What am I being asked to do? [Last updated 02/26/2006] Basically, you are being asked to cooperate in the Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling process by participating in a V. D. A. as a first step toward entering an alternative career. You will have the opportunity to express your voc. rehab. needs and are encouraged to consider your options through Career Exploration. The purpose of the Vocational Diagnostic Assessment [V.D.A.] is to take into consideration your work restrictions / functional capabilities, skills, capabilities, work experience, education, interests, work readiness, etc. to identify alternative career paths open to you. The V.D.A. may also serve to help develop a plan of action to assist you returning to work based on the findings. This Vocational Diagnostic Assessment [V.D.A.] involves a multiple step process using various tools and resources as listed on this web site. Using the this Internet web site as a resource has some unique advantages: FEATURES AND BENEFITS * Goal is to put you "in the driver's seat" to make you an informed consumer so you can make your own career choices * Work at your own convenience and your own pace * Start, take breaks, stop, & come back as you wish anytime day or night * Work location flexible either at home or local library * All the necessary information is organized on one simple page at your fingertips * Unbiased, thorough resources through the government's Department of Labor * Privacy. You decide who sees the results * No cost to you. Access is in the public domain from any Internet computer * Expandable. As needed customized career web links can be added to your personal web page as a one-stop service The relevant documents I request you use can be printed from the links provided. Some of the eight [8] steps I may request you to take are as follows: FACE TO FACE VOCATIONAL INTERVIEW A face to face interview; please allow 1-2 hours for this interview. Part of the Vocational Interview process includes the original, wet copy of the completed documentation requested including the Vocational Rehab Counseling Record being provided me upon my arrival for this interview. [1] "VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION COUNSELING RECORD" Please either use the form I sent you or print out a new one. Complete in full the "Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling Record" form. If possible, the completed, original, Vocational Rehab Counseling Record also can be faxed to me by the evening before our appointment; however, I will still be expecting the original to be hand delivered @ the meeting. [2] RESUME MAKER Please present a resume at the time of the interview. If one is not available, please arrange to prepare one in time. If instruction is needed on how to do a resume, please follow the standard format presented on the web site identified above. [3] CAREER EXPLORATION WORKSHEET The web page links you with this tool. Please follow the self-explanatory web page instructions to complete this self-assessment of your career readiness and career planning factors. Obviously, the more thought & effort one puts into completing the task, like most things in life, the better the outcome is likely to be. Ignore any comments on out-of-state resources, which are not relevant to your situation. Allow 1-2 hours to complete this assignment then please print a copy of the final results to give me when we meet. The on-line work cannot be saved as you go so you will need to complete the work all in one sitting; however, you may be able to print sequential partial results, if you are so inclined. I have provided a link of a sample final report so you can visualize what the end product will look like. To print when done, go to the "File" pull down menu and select "Print". [4] O'NET ON-LINE "SKILLS SEARCH" Simply check of the skill sets which you feel apply to you then print up the sheet[s] to give me when we meet. If you wish to take this to the next step, you are invited to check out the results & the career resource conclusions should you so desire. [5] OCCUPATIONAL OUTLOOK HANDBOOK Your task is to use the tools on this webpage to identify three [3] ocupations which you feel are worthy of further research on your part. Please click on Item 5c then print up 3 "Occupational Outlook Handbook Worksheets" To use the "NJ Careers - Keyword Search" link, you will need to do the following: Click on Item 5b Click on "keyword search" on the left side of the page On the right section of screen, Type in a keyword with a job title of interest. For example, if you type in "truck”, then click on "search" on the lower right section of screen, then you will see a list of occupations related to trucks. Click on any one of these trucking occupations to see a thumbnail sketch of the occupational field of interest. Once you identify three occupations of interest, fill in the "Occupational Outlook Handbook Worksheets" to summarize the most important areas for you and give these completed forms to me when we meet next. [6] JOB ZONE Click on Item 6. Then click on the green bar named "click here for a free account". Create your free account and put aside a copy of your UserName and Password for future use. Enter the site and scroll down to the "Career Exploration" section found in the middle of the page. Click on "Career Interests" and complete the survey. Click on "Work Values" and complete the survey Click on "Skills Survey" and complete the survey [7] SKILL TRAINING PROGRAM The steps are self-explanatory and involve your checking out newspaper want ads to document job availability, documenting your findings, and contacting various schools to make sure the school is right for you. To identify a school, search using the link on Item #7d labeled, "Find a N.J. School" [8] JOB INTERVIEWING QUIZ Please take the quiz and report back to me with your total correct score. After you complete the Quiz, please click on Item 8b., the Post-Quiz Survey Questions. Please print this Survey sheet then write in your answers to the questions as they relate to Item #8, the "Job Interviewing Quiz". On occasion, depending on circumstances, immediately after the interview I may need to conduct paper & pencil testing of vocational aptitudes / educational achievement levels, interests, etc. If you have any questions or feel some preparatory tutorial instruction is necessary to complete the above, please feel free to call me. In particular, if you call me any eve M-F between 6-7 pm, I am likely to be available to answer questions directly while you are accessing the Internet.. Typically, each of us would be on a live web connection simultaneously and would work in tandem using the web links provided. If you have any difficulty with your computer, printer, or interent access then please complete these tasks using free, Internet access available to you at any local libray in your community. The librarian will be glad to assist you with using this web site. Thank you for your anticipated cooperation and good luck with your "Career Exploration" using this V.D.A. process.