Zainab joined our Creative Employment Options program because she was having a hard time finding work after graduating from university with a psychology degree. She was diagnosed with ADHD after finding she couldn’t focus and was having difficulties with other executive functions like memory while studying during the pandemic.

“I found that after I graduated, it was just really tough to get a job and part of it was because of my disability — it’s hard to do many things at once, so I only can focus on work or I can only focus on school. I can’t really juggle a lot at once,” she shares.

“I was struggling with finding a job, and I was trying to figure out what to do, because nothing was coming up — there was this like silence between me and the job applications. And I was like, ‘OK, what am I doing wrong?’”

Zainab began working with her Case Manager, William, on her resume.

“I was just really struggling by myself, and it was really helpful to have a team, especially with William helping out with everything that I needed help with, especially with the resume making. That was quite a bit of struggle for me because you never really are taught to make resumes,” she says.

“With ADHD, because it’s a filtering disorder, it’s hard to filter out a lot of information. You’re not really sure where to start from. [. . .] I think the first resume that I sent William was like four pages long,” she continues. “He was really helpful with letting me know what is important and what we can remove, and how we can make sure that resume fits into what the job market requires right now.”

She appreciated that her Case Manager would check in with how she was feeling at the beginning of each session.

“I think that part of it was really important because when you’re unemployed and you’re applying to jobs for over a year, [. . .] we kind of forget about how we’re actually feeling,” she says. “It was always really nice to just start off our sessions like, ‘Hey, I’m feeling like this today.’ Like, ‘These are my feelings today and I don’t know how to deal with it,’ and we would kind of just talk about it for a bit.  And then we’re going to talk about what we can do to improve and where we can apply.”

Zainab also received computer tutoring from our Distance Computer Comfort program to work on her Excel skills and typing.

With the encouragement from our Creative Employment Options team to go out and network, Zainab was able to find a few positions through her connections. She landed an auxiliary role with a local non-profit, a marketing internship, as well as a role leading groups in community healing sessions. Working about 10 hours a week, the part-time roles fit her needs while she also heads back to school.

Looking back, Zainab really appreciates the support she received from the Creative Employment Options program, saying that she has already referred others to the program.

“I think the encouragement was the biggest help,” she shares. “Because when you’re applying to jobs alone, especially in this job market right now, which is just awful, it can be really isolating experience — it’s almost like a full-time job. But having those connections where someone is able to guide you and help you out, it can definitely be really impactful.”