Term Paper on "Develop a Vocational Profile and Employment Plan"

Term Paper 7 pages (2275 words) Sources: 1

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Vocational Profile

Person-centered planning meets several needs, including linking the individual with job development efforts, to create an accurate portrayal of the person's life, to develop relationships with potential connectors and to assist with the transition to the life of an employee (Mast & Callahan, no date). The first part of a vocational form consists of basic personal information. Ken is a 45-year-old white male with three separate mental disorders. He formerly worked as a meat cutter, but has not worked in over ten years due to his disabilities. He has a stable residential history and has been living with limited family support. Ken has a small group of friends, but in general has only limited contact with other people because of his disorders. Ken no longer drives, but has access to public transportation that can bring him to a wide range of areas for work. In general, he is able to meet his day-to-day living needs within his own neighborhood. There are a number of areas Ken can access that have jobs. The downtown core has a range of retail and hospitality positions. There are some light warehouse or manufacturing jobs near to his home.

Ken is a high school graduate, but does not have any education beyond K-12. He has a desire to upgrade his education but his condition and lack of finances have made it difficult for him to do so. He completed an apprenticeship in his 20s to become a meat cutter, a position he then held for several years. This is the sum total of his vocational training. With his medication, Ken currently performs at a moderate functional level. It is believed that he is able to hold steady work. He has been managing his own finances and living arrangements for the past three years and has been able to do so. Ken does not have any active hobbies beyond walking, but is interested in football and hockey on television.

Ken's most important past job was his work as a meat cutter, something he did for twelve years before his mental condition cost him his job. He was deemed to be of insufficient mental capacity to hold this position -- in particular the use of knives was held as something the company did not feel comfortable with. Ken's work prior to this was mostly manual, itinerant labor, and this would be over twenty years ago, so there are few skills that remain. Ken is still capable of adhering to food safety standards.

With respect to his work at home, Ken performs as a functional adult at home. He is able to perform the basic tasks associated with day-to-day life such as shopping, cleaning and paying bills. Ken does not do much outside of these tasks, however. He has not taken on any form of paid or unpaid part-time work since he lost his job as a meat cutter and sought treatment for his disorders. In my experience, Ken is able to meet basic competence standards. His disorders may at times make it more difficult for him to interact with others, so some degree of independence may be required. Ken should not work with knives, or heavy equipment, although the actual risk of incident has been deemed to be very low.

Ken responds to basic instruction. He can work with minimal supervision once he understands a task. He will require some support in order to help him adjust to a new routine and to deal with his new co-workers, but in general it is believed that Ken will be able to perform the functions of a basic job without difficulty. He prefers to find work with food again, since he enjoyed his meat cutting job very much. Ken may be able to work in food production, away from the public. A food production factory position may suit Ken, or something in an institutional kitchen with repetitive work.

Ken does not have many connections. His few friends and family are of limited help with respect to creating employment contacts. After ten years out of work, Ken has no contacts of his own. There are a few community resources, but these are not designed to help those with mental illness, and most community resources are at capacity as a result of the current economic climate. Ken is quiet and does not relate well with others. This may pose some behavioral challenges, so Ken is best suited for positions that do not require a lot of interaction or teamwork. He is best suited for relatively simple tasks, but once he learns a skill he will be able to perform the job to expectations.

The most appropriate employment goal for Ken would be a part-time permanent position. Having not worked in ten years, Ken may need to have a transition period before moving into full-time. Part-time is therefore the most appropriate for Ken at this point in time. There are a number of steps that can be undertaken as part of an employment plan for Ken. The first is that he will need to target potential employers and positions. These should be ranked as well in terms of desirability. Ken needs to narrow down the job search, or it could be overwhelming. Companies that cannot accommodate his needs need to be removed from consideration. With a list of jobs and companies that would be ideal, Ken can then begin to gather contact information. Then the potential employers should be contacted. The results of these contacts should be logged and tracked, as it will help us to help Ken by identifying patterns in the responses.

There are a number of other issues that also need to be addressed as part of the plan. Ken needs to be assessed on his skills. Most employment agencies conduct basic office skills tests for their new hires. A test such as CareerScope can be administered in order to determine Ken's level of general learning potential, and skills aptitudes. Otherwise, Ken will need to perhaps be placed in an unpaid position for a few days to assess what he can do in a food production environment, or other work environment that is suitable. Once Ken's skills have been assessed, a training plan needs to be drawn up. This plan will be the result of matching the results of Ken's skills assessment with the needs of the employers in the marketplace. If an apprenticeship is needed, we will need to research how we can get Ken into such a program. In the short-term, however, bringing Ken's skills to a level where he can perform the basic tasks associated with a simple job is the first step. Ken will also need to receive computer training, as he has very little experience with computers. He will at least need to be able to perform the basic tasks associated with a job search online, even if he ultimately finds a position that does not require computer skills.

Ken is currently subject to public transportation. At this point, this situation is best. This means that any work found for Ken, whether paid or unpaid, will need to be in a place he can easily access, with a minimal amount of walking. The schedule will need to be synchronized with Ken's bus schedule as well, so that he is not forced to spend an inordinate amount of time waiting for transportation, or run the risk of being late for work. Ken will also need help with other elements of pre-employment training. He has not had a job interview in over twenty years, nor has he produced a resume in this time. These two issues must be addressed in order to make Ken a more attractive candidate. Ken is not likely to be familiar with modern job interview techniques that employers use, much less what he can do during an interview. It is likely that Ken will need to conduct his own informational interviews with prospective employers so that he can determine what positions and companies might be the best fit for him.

It is also essential that Ken receive significant support from the community during his job search. The job search and subsequent employment will take Ken away from his established routines. This could prove upsetting, but it could also make it more difficult for Ken to hold steady employment or take care of his basic needs. Thus, some support system will need to provide supervision for Ken to ensure that he is still meeting his basic needs. In addition, counseling should be available for Ken to have somebody to support him directly with his job search experiences. Job searches are difficult for anybody, so Ken will need a high level of support during what could be a difficult process.

The job market is difficult and it will be a struggle for Ken to find suitable employment, even with the weight of public resources behind him. The current seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in Rhode Island is 11.5%. This reflects poor underlying economic conditions.… READ MORE

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