- Reports
- Business Case for Emotional Intelligence
- Do Emotional Intelligence Programs Work?
- Emotional Competence Framework
- Emotional Intelligence: What it is and Why it Matters
- Executives' Emotional Intelligence (mis) Perceptions
- Guidelines for Best Practice
- Guidelines for Securing Organizational Support For EI
- Johnson & Johnson Leadership Study
- Ontario Principals’ Council Leadership Study
- Technical Report on Developing Emotional Intelligence
- Measures
- Emotional Capital Report (ECR)
- Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ-i)
- Emotional & Social Competence Inventory 360 (ESCI)
- Emotional & Social Competence Inventory-University (ESCI-U)
- Geneva Emotional Competence Test
- Genos Emotional Intelligence Inventory (Genos EI)
- Team Emotional Intelligence (TEI)
- Mayer Salovey Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT)
- Profile of Emotional Competence (PEC)
- Schutte Self-Report Inventory (SSRI)
- Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessment (SEI)
- Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue)
- Wong's Emotional Intelligence Scale
- Work Group Emotional Intelligence Profile (WEIP)
- References
- Model Programs
- Achievement Motivation Training
- Care Giver Support Program
- Competency-Based Selection
- Emotional Competence Training - Financial Advisors
- Executive Coaching
- Human Relations Training
- Interaction Management
- Interpersonal Conflict Management - Law Enforcement
- Interpersonal Effectiveness Training - Medical Students
- JOBS Program
- LeaderLAB
- Self-Management Training to Increase Job Attendance
- Stress Management Training
- Weatherhead MBA Program
- Williams' Lifeskills Program
- Article Reprints
- Members
- Events
- Bookstore
JOBS Program
Download PDF |
![]() |
Program Summary
The main objective of the JOBS program is to enhance productive job seeking skills and self-confidence for the unemployed. Short-term goals include fortifying job seekers’ ability to resist demoralization and to persist in the face of barriers and setbacks. The long-term goal is to help persons seek employment in settings that maximize economic, social, and psychological rewards. The program helps participants to maintain high levels of motivation, become more adept at finding job leads and interviewing for jobs, and cope with the setbacks and frustrations associated with job-seeking.
Results of an evaluation indicated that program participants found employment sooner than a control group. A follow-up study showed continued beneficial effects on monthly earnings, level of employment, and episodes of employer and job changes. Four weeks after the intervention, the participants had earned on average $178 per month more than controls. At four months this advantage in earnings had increased to $227 per month, and by 2-1/2 years it had grown to $239 per month.
Program Description
The main objective of this program is to enhance productive job-seeking skills and self-confidence for the unemployed. Short-term goals include fortifying job seekers’ ability to resist demoralization and to persist in the face of barriers and setbacks. The long term goal is to help persons seek employment in settings that maximize economic, social, and psychological rewards. The program contributes to the development of several social and emotional competencies, including: self-awareness, accurate self-assessment, and self-confidence; adaptability, self-control, and conscientiousness; empathy and organizational awareness; and influence, communication, and building bonds.
The JOBS program was developed by a group of psychologists associated with the Michigan Prevention Research Center, located at the University of Michigan. (The Prevention Research Center was involved because another goal of the program is to prevent depression and other psychological problems associated with unemployment.) Initially the program was implemented in the state of Michigan, with participants recruited from the Michigan Employment Security Commission. Since then the program has been adopted in several other states and foreign countries.
The original version of the program consisted of eight half-day sessions spanning two weeks. It later was shortened to five four-hour sessions. There are 15 to 20 participants in a session and two trainers, usually one male and one female. A unique feature of the program is that the trainers are also recruited from the ranks of the unemployed. They typically are counselors, teachers, and others who have high levels of certain social and emotional competencies themselves, including flexibility, empathy, self-confidence, and positive outlook. They also have good speaking and listening skills, talent in giving feedback, skill in facilitating group process, and the ability to manage conflict constructively. After they are selected, the trainers go through seven weeks of training before they conduct any sessions.
The program relies heavily on active learning techniques such as modeling, role playing, and problem-solving. "Each session involves broad orienting introductions, dramatizations and modeling sessions in which trainers enact both successful and unsuccessful strategies at each stage of the job-search process." There also are "specific exercises in which participants may test their newfound knowledge and their newly recognized skills in structured but supportive role-playing exercises."
During the first part of the program, the trainers establish their credibility by discussing their own job-search experiences. Then they teach the participants to "think like an employer" and to identify their own marketable skills and to translate those skills into viable job and career options. Participants then learn how to present their skills effectively in phone contacts and job interviews, and they discuss how to deal with various barriers that they are likely to encounter in presenting their skills to an employer. The next stage of training teaches the participants how to engage in effective job-searches by tapping their personal networks and conducting informational interviews.
During the next phase of training, participants are "inoculated" against the inevitable setbacks they will encounter once they begin to use their new skills to look for jobs. The trainers do this by asking the participants to think about the setbacks, both external and internal, that they are likely to encounter. Then the group identifies alternative solutions for dealing with each of these anticipated difficulties. In the last stage of the program, the participants enact an entire search strategy, including a job interview, and they receive supportive feedback and suggestions for improvement from the trainers and other participants.
The JOBS program has been evaluated through two large-scale, randomized field experiments. Compared to controls (who received an 8-page booklet with tips on how to find a new job), participants in the program consistently became re-employed more quickly, found higher quality jobs, and displayed better mental health outcomes (e.g., less clinical depression). For instance, at the time of a 4-month follow-up, 53 percent of the participants were re-employed compared to 29 percent of the control group. Results for a two-and-a-half year follow-up showed continued beneficial effects of the program on monthly earnings, level of employment, and episodes of job changes. In addition, cost-benefit analyses show that the economic benefits of the program exceed its costs. Four weeks after the program ended, the participants were earning on average $178 per month more than the controls. By four months their earnings were $227 per month higher, and after two-and-a-half years they continued to earn $239 per month more than the controls.
References
Vinokur, A. D., Price, R. H., & Schul, Y. (1995). Impact of the JOBS intervention on unemployed workers varying in risks for depression. American Journal of Community Psychology, 23(1), 39-74.
Vinokur, A. D., Ryan, M. V., Gramlich, E. M., & Price, R. H. (1991). Long-term follow-up and benefit-cost analysis of the JOBS program: A preventive intervention for the unemployed. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76(2), 213-219.
Model Program Criteria
The Consortium has identified several programs that have successfully raised the level of emotional and social competence for adults in the workplace. There are several different types of programs, including executive and management development, supervisory training, individual coaching, achievement motivation training, self-management training, interpersonal skills training, stress management training, and emotional competence training. The programs also are targeted to a variety of different occupational groups, including executives, middle level managers, first-level supervisors, hourly workers, and unemployed workers, as well as police officers, medical students, and MBA students. In addition to the training and development programs, there is a "program" that has been used to select employees with high levels of emotional intelligence.
These programs have been reviewed and approved by the members of the Consortium. In order to be considered a model, a program had to be intended for adult workers and target one or more of the emotional and social competencies associated with emotional intelligence. There also had to be strong evaluation data documenting its effectiveness.
If you would like more information about any of these programs, you may contact them directly if a contact is included in the description. Otherwise, you may contact the Consortium.
The following criteria was used in selecting model programs:
Participants: Program was designed for and delivered to adult workers.
Intended impact of program: The program is intended to change one or more of the competencies associated with emotional intelligence.
Replication: The program has been delivered more than once.
Sample size: The program has been provided to, and evaluated for, more than just a few individuals.
Control group: The evaluation research included a control group or equivalent experimental controls.
Outcome measures: There are data on competency development, performance or financial outcomes.
Multiple data points: Pre- and post-measures are available.