Assessment Introduction:
Vocational assessment is a process of exploring an individual's interests, abilities, and aptitudes in order to identify vocational assets, barriers, support needs and career potential.
Vocational Assessment for Care Managers:
A Care Manager or Case Manager gathers assessment information. This information is more general, but is perhaps even more vital to the success of an employment plan than professional vocational assessments.
A Care Manager is most likely more familiar with a member than anyone else assisting in the employment planning process. Care Managers are in a uniquely qualified position to shape the employment plan. They are familiar with a member's strengths, passions, dreams, skills, hobbies, fears, limitations, and support needs. You have counseling and interviewing skills that can help draw a person out. The information you can contribute is not typically captured in a formal vocational assessment. This clinical information is crucial to employment planning. Many employment plans are not informed by this rich, detailed, clinical information and consequently do not serve the member well.
Professional Vocational Assessment:
Vocational assessment may involve a variety of standardized techniques or tests that yield information that is helpful in recommending training or employment. These tests are usually administered by vocational rehabilitation professionals or psychologists and yield very specific information. Professional assessment can include the following:
- situational assessments
- interest inventories
- psychometric and psychological tests (IQ, personality, neuropsych evaluations)
- temperament inventories
- learning styles inventories
- on-the-job try-outs
- work samples
- functional assessments
- aptitude
- achievement tests
- attitude/motivation
- values
These professional assessment techniques may be useful for members. These services are typically purchased through the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR).
Person-Centered Employment Planning:
Person-Centered Employment Planning is initiated by having a series of conversations with a member. Through these conversations, we begin a process of helping members to identify dream jobs, perceived barriers to employment, assets, and possible support/resource needs. We also begin to think about identifying employment outcomes and integrating them into the overall care plan.
These ongoing conversations appeal to the healthy part of a person with a disability, to an individuals strengths, gifts, and potential. We try to communicate expectations so that a person can realize his/her potential.
Person-Centered employment planning focuses on relationship building and listening, NOT on filling out forms. It is about creating an environment filled with trust, hope, optimism, and support.
Facilitating a discussion about an individual's dream job is a crucial step. If an individual has a hard time articulating a dream job, ask about hobbies, interests, passions. Don't consider potential barriers in this step. Download resource: Focus on the dreams: Steps to Discussion of Dream Job. | WORD | PDF |.
After conversations about a dream job, we can then focus on perceived barriers to employment. A helpful question is: "If you were offered a job tomorrow, what would stop you from going to work?"
- Tips for Barrier Discussing Barrier and Asset Identification: | WORD | PDF |.
- Questions to Guide the Barriers & Assets Identification Process: | WORD | PDF |.
"Not Interested" in Employment?
When the topic of employment is broached with persons with significant disabilities, the response often may be "not interested." This is not surprising. Many people with disabilities have a history of negative experiences associate with employment. Perhaps these experiences were not having needs met at work, not being heard, or of not being successful in the workplace. For others, there is the assumption that work is not possible given the significant obstacles they face. For others still, fears of failure, rejection, discrimination, or of losing disability benefits influence the "not interested" response.
We must always respect the "not interested" response, as people respond that way for valid reasons. However, we must also realize that the desire to be productive, to have meaningful days, and to participate in the larger community are common desires for all human beings. We want to make sure that a person with a significant disability knows about all potential services, supports, and assistive technology available to them before responding as "not interested." A key role for a Care Manager in the employment process is to make sure the member choice is an informed choice.
More Resources
Here are some internet resources which may be helpful for members to assess some employment variables:
- University of Waterloo Career Placement Manual: A comprehensive series of forms to organize a member's interests, values, skills. Downloadable tools to print out.
- Work Preference Inventory: A 24 item inventory that helps users identify their preferred work style. The inventory is scored and printed.
- Interest Quiz: A basic screening for interest. The user is asked to select activities they would like to do from a list of 60 options.
- The Career Key: A test that asks you to evaluate value statements and yields 6 basic personality tests. A list of jobs is then matches your assessed personality type. The test takes about 15 minutes to complete and costs only $9.95.
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