Life After a Work Injury
A work injury can oftentimes alter a person’s career path. Recovering from a work injury is not always easy. January is commonly known as a month of new beginnings, a fresh start or clean slate. If you or a loved one has suffered a work injury, these phrases may have a new meaning as it maybe be an unfamiliar beginning. Work injuries affect more than just the injured worker, it affects the family and the life they have known.
Redirection or a career course correction is often needed, although at the time it can be difficult. Like many of life’s hurdles there is often a silver lining when we look for it. What is your silver lining? In the spirit of starting the New Year off on the right foot, despite a work injury, here are a few tips to evaluating your new quality of life and making the most of your future despite the potential limitations of a work injury.
Tools to a New Career After a Work Injury
CareerLink – https://www.careerlinklehighvalley.org/
PA CareerLink®’s mission is “to implement a PA CareerLink® delivery system which serves our community as a clearinghouse of resources, inclusive of all information, employment opportunities, training and education options and economic development linkages, through a customer focused system based on the current and future labor market of the Lehigh Valley.” As a resident of Pennsylvania you are able to use these resources for your career, training and more at no cost to you. This is an excellent starting point for many!
Online Assessments
With the potential new limitations of a work injury, finding that new career path can seem very daunting especially when recovering from a work injury and you will not be 100%. The good news is there are a few tests and online assessments that can help you identify areas of interest, or what you might be good at as it relates to careers. Here are a few popular online assessments to consider.
- Myers-Briggs Assessment – http://www.mbtionline.com/
This assessment will help you identify your personality and how you prefer to communicate. It will cost about $50, but is one of the most popular and said to be personally beneficial to help with understanding how you work best with others.
- Career Strengths Test – http://www.myplan.com/assess/values.php
It will take about 20 minutes, and they offer free and paid options to help identify interests, skills and more.
- My Next Move – https://www.mynextmove.org
60 questions to help identify your interests but also offers quality insight into industry jobs and more.
Start a Business – http://www.betheboss.org/
If your next move is to start a business and you live in Pennsylvania then you are in luck! Be the Boss offers free courses and other training to get you started as an entrepreneur. You may also want to visit your local SCORE center for additional information and free resources. SCORE is a part of the US Small Business Administration.
When Recovering from a Work Injury, Ask for Help
As you may be gathering, you are not alone in your journey. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has amazing resources available throughout the state to help support you and your career. The services are not limited to those with a work injury, rather open to all residents looking for career and business guidance.
If you have been injured on the job and have questions regarding your workers’ compensation claim in Pennsylvania, Robinson Law is here to answer questions and help you understand your case. Call Attorney Paula Robinson at (215)530-7166 to schedule a free consultation regarding your PA workers’ compensation case.
May 2018 be the year of new beginnings and fresh starts for us all!
