Grab and Go Customized Employment - Career Exploration
ThinkCollege Transition Project
CUSTOMIZED EMPLOYMENT—CAREER EXPLORATION
Grab and Go Practices | Issue No. 7
INTRODUCTION
Teachers, transition specialists, job developers, college career office staff, and coaches can all play an important role in helping students with intellectual disabilities discover their work interests.
Learning about a student can help team members identify specific career focus areas that can be explored further through career exploration activities.
These activities include going on job tours, job shadowing, job sampling, informational interviews, and doing volunteer work. The career service office on campus is also a great resource.
There are a variety of ways for students to get started. Using the student’s, the parent’s, and even your own network can identify people who could help set up career exploration activities.
STUDENT CAREER SERVICES
For dually enrolled students, the college career services office is a great first stop.
- O*NET Online • www.onetonline.org
- My Next Move • www.mynextmove.org
- Kuder Navigator • www.kudernavigator.com
The career services office can help students with job readiness skills, such as writing resumes, developing portfolios for potential interviews, and preparing effective cover letters.
This office often provides small classes in interviewing and networking skills, and can help identify people on campus who the student could speak to about a specific career field.
College career counselors sometimes offer workshops that help students match their academic course selections with their career choices. The college community also presents an opportunity for students to do internships, job shadowing, service learning, and to conduct informational interviews.
STORY OF DISCOVERY
Kate is interested in a career involving fashion and costume design. She likes looking through fashion magazines, going shopping for new clothes, and discussing new trends.
This interest led her to taking a variety of theater, costume, and stage makeup classes in college. She participated in an internship at the campus costume shop, and one summer volunteered backstage at a local theater company where she worked with professional costume designers, actors, and producers.
Kate also found a job working several hours a week at a boutique clothing store where she and her mother were regular customers.
BUSINESS COMMUNITY
The business community is an excellent place for career exploration.
Job tour
A job tour provides an opportunity for a student to tour a local business and gain an overall view of the workings of a company.
Job shadowing
Job shadowing allows the student to observe first-hand how different tasks are done.
Job sampling
Job sampling is an exploration activity where students try a variety of job tasks in a range of work settings.
Informational interview
An informational interview is a great way for a student to learn about a specific business and job field.
Volunteer work
Volunteer work is another way to give students job experience and build their resume while exploring different work environments.
IDENTIFYING IMPORTANT FACTORS
- environmental elements (noise, temperature, indoors/outdoors)
- work stamina
- speed
- lifting and carrying strength
- complexity of tasks
- ability to self-initiate
- attention to detail
- level of communication with coworkers
CONCLUSION
Job tours, job shadowing, job sampling, informational interviews, and volunteering are all great ways for students to discover what type of work they may want to do.
Feedback from the student and your observations can help customize employment opportunities that are consistent with the student’s strengths, needs, and interests.