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

Across the EU there are divergent policies on people who use or have used drugs and alcohol. In terms of increasing employability and employment opportunities for this group, practice and approaches vary greatly. The European Action for Employment in Recovery (EAER) partnership reflects the divergence across Europe as a whole.  EAER is a collaborative project of four partner organisations working effectively to increase the employability prospects of people who have or who have had problems with drugs and alcohol.

The members of the EAER partnership are:

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

The project objectives 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.

The concept is to work together to increase capacity to deliver employability work with people who have a history of drug and alcohol problems in each of the partner countries – enhancing the provision of employability interventions within front-line drug and alcohol services.