Digital Final Multiplier Event will take place January 28th.

Click here for the EAER Website and regsiter at the EAER Platform

Social Media is a powerful tool. One of the aims of the EAER project is to raise awareness of appropriate social media use and it’s value in developing a digital professional social identity and branding one’s self (‘Social Me’), particularly regarding job searching among people in recovery and their professionals / trainers. The Social Me Train the Trainer Package is a guide for trainers, trainers and care workers who are training people in recovery  to boost their ‘Social Me’: Their personal Digital Professional Identity (DPI).

The EAER Project is realised by four partners organisations from the United Kingdom (Scottish Drugs Forum), Italy (La Tenda), Portugal (APDES) and the Netherlands (Dutch Foundation of Innovation Welfare 2 Work).

Three Social Media Bottlenecks

The EAER partnership have found three bottlenecks regarding social media expertise:

1. The importance of being a professional social media user as regards to job seeking and entrepreneurship is insufficiently understood and recognised in the education, care and welfare to work culture and among the people in recovery (usually social media is only used for fun).

2. Trainers and staff i.e. support workers and case managers, are insufficiently trained in Professional Social Media Use. An important note: When a Care worker is very good in his / her job, that does not mean the care worker is also good in job coaching, job search and social media guidance. It’s important as a trainer that you know your strengths and are also willing to put in hours to learn as a ‘Social Me’ trainer.

3. There is not enough available training material for Social Media Use as regards to job search and people in recovery.

The Social Me workshops, the DPI Social Media Support Package for Professionals and the Trainer The Trainer Package are developed to battle these three bottlenecks.

Social Me Trainer the Trainer Package

The Social Me Train the Trainer Package is a guide for trainers, trainers and care workers who are training people in recovery  to boost their ‘Social Me’: Their personal Digital Professional Identity (DPI). The aim of this guide is to provide trainers and trainers and care workers with a framework to support professional social media use and help them setting up a professional social (me)dia profile. It will optimise learning of people in recovery students in the classroom or online through focused on the ‘Social Me’ workshop training method.

The aim is to supply trainers and care workers offering a comprehensive set of measures created with various specialists across Europe and is easily followed to implement and to replicate it in any other EU country. We discovered during the digital blended mobility on November 26th 2020. The workshop training approach (Social Me) should not be to much in an educational framework to reflect the vision of people in recovery. Currently the Train the Trainer Package is ready in concept. We will publish as soon as possible and speak about it on our digital EAER Mulitplier Event January 28th 2021.

Digital EAER Miltiplier Event

Join the EAER partners in the showcase of the intellectual outputs of the EAER project! Register and Click Here to attend.

Presentations will include:

• Examples of good practice in employability and recovery
• Overview of a good practice guide for training, support and qualifications
• An overview of the online platform, which will host the EAER project with a number of interactive features
• A discussion of SocialMe and digital social identity by Pieter van Schie (DFW2W) 

You can register here to join. This event will take place via Zoom on February 9th 2021.

The first EAER international multiplier event took place in February 2020 in Foligno, Italy. The event showcased results of the research and the work carried out so far by the EAER project to a local, national and European community. It’s good to look back at this event, considering the Digital Blended Mobility EAER Event taking place in a couple of weeks

Organized by Comunità La Tenda Cooperativa Sociale together with EGInA srl in Foligno, brought together more than 70 participants coming from Italy, Portugal, Austria, and Turkey. The event explored good practice in supporting disadvantaged and vulnerable people into employment, education, and training across Europe. The aim of the event was to showcase the learning from the EAER partnership, including sharing the learning from intellectual outputs and the experiences of direct and indirect beneficiaries.

The research carried out in the four partner countries on employment of people with addiction issues and the discussion and analysis of differences, similarities and strengths at a European level drew the attention of the participants along with the experiences shared by the speakers of the European delegations. There was also dynamic presentation by Pieter van Schie MA of the Dutch Foundation for Innovation, concerning the study and the creation of a Professional Digital Identity (PDI) and finally the online platform focused on job search, employability and innovative tools. The experience of the international event resulted in a mutual enrichment of the participants and the several initiatives and services carried out in the local, national and European territories.
After the meeting, the European delegations visited some services that provide support to people with addiction issues such as SerD of the USL UMBRIA 2 and some services of Comunità La Tenda Cooperativa Sociale.

The multiplier event produced extremely positive results in terms of the dissemination of EAER results. Tens of stakeholders coming from all over Europe active in the field of employability and social inclusion were reached. Target group participants were given the opportunity to share their experiences and excellent opportunities for creating synergies in the EU were established. Many participants expressed their interest in the project, both about the outputs and the future events of the project.Participant Experience

Among the participants were Richard Gray of NHS Lothian, Scotland and Carmen McShane of Turning Point Scotland. They both kindly shared a reflection of their time in Foligno.

