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Tips To Help Recovering Addicts Get A Job

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Congratulations on finally kicking your crack cocaine or methamphetamine habit. If you're ready to get your life back on track and to re-enter the workforce, there may be a few steps that you will want to take first. Unfortunately, your drug habit has probably wreaked havoc on your body, especially your teeth, and may have also left a gaping hole in your resume. So before you start filling out those applications and going on interviews, consider doing the following:

Undergo Cosmetic Dentistry

Smoking crack cocaine or methamphetamine or snorting cocaine was probably very detrimental to the appearance and health of your teeth because: 

  • Methamphetamine contains a number of chemicals that probably stripped the enamel from your teeth in a very short period of time. The damage can be very obvious. For example, in 2011, a photograph of actress Lindsay Lohan revealed that her once sparkling smile was now yellowed and even chipped. At the time, her father stated that she must have been smoking either crack or meth. 
  • Cocaine is an appetite suppressant. So if you were snorting or smoking this drug, it is very possible that you didn't consume enough nutrients, which could have had a serious impact on the health of your teeth.
  • Drug use may have caused you to have poor dental hygiene. More than likely, you spent many a night partying till dawn and then passing out without brushing your teeth. 

If your smile has been compromised by your old addiction, then you should consider having cosmetic dentistry performed. A good cosmetic dentist may be able to erase the signs of your addiction by:

  • Whitening your teeth. 
  • Applying veneers if your teeth only have minor damage. 
  • Repairing your problem teeth with fillings and crowns. If your teeth are severely damaged, your dentist may need to pull them. 
  • Replacing your missing teeth with implants or dentures

Get Help with Your Resume

Having a gaping hole in your resume because of your past drug addiction can make it difficult for you to get a job. To increase your chances of finding employment, you should try:

  • Volunteering. By volunteering, you can demonstrate your new reliability and your talents, and you can also add these positions to your resume.
  • Take training classes to improve your skill sets and to plump up your resume in order to make yourself more marketable. 
  • Work as a contractor or freelancer out of your home for a while. There are a number of jobs available through work-at-home websites that can be done out of your home. Some of these jobs include writers, editors, transcribers, website developers and application developers. You can then market yourself as a freelancer on your resume. 
  • Get help from a professional resume service. If you went through a rehabilitation program, it might actually offer courses on resume writing. If not, it may be in your best interest to hire a service to help you with your resume. These services understand how to emphasize your good points, while minimizing your weaknesses. 

Freshen Your Wardrobe

If you have gotten a call for an interview, it's important to make a great first impression. So take the time to be well dressed and well groomed for your appointment. Fortunately, you don't have to spend a fortune to look good. The following are a few tips for improving your wardrobe without spending a lot:

  • Shop at consignment stores for better quality items.
  • Search thrift stores. You can often find good quality pieces, and it's not uncommon to even find pieces still bearing their price tags. 

The road to recovery may not be an easy one, but you should be proud and happy that you are now on your way to a better life. 


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