Career development and job placement

In the theory of work adjustment, the employer's evaluation of whether the worker's abilities meet the job's requirements is called:

1. person-environment correspondence
   Person-environment correspondence is the overall match between worker and job; satisfactoriness and satisfaction are its two outcomes.
2. satisfaction
   Satisfaction is the worker's side of fit, meaning whether the job's reinforcers meet the worker's needs and values; this option reverses who is judging.
3. satisfactoriness
   In Dawis and Lofquist's theory, satisfactoriness is the employer's side of fit: whether the worker's abilities meet the job's requirements.
4. congruence
   Congruence is Holland's term for the match between a person's type and a work environment, not a TWA outcome judged by the employer.

Under WIOA, VR-funded supported employment services are generally provided for up to:

1. 24 months
   WIOA raised the time limit for VR-funded supported employment services to 24 months, with an extension allowed if the IPE shows it is needed.
2. 36 months
   Thirty-six months is the SSDI reentitlement period after a trial work period, a benefits rule, not a supported employment limit.
3. 18 months
   Eighteen months was the limit before WIOA (2014); this option reflects the older law.
4. 12 months
   Twelve months is too short; WIOA allows up to 24 months before extended services from another funder take over.

A counselor contacts local employers to learn their hiring needs and cultivate job opportunities suited to clients, often before openings are advertised. This activity is:

1. job placement
   Job placement is matching a particular client to a particular job, which comes after development has found the opening.
2. labor market analysis
   Labor market analysis gathers data on occupations, demand, and wages; it studies the market rather than cultivating openings for clients.
3. job development
   Job development means building employer relationships and uncovering or creating openings that fit clients, often before jobs are posted.
4. job carving
   Job carving creates one new position from tasks in existing jobs; it is a single technique, not general employer outreach.

Under WIOA, which element is required for a job to be 'competitive integrated employment'?

1. a job obtained through a CRP
   How the job was found does not matter, and jobs inside a community rehabilitation program are often not integrated.
2. a minimum of 30 hours per week
   The definition covers full-time or part-time work; no minimum number of hours is required.
3. an employer of 15 or more
   Fifteen employees is the ADA Title I coverage threshold; this option borrows an employer-size rule that the CIE definition does not contain.
4. the customary wage for similar work
   Competitive integrated employment must pay at least minimum wage and the customary rate paid to workers without disabilities doing similar work, in an integrated setting with similar advancement chances.

A young adult with a significant intellectual disability and no work history is starting customized employment. The process that BEST identifies a job match is:

1. standardized aptitude testing.
   Standardized aptitude tests often underestimate people with significant intellectual disabilities and say little about the real environments where they do well.
2. a transferable skills analysis.
   A transferable skills analysis needs a work history to analyze, and this young adult has none.
3. the Discovery process.
   Discovery is the first phase of customized employment: time spent with the person at home, in the community, and with people who know them to learn interests, skills, and conditions for success before job negotiation.
4. a job club.
   A job club is a group that teaches job-search skills to people who can run their own search; it does not build an individual profile for a customized job.

An injured worker needs only to restore strength, endurance, and flexibility to return to his job, and he has no behavioral or vocational issues. The appropriate program is:

1. supported employment
   Supported employment provides ongoing job-site support for people with the most significant disabilities, not short-term physical rehabilitation.
2. work conditioning
   Work conditioning restores physical capacities such as strength, endurance, and flexibility for a return to work when no behavioral or vocational issues need attention.
3. a vocational evaluation
   A vocational evaluation explores new goals; he already has a job to return to and only needs physical reconditioning.
4. work hardening
   Work hardening is interdisciplinary and adds behavioral, psychological, and vocational components to physical work simulation; the stem rules those needs out.

In the IPS model, employment specialists are expected to:

1. run prevocational groups first
   IPS skips prevocational training and goes straight to a rapid job search; this option describes the older train-then-place approach.
2. join the mental health treatment team
   IPS integrates employment specialists into the mental health treatment team, sharing caseloads and meeting regularly with clinicians.
3. work from a separate agency
   A separate vocational agency is the parallel model that IPS replaced, because coordination suffers when the two teams work apart.
4. screen clients for work readiness
   IPS uses zero exclusion: anyone who wants to work is eligible, with no screening for readiness.

An employee with autism becomes overwhelmed when tasks change without warning. The most helpful accommodation is:

1. a move to a customer-facing role
   A customer-facing role usually brings more unpredictable demands and would likely worsen the overload.
2. more frequent performance reviews
   More frequent formal reviews add evaluation pressure and do nothing about unannounced changes.
3. advance notice and written schedules
   Advance notice of changes and written schedules make the workday predictable, which addresses this autistic employee's specific trigger.
4. relaxed attendance requirements
   Attendance is not the problem; this option treats a predictability need as if it were a scheduling or absence issue.

In the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model of supported employment, the first contact with employers should occur:

1. after the client achieves full sobriety
   IPS does not require sobriety first; substance use is treated alongside the job search, not as a gate.
2. within 30 days of entering IPS
   The IPS fidelity scale expects the first face-to-face employer contact within about 30 days of entering the program, consistent with rapid job search.
3. after completing prevocational training
   Requiring prevocational training first is the stepwise model that IPS rejects.
4. after six months of symptom stability
   IPS does not wait for a period of symptom stability; working is itself part of recovery.

In supported employment, a coworker who trains and assists a new employee with a disability as part of normal workplace routines is an example of:

1. job carving.
   Job carving is how the position was designed, not who helps the worker learn it.
2. job coaching.
   Job coaching is paid support from an agency staff member, while the stem describes a coworker doing it as part of normal routines.
3. fading of supports.
   Fading is the gradual withdrawal of the job coach's help; natural supports are often what makes fading possible, but they are not the fading itself.
4. natural supports.
   Natural supports come from people already in the workplace, such as coworkers and supervisors, rather than from paid agency staff.

A client with strong technical skills performs poorly in interviews because of anxiety and lack of practice. The MOST effective intervention is:

1. mock interviews with video feedback
   Rehearsal with video feedback builds interview skill and reduces anxiety through practice, which targets both causes named in the stem.
2. a new vocational interest inventory
   Interest testing addresses career direction, which is not in question here.
3. a second technical certification
   His technical skills are already strong, so another certification does not fix the interview performance problem.
4. a written list of common questions
   Reading common questions gives knowledge but no practice under pressure; without rehearsal the anxiety stays.

A client whose VR case was closed successfully six months ago needs a new accommodation to keep her job. The counselor can provide:

1. post-employment services
   Post-employment services can be given after a successful closure when a former client needs help to keep, regain, or advance in employment, such as a new accommodation.
2. services only after a new application
   A new application is needed for complex or comprehensive new needs, not for a limited service such as a new accommodation.
3. services only if she loses the job
   Post-employment services exist precisely to prevent job loss, so waiting until she is fired defeats their purpose.
4. no services after case closure
   Closure does not end eligibility for post-employment services; this option treats closure as a permanent end.

Under WIOA, supported employment is intended for individuals with the most significant disabilities who:

1. have never held any kind of job
   Work history is not the test; people with prior jobs can need supported employment after a change in disability.
2. cannot work in integrated settings
   Supported employment is integrated work; it is meant to move people into integrated jobs, not to serve people who cannot work in them.
3. currently work in sheltered workshop programs
   Current sheltered work is not a requirement; supported employment is defined by need for ongoing support.
4. need ongoing support in integrated jobs
   WIOA defines supported employment as competitive integrated work for people with the most significant disabilities who need intensive services and ongoing support to keep the job.

A VR client wants to start a small business as her employment goal. Before VR funds the start-up, the counselor typically requires:

1. a feasibility study and business plan
   VR agencies typically require a feasibility study and a business plan, often with technical assistance, before funding self-employment start-up costs.
2. a signed commitment from a future customer
   A customer commitment can strengthen a plan, but it is not a standard prerequisite and is not enough on its own.
3. evidence that wage employment has failed
   Self-employment can be a first-choice goal in its own right, not a fallback after failed wage jobs.
4. a completed four-year business degree
   No degree is required; business skills can be learned through training and technical help.

A client with strong technical skills keeps losing jobs within weeks because of lateness and conflicts with coworkers. The service that BEST addresses this pattern is:

1. a new vocational interest inventory
   Interests are not the problem; he loses jobs because of punctuality and conflict.
2. soft-skills training and job coaching
   Lateness and coworker conflict are soft-skill problems, so training in those skills plus on-the-job coaching targets the real cause of job loss.
3. another technical certification
   His technical skills are already strong, so more credentials leave the actual problem unaddressed.
4. a higher-paying position
   Higher pay does not fix the behaviors that cost him jobs; the same pattern will follow him.