The Future Is Scary!: A Job Search Scenario Planning Exercise to Encourage Student Resilience Capacity and Reduce Stress

Abstract

Searching for jobs is a stressful process for students. When faced with unknowns of the future, many students avoid proactively planning their job search. This article describes an exercise, rooted in scenario planning, which is a tool widely used during an organization’s strategy development process. To help students prepare for the job search process, we apply this tool to help with their current job searching. In a set of steps, students brainstorm forces affecting their job search process, develop a range of possible futures for these forces, and analyze the implications of each. This exercise helps students build resilience capacity by directing them to make sense of their future job search and reduce the uncertainty around it. Based on pretest-posttest data, students (N = 71) report that the exercise significantly reduced stress about their own job searches and increased positive mood. Most students also agreed that scenario planning can help with understanding how to prepare and approach different job search situations and can be a useful tool for dealing with future unknowns. Exercise materials, detailed directions for implementation, and suggestions for debriefing are included in this article to allow instructors to implement the exercise in their own classes.