‘ I found the Erasmus + conference to be extremely well organised with a number of useful presentations which gave a glaring insight into drug policy and services in a host of different countries. Learning about the intricacies of navigating differing national guidelines to provide suitable services in the addictions field was very interesting. The location of the conference was beautiful and I found the service visits to be extremely useful and worthwhile. The presentations were well thought out and well presented. It is amazing to see how addiction services are provided in another country and see where the similarities are with our own services back home and pick up ideas which could improve service provision in Scotland.’ – Richard Gray ‘ I was delighted to have been offered the opportunity to present a case study and attend the EAER European funded conference in Foligno alongside Richard Gray, NHS Lothian.   From the event one presentation in particular stayed with me and has given me cause to reflect and look at areas where we need to improve in our service delivery at Turning Point Scotland. This was a presentation on the topic of Digital Professional Identity (DPI) from our Dutch peer and part time raconteur  Pieter van Schie MA. Pieter spoke of DPI as the effective use of  social media and it’s value in developing a professional social identity. He spoke about DPI as a means of branding one’s self, particularly regarding job searching among people in recovery and their professionals / trainers. I was particularly interested in this topic as many people we support not only experience economic and social disadvantage but digital poverty. I hadn’t fully thought specifically about this and its impact on job searching.   It is true we are in a digital age and regardless of your opinion of Twitter, Facebook etc., more and more adverts, job searches and applications are exclusively completed online.   As an adult harm reduction stabilisation service and homeless service, the majority of the individuals we support lack basic access to Wi-Fi at home or access to smart devices, the very means to take create a digital footprint. They remain digitally invisible unseen and unheard. They cannot take part in any social media conversation let alone look for work. A whole group of individuals due to poverty, do not have a voice and are disadvantaged by online recruitment and digital world. Each service needs to look at how we can adapt by supporting our staff and volunteers to be competent digital coaches, innovate through peer2peer coaching so we can contribute to leveling the playing field and pass on these skills to those we support.   With this presentation in mind I returned to Edinburgh intent on improving access to digital opportunities for those we support. Then in lockdown there was a stark reminder of just how much we rely on digital technology.  Lockdown has forced new thinking in short term, cutting through the usual endless red tape, where additional funding streams and grants have been made available to close that digital gap.   The recent lockdown highlights the essential role the appropriate use of social media can play in staying connected, and has further exposed deep inequalities around digital inclusion in our current society. A lot of recovery meetings, talking therapies have had to move online. Without a device and access to internet many individuals were cut adrift and the impact on people’s mental health was devastating.   In Foligno, Pieter argued Digital access and training was a basic human right and an essential part of everyday work and social culture. Now in the shadow of lockdown it is even more so. We all must try harder. ‘ – Carmen McShane

In the EAER Bulletin we are Looking Back on our Foligno EAER event

In this EAER bulletin we also looking forward to the Digital Blended EAER Mobility on 23 November 2020 till 26th November 2020

The EAER Digital Blended Mobility Event took place the 23rd to 26th November 2020. The Blended Mobility Event will be hosted online where there will be a series of two-hour digital workshops held throughout the week. Participants can sign up for the whole week or to individual workshops. Check out the schedule of events below! For more information and to register your interest, please contact Colin Pomeroy at colinp@sdf.org.uk.

AGENDA EAER DIGITAL BLENDED MOBILITY EVENT

Day 1 – Monday 23^rd November 2020 – 10am-12pm (UK time)
Essential skills training – facilitated by Scottish Drugs Forum

Good empathic listening is fundamental in the helping relationship. Called accurate empathy by Carl Rogers (1965), it is the cornerstone for person-centred practice. It is essential for good communication. In this introductory session we practise refining empathic listening skills and address other core communication skills that are important in a supporting relationship. 
The aim of the session is to practise core communication skills with a focus on expressing accurate empathy through reflective listening.

By the end of session you will have:

• Observed a demonstration of the interpersonal style and core communication skills used in a supporting relationship.
• Practised the interpersonal style and primary core communication skills.

This workshop is for people who are interested in working in the field of social care.

Day 2 – Tuesday the 24^th November 2020 – 10am-12pm (UK time)
European tools for employability: examples of a successful inclusion – Hosted by Agência Piaget para o Desenvolvimento

What are the common factors that set a successful tool for employment? Based on some European examples, this session will bring to discussion the main obstacles and facilitating factors playing a role on the inclusion of people in recovery.  The cases reflected in the session will help us to identify what basic determinants we should consider for successful employment inclusion.

This workshop is for professionals.

Day 3 – Wednesday the 25^th November 2020 – 10am-12pm (UK time) Community of practice and learning platform – Comunità “La Tenda” Cooperativa Sociale
This session will look at the EAER e-learning platform. We will look at the opportunities offered by the platform, explain what a Digital Professional identity is, highlight Role Models and explore EAER resources. The session will also have participants discuss their online presence in relation to their professional goals.

This workshop is for trainers and anyone interested in using the e-learning platform and learning about a Digital Professional Identity. 

Day 4 – Thursday the 26^th November 2020 – 10am-12pm (UK time)
SocialMe – The right branding of people in recovery searching for jobs on social media – the Dutch Foundation Innovation in Welfare 2 Work

The ‘Social Me’ Workshop will be presented by Pieter van Schie. The ‘Social Me’ vision is to make it easier for people in recovery to move on to work by using social media to their advantage.

‘Social media platforms are progressing further and further, while social media education and social media training programs for people in recovery are seriously behind. EAER would like to help people in recovery by offering a platform and tools that helps people in recovery in the use of social media in an interactive, challenging and creative way’ , Pieter van Schie.

This session will look at the aim of a Digital Professional Identity and talk about first impressions, the best profile picture, strategies, content calendar; and methods and concepts around SocialMe.

This workshop is for trainers and anyone interested in learning about SocialMe and a Digital Professional Identity. There have also been used very good sources in this workshop from Peter Hurley:

Squinch–It’s all about the Squinch!

The other very valuable video is

It’s all about the Jaw !

The Digital Blended Mobility EAER Event has already taken place. If you want to know more about the #SocialMe workshops, please contact Pieter van Schie MA