Lesson 7: Job Development

Attention

JOBS, JOBS, JOBS,  where are they?  An interesting fact is that when there is 10 % unemployment, there is still 90 % employment.  That is a pretty good statistic.  Most survey’s return somewhere between 15 and 30 %.  More than 50% of marriages end in divorce and the percent of unemployed people with disabilities compared to the 10 % currently unemployed is more than 40 %.  So how do we get jobs for individuals with disabilities? We development them by meeting employers needs for good, loyal and productive employees.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able to:

• Understand the role of a MHRT/C in supporting an individual pursuing a vocational goal.
• Identify job development tools and the informational vocational assessment process in order to collaborate with the process.

Teaching

Review the Document “Dealing with Employer Objections”.

Your job description as a staff person with a MHRT/C certification may vary depending on the agency you are working with, how your agency is paid for your service and specifically the target group of consumers you are assigned to work with.   Case management of mental health consumers is a common job that individuals with this certification obtain.   Many case managers are not job developers, job coaches or employment support staff.  But because many of your clients may have another agency working with them in one of these capacities it is important for you to understand the role of an employment specialist.  One of the primary responsibilities of an Employment Specialist is job development.

Job development, simply put, is finding, developing and supporting a job for a consumer that matches their vocational profile and will result in a permanent placement.  Job development combines a marketing/sales component with case management, employment counseling and supported employment.   Once a job is found, employment supports if required, may need to be put in place. These supports may be on the work site, on-call during the work time, in the home or community.  These supports may be natural, such as a friend, family member, or co-worker or paid long term support provided by a Community Rehabilitation Provider.

The community rehabilitation service provider may work as part of a team developing a permanent sustainable job for a consumer.  Job Coaching and related long term support services are also an integral part of keeping a consumer on the job.  If you are working in the supported employment role of the consumers world of work, it is important for you to understand how job development is successfully done.

The job development function in a community rehabilitation agency is more than checking the news paper and other publicly advertised openings. It involves both identifying openings through published media (e.g., Newspapers, Internet, other), contacting potential employers with something called an employment proposal and providing necessary support to assist the consumer in maintaining the job.

Job development includes many sub categories of function depending on the organizational structure and the role yhat a community rehabilitation staff personmay be assigned.   These may include: Job Placement, Job Coaching, Job Carving and Employment Proposals and Long term support.  The agency setting can be in a state agency, a private non-profit agency, an ACT team or in an employment agency.  Throughout the United States there are multiple organizations that may provide these services in both public and private settings.   

In Maine, there are a number of organizations that either provide funding for job development services or provide services directly through grant or per unit billable time service agreement.  The exact setting or job title is not as important as understanding the role of a community rehabilitation employment service provider.  The focus of this section of the course is to help community rehabilitation service providers learn specific direct care strategies and tools so they can successfully facilitate an employment outcome for the consumers they are working with. 

The ultimate goal of job development services is for the consumer to become permanently employed.  This employment may be in supported employment with natural, onsite or off site supports from staff at community rehabilitation agencies, or at completely independent employment. There are three basic components of successful job development:

1. Vocational Profile and work capacity : Understanding a consumers vocational profile including their work capacity is a very important. When working with a State Vocational Rehabilitation Program the consumers vocational profile will be identified by the Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor (VRC) in the Individualized Plan for Employment  (IPE). In some agencies job development may be a job function without the expertise of a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor. 

Click HERE to visit the State of Maine Department of Labor: Bureau of Rehabilitation Services

Good job development can still be done without the extensive analysis done by VR counselors, because in many cases a consumer will know what they can and want to do. But in cases where your client is not eligible for VR or is on a wait list, you or an Employment Specialist in your agency may need to complete the vocational profile as discussed previously in this course. An important part of this profile is that the functional capacities related to behavior sometimes change.  Meaning… the vocational profile changes, depending on the specific diagnosis and adaptability.  A good way to approach this is to have a clear understanding of a “good” day and a “bad” day and work with that criterion. Learning and keeping in mind these informal vocational assessment technique's such as the employability development stages or the job readiness checklist will help you be effective if this role is assigned to you by your employer.  Remembering these tools when informal conversational teaching moments arise is the key. If you are a case manager, understand the fluidity of the job development process is important as you manage and facilitate the daily living situation of the assigned consumer.

Your job with a community rehabilitation provider, if assigned an employment support role, is to facilitate the job search of the consumer providing feedback and observations (informal voc assessment) of where the consumer may be stray from the job readiness behavior.  It is important to understand the kinds of jobs the consumer is suited for which includes their skill set and functional capacity and the necessary amount and type of support required for the client to sustain this capacity and to keep the consumer focused on jobs that fit.    

2. Finding or creating Job Openings: There are basically two ways to identify labor market opportunities. The public market and the private market.  The public market includes:

• Maine Jobs Monster
• Indeed.com
• Monster.com
• USA Jobs in the Federal Government
• Maine Department of Labor Jobs and Training

The private market includes more than 50 % of available jobs in what is commonly called the hidden market.   These are jobs that are not publicized and are obtained through personal contact with the company hiring officials or networking with industrial trade groups or professional associations. These jobs are discovered through neighbors, family members and friends or other networking.  They also can be created  through a process called the "employment proposal" which is a suggestion made directly to a company owner or other hiring authority that a new product or service would result in new profits if a particular job was created for the consumer you are working with.

3. Matching the Employer needs:  The final step is matching the employer needs with the skills of the consumer you are working with.  This includes know what accommodations are required for the individual to successfully perform the essential functions of the jog.  This involves employer relations – Human Resources how does an employer see employees.    What is the hiring process of employers? It is the same at every employer?  How can the employer benefit from hiring the consumer? What are some of the objections that an employer might raise? 

Follow this link and review the article. This gives detailed information about a Labor Market Survey. 

https://mirfak.com/uploads/Labor_Market_Survey_Methodology_and_Applications_2012_20.2.pdf

Assessment

Lesson 7 Assignment

Conduct a Labor Market survey for an entry level job of your choosing. In your paper be sure to state what the job title is that you chose and the demographic location this survey covers. Utilize the resources listed in the lesson as well as contacting 2-3 employers. List the job description, pay and location for each job discovered for four jobs within the field you chose.  This paper, written in APA style, will be no more than 5 pages, including a title page and submitted to the drop box as an attachment within the Lesson 7 folder.

Within the survey respond to the following questions:

1. What barriers did you encounter through this process?

2. How might a Labor Market Survey assist you when working with your client?

3. Given the job you chose, is this a viable career choice within the demographic area you chose? Please back up your response with information collected during the survey. 

4. What is your role in communicating this information to the client? (Considering that this job choice may have been determined feasible or not feasible for your client).