Starting vocational rehab...any advice?

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I just graduated college with a journalism degree, and I’m looking for a job as a copy editor somewhere. I’ve worked as a copy editor on newspapers for my high school, community college, and university, and I’m very, very good at it. I have glowing letters of recommendation, but I can’t find a job.

My mom got me started with working with vocational rehab. I haven’t had an official meeting yet where they’ll start helping me find a job; we just got all the paperwork sorted out. I got the impression at the meetings that these programs are more oriented toward lower-functioning people to get more menial, blue-collar jobs, so I’m just not sure if this is the right way to go. I’ve been looking at other threads about vocational rehab, but I was wondering if anyone had any advice for me specifically about what to expect with the job I’m seeking and how vocational rehab might affect it.

Congratulations on having graduated. I'm sorry you haven't found a job in your field.

How are you differentiating yourself from all of the other people who graduated with journalism degrees? Do you have a blog? Do you have an on-line portfolio that would demonstrate your ability to shoot photos, create audio reports, write articles, and do all of the multi-media tasks that are now common for 21st century reporters?

If all you're doing is submitting job applications with cover letters and a resumes ... that's NOT ENOUGH. See preceding paragraph.

When I first applied for a job as a Culinary Arts Instructor with my current district, I went to my interview wearing Chef whites. All of the other applicants wore suits or were dressed business casual.

In addition to my resume, I brought my laptop. Instead of using my laptop as a juvenile show and tell, I integrated the use of my laptop into the interview.

When the interviewing panel asked me to demonstrate my creativity, I talked about building upon prior learning and showed them a quick slide show of a bakery unit that started with the production of cookies and ended with the production of croissants, glazed berry tarts, and tiny cakes that had been drizzled with chocolate ganache and topped with piped whipped cream and fanned strawberries.

When they asked me about my organizational skills, I showed them before and after pictures of my kitchen. Most kitchens I've worked in have been old home economics kitchens and each station has been a kitchenette complete with stove, oven, microwave, mixer, two tiered sinks, and kitchen cabinets.

Since no one in the industry uses kitchen cabinets, I've used stainless steel wire shelving to centralize storage for hand tools. The hand tools are all sorted and neatly organized in bins. While talking to the panel, I showed them pictures of kitchens I've taken over before the school year started. I've then shown them pictures of what the kitchens looked like by the end of the year.

You should incorporate an electronic portfolio into your interviews but to get your proverbial foot in the door and to get that first interview, you need a lure. You need an on-line presence and the address for this website should be on your business cards, resumes, and cover letters.



What do you mean by "I'm just not sure if this is the right way to go." Are you talking about how this has nothing to do with journalism? I do hope that you're not suggesting that such work is beneath you.

A job is a job.

I have three college degrees but during the recession after getting laid off due to budget cuts, I took a job washing dishes and bussing tables. It wasn't a challenging job ... but it was easy to get and it put food on the table and kept a roof over my head. This job kept me from being homeless.

Work is work and pride and vanity are luxuries that I learned to discard when times were bad.

Well don't worry about it only being for lower functioning people, so long as you are disabled they will help regardless of your functioning level. Also its a case by case approach, your level of disability and employment goals are what determines their approach, its not a one size fits all.

Voc rehab is probably a really good place to start, they can also connect you to other programs/resources to help you reach your employment goal. Also they can help a little financially with things related to getting a job...like if you have to take the bus they can get you a bus pass, so long as you're using it to find work, get to your meeting with your voc rehab counseler ect, or they can help pay for things you need for a job like work shoes/equipment.

But yeah just communicate with your counselor, let them know what things you struggle with what kind of work you'd like to get into and such so they can help you to the best of their ability. I started Voc Rehab again, my last job didn't work out and I didn't stay in contact as I should have so they closed my case...They told me if something like that happens again to let them know. So keep in contact, If I had than i could have just jumped right back in but since they closed my case I had to restart essentially, even had to attend orientation again.

Voc Rehab did NOTHING to help me find a job. My counselor threw out a couple idea for places I could apply & after that she did nothing to help me find a job except have meetings with me where she kept telling me to assert myself which I already was doing. The only way they helped me get my 1st job was because a family friend found out about this organization that helps disableds be more independent & I got my voc counselor to refer me to them. I went back to Voc Rehab after I lost my 3rd job & all we did was have a couple meetings & nothing else was done other than paperwork. This was in Louisiana thou which has been facing major budget cuts since the recession so things might would be better in another state but I have no experience with that.

I haven't found voc rehab to be that helpful. Sure, they paid for me to have some sessions with a psychologist to boost my self esteem and they paid for most of the classes I took for my bachelors degree, but other than that, they are useless. They are more geared for the person that can only handle bagging groceries, stocking shelves, or cleaning toilets. There is nothing wrong with those jobs, but I didn't get a bachelors degree so I could clean toilets or bag groceries.

I hope you have a better voc rehab counsellor than what I had. Mine doesn't know anything about autism. She just didn't understand how much my autism affects my mental health and that my autism may not present itself the sane way her other clients' autism presents itself, but it still affects me greatly.

Voc rehab about as useless as teats on a hen.

Chef Dave was much more useful.

I have learning disabilities on top of physical disabilities so those jobs are about all I can do & my voc counselor didn't even help me get those jobs even thou I was looking for similar type of work & she knew that. All 3 jobs I had involved cleaning

I found them to be completely useless, honestly.

Re: editing -- have you looked into freelancing online? A lot of freelance editing work is now done online. It doesn't pay all that much, but it might give you experience and get you started on the ladder of advancement. The services I know are geared to scientific writing, but there are others I'm sure you could explore.

document everything

photocopy everything

do not get your expectations too high

be careful

protect and defend yourself

Besides the need to document everything, and keeping copies of everything, the thing is to do whatever they ask, as they'll look for an excuse to kick you out because you're not "doing your part." That's also why you document everything, and save everything so you can say that yes, you did what they required.

Most “menial blue collar jobs” pay more than an office , cubical jobs.

I have a bachelors degree but I’m slumming in with low life blue collar workers in construction management.

I feel like they basically set you up to fail. They love to deny any wrong doing and make it look like you are in the wrong. My sister was taking classes to get certification in graphic design. One semester she was only able to take one of the certificate classes because it was a prerequisite for the other certificate classes. Voc rehab wanted her taking at least 3 classes at a time so they had her sign up for classes that go towards an AS degree. She failed her remedial math class. By the way, voc rehab doesn't pay for remedial classes. My sister needed remedial math because she struggles with math. My sister struggled with having three classes a semester. Voc Rehab eventually cut off college funding for her because she failed a couple more classes. Had they stuck with the classes for the certificates and let her take one or two at a time, then she would have been fine.

The people that work at voc rehab look like they came of drug rehab....lol

I think my biggest disability is a low vision disorder. My voc counselor was completely blind & I feel like she felt I was so capable of doing stuff & on my own & with the job market since I can see alot more than her. I feel like she didn't factor my other disabilities in.

I reopened a case two weeks ago. I’m waiting. I met with my counselor and she is waiting for my latest results from my therapist .


I only want 1 thing from them, I’m really wanting a career aptitude test. I have no idea what else I’d be good at.