Grab and Go - Customized Employment Discovery
ThinkCollege Transition Project
CUSTOMIZED EMPLOYMENT—DISCOVERY
Grab and Go Practices | Issue No. 6
INTRODUCTION
The Discovery phase is the foundation to customized employment. Staff should first spend time developing a good understanding of the student’s skills, strengths, and career goals. This will help match the student’s abilities to the unmet needs of the business and position the person for successful, integrated paid employment.
In this quick guide, we will look at Step 1 in the customized employment process: Discovery.
WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT TO LEARN DURING DISCOVERY?
- Where this person is most at ease and most productive.
- When the individual is most engaged and by what people or activities.
- What supports are needed most in particular situations and how they are best delivered.
- Situations and environments to be avoided.
- Personal skills, talents, and interests.
Discovery will also uncover the vocational themes that will be used to develop a list of potential employers to research and engage.
The most effective way to get a clear picture of a student’s abilities is to gather information from people who know the student the best: family members, teachers and of course the student. Another effective way to understand a student’s abilities is by observing the student in different environments including school, college, and the community.
1. INTERVIEW THE STUDENT
This interview may take place over several meetings as staff get to know the student. Information that the student can provide may include insights about their:
- career goals
- hobbies and interests
- preferred community activities
- favorite classes
- job likes or dislikes
- previous work experiences
- experience using public transportation
When meeting with a student who has verbal limitations, ensure that communication accommodations are in place to help the student share their answers. Commonly used strategies include:
- augmentative and alternative communication devices (e.g. a tablet/iPad)
- visuals or online images
- paper or notebook the student can use to write down their answers
- text-to-speech software
Identify several activities outside the home that are familiar to the student. Accompany them to these places and observe the skills, relationships, level of interest and supports needed in performing these activities. Keep in mind that people may act differently in different situations and environments, or depending who they are with.
2. INTERVIEW PEOPLE WHO KNOW THE STUDENT
A family’s knowledge of the student’s vision, strengths and interests is invaluable in helping staff identify some of the essential factors necessary for job success. The conversation could start as simply as “Tell me about Sam…” and go onto talk about the person’s qualities and passions, as well as what they do at home and in the community.
Teachers have usually known the student for a long time and can provide helpful information on student’s general history, academic skills, support strategies, assessment results, situations or tasks to avoid and any previous work history.
3. OBSERVE THE STUDENT IN THE COLLEGE COMMUNITY
Being part of college life offers many opportunities for students to meet different people and try new activities. Observe how the student adjusts to new situations and their ability to get around the campus, how they interact with other students, contribute to class discussions and follow directions.
This can be useful in determining the student’s directional abilities, memory, time management skills, learning style, social behavior and how they would adjust to a new job or work environment. Observe the student working in different settings, such as at a college internship and interview their work supervisor.
Look for answers to these questions:
- How does the student learn new tasks?
- What is their speed and accuracy in completing assigned tasks?
- Does the student take initiative in seeking new work?
- What is the impact of lighting, noise and space on the student’s mood and productivity?
- How does the student interact with coworkers?
4. DEVELOP THE POSITIVE PERSONAL PROFILE
The Positive Personal Profile form (Tilson, 2012) is a way to organize the information collected from the interviews, observations and discussions with the student and people who know them well. This information is essential in identifying a student’s interests, strengths and abilities, as well as other factors that need to be considered in making a good job match.
Information from these interviews and observations will also help identify any needed accommodations and supports. Collecting this information is ongoing, and should be updated periodically as the student has new experiences, learns new job skills and develops clear preferences about work.
5. IDENTIFY VOCATIONAL THEMES
Identifying the vocational themes from all the information collected through the discovery process can help expand the range of job opportunities open to a student. It forces the job developer to broaden their thinking to include information from different aspects of a person’s life. Themes are unifying ideas about a particular type of work and represent an accumulation of many jobs, environments, skills and interests. They are not job descriptions.
For example, “construction” could limit the potential employer list to just jobs in the construction industry, but thinking about jobs involving “working with her hands” will open up your thinking to include many other job possibilities.
CONCLUSION
Discovery takes time and effort but is the key in providing a strong foundation for a person centered, customized approach to employment